Chapter 74

Chapter 74

MADDIE

I couldn't stand it anymore. Seeing Julian on his knees with blood dripping down his mouth snapped something inside me. All the fear, the helplessness, and the suffocating pressure Hades had built around me over the past hours exploded into pure, unadulterated fury.

I ripped my arm out of the guard's grip and threw myself directly in front of Hades, blocking Julian with my own body.

"I AM NOT YOUR WIFE!" I screamed into his face, my voice shaking the silent night air. "I am not that fake lady you used to control and manipulate! I am Sofia Collins! Stop looking at me like I am still something you own!"

Hades' dark eyes flared, his chest heaving, but I didn't step back. I pressed closer, pointing a trembling finger right at his chest.

"Don't you dare drag these people into your sick, twisted games!" I shouted, tears finally spilling down my cheeks, burning against my skin. "Don't you dare touch the people who cared about me when I was nothing! When I was a nobody wandering into this town with no home, and no identity! They gave me shelter! They gave me a family!"

"Sofia—" Hades tried to speak, his voice tight, but I cut him off with a guttural sob.

"You're not just a monster, Hades—you are a demon!" my words sliced through the air like a blade. "No woman in her right mind could ever love a man like you! No one could ever fathom giving their heart to someone so ruthless, so hollow! And do you want to know what hurts the most? I loved you!"

Hades froze as if struck by lightning. The arrogant smirk vanished completely from his lips, his mouth parting slightly in shock.

"Yes! I loved you!" I sobbed, clutching my bag tightly to my chest. "Before all of this, I thought what we had was real. I trusted you with every broken piece of my soul! I believed in you! But every lie, every hidden plot, every cold business transaction... it’s all so sickening! That love, that small glimmer of hope I was building for a real life—it vanished! You destroyed it! You burned it to ashes with everything you did to me!"

Hades stepped toward me, his hand reaching out, his dark eyes suddenly desperate and wide with raw terror. "Sofia, listen to me—"

"These people in Oakridge? Julian? They never treated me like a pawn in some grand game!" I choked out, shielding Julian who was struggling to breathe behind me. "They treated me like a human being! They are real, Hades! Their kindness is real! And for the first time in my entire life, being with them... I felt happy. I felt truly, genuinely happy!"

Silence descended over the villa driveway.

Hades stood motionless, looking as though his heart had been ripped out of his chest and laid bare on the gravel. The fierce, terrifying billionaire—the unyielding titan who ruled industries—was completely tamed, broken down to nothing by the raw truth of my agony. The dangerous light in his eyes died out, replaced by a hollow, crushing silence.

Slowly, Hades lowered his reaching hand. He swallowed hard, his voice barely a rasp when he finally spoke to his bodyguards.

"Let him go," Hades commanded softly, his head hanging low. "Let them all go."

The guards hesitated for a split second before releasing Julian. Julian slumped forward, coughing as he wiped the blood from his lip, but he immediately forced himself up to stand beside me.

"Sofia... let's go," Julian grunted painfully, placing a protective hand on my back.

I didn't look back at Hades. I didn't want to see the devastated look on his face, nor did I want to care. Julian helped me toward his silver pickup truck, opening the passenger door for me before getting into the driver's seat. The engine roared to life, and as we sped away from the Grand Vista, I only saw Hades standing alone in the rearview mirror, swallowed by the darkness of the night.

We drove straight to the daycare. My mind was a chaotic blur, and Julian's face was bruised and bleeding. As we pulled into the gravel lot, we noticed the warm glow of the porch light—Annie was still inside, having stayed late to finish up some forgotten paperwork and cleaning.

When the front door jangled open, Annie hurried out of the office, holding a stack of folders. "Sofia? Julian? What on earth are you two doing here so late—oh my goodness!"

Annie dropped her folders, her face pale as she rushed toward Julian, taking in his bruised jaw and bleeding lip. "What happened to you?! Julian, who did this?!"

