Emotionally, I was drained. Physically, I was exhausted, and I just wanted this done and over with.
So I took a seat in the leather chair across from him, the one I sat on far too many times over the years as I watched my father work.
“What is this about, Hades?” A prolonged moment passed as he just stared at me, his expression like a brick wall, but then the corner of his mouth tipped up, and he leaned forward, bracing his forearms on the desk. “I have things to do—”
“You have nothing to