"I'm fine, Annie," Julian winced as he sat down on one of the small wooden chairs. "Just an altercation..."

"Annie, do we have a first aid kit?" I asked frantically, my hands still trembling. "Anything to clean a wound? The Smiths... are they still around?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Smith are upstairs in their quarters, let me call them!" Annie said, her voice laced with panic as she quickly picked up the landline to ring the owners. Within minutes, the elderly couple hurried down the stairs, bringing a complete medical box and clean towels.

Mrs. Smith immediately knelt by Julian, gently dabbing his cuts with antiseptic, while Mr. Smith stood by with a stern, worried frown.

"Who did this to you, son?" Mr. Smith asked heavily. "Was it those corporate people asking around town?"

Looking at these good, innocent people who were caring for us without a second thought, the weight of the secret I had been carrying became too heavy to bear. My throat tightened, and a fresh wave of tears pooled in my eyes.

"It wasn't a random corporate group," I whispered, my voice breaking the tense room.

Everyone stopped and looked at me. Mrs. Smith paused her bandaging, and Annie stepped closer, her eyes wide with concern.

"Sofia... what's wrong?" Annie asked gently.

I took a deep, shuddering breath, locking eyes with Annie and the Smiths.

"My name... isn't Sofia Collins," I confessed, my voice trembling as the truth finally poured out. "I lied to all of you. My real name is Maddie... and the man who did this to Julian... he's my husband."

Annie blinked, holding a bottle of alcohol, her face entirely blank with confusion. "Wait, what? Who?"

"GRANT," I said, my voice barely a whisper, yet heavy enough to freeze the entire room. "Grant Enterprises."

Mr. Smith gasped, his eyes widening in shock as he took a step back. "Wait... you mean... the Hades Grant? The CEO of Grant Enterprises? The billionaire from the capital?"

Mrs. Smith looked up from Julian, her eyebrows furrowed in utter bewilderment, shaking her head. "Wait, wait, I'm confused... Sofia—I mean, Maddie... what are you talking about? How could a young woman like you, living quietly here in Oakridge, be tied to a man like Hades Grant? A husband? You never mentioned any husband!"

"Because I ran away from him," I sobbed, wrapping my arms around myself as the tears finally flowed freely. "My real name is Maddison. The life I had in the city... it wasn't real. It was a golden cage built on a fake marriage, corporate chess moves, and endless lies. I was nothing more than a trophy to him—a pawn used in his high-stakes business deals."

Annie stared at me, her eyes widening slightly as a sudden, stunned realization flickered across her face. She took a step closer, her voice barely audible. "Wait... is that what your 'immersion' story was all about when you first got here?"

I shook my head frantically, wiping my tears with the back of my hand. "No, no... it's not that. I didn't know anything about his company planning to buy this place back then. I swear, I had no idea Oakridge was even on their radar. But the reason I bolted and ended up here at that exact time... it was because I was terrified..."

I choked back a sob, looking around at their stunned faces. "I thought I saw his marketing head at a corporate charity gala in the city. I panicked, ran out into the pouring rain, flagged down a bus, and just rode it until it ended up here. I was running for my life, trying to escape that suffocating world."

I looked around at their shocked, quiet faces, my chest heaving. "When I came here, I was a broken nobody. But you... Annie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Julian... you took me in. You didn't ask for credentials, you didn't look at me like an investment or a bargaining chip. You treated me like a human being. You gave me a home when I was completely lost."

Mrs. Smith set down her cotton ball, her eyes softening with deep maternal concern as she stood up and walked over to me, pulling me into a warm, gentle embrace. "Oh, my poor child..."

"And now he's here," I sobbed into Mrs. Smith's shoulder. "He tracked me down. And he's using this town—your land, your daycare, Julian's shop—as leverage to force me back into that cage."

Silence fell over the daycare, heavy and profound, as the truth settled into the hearts of the very people who had given me a second chance at life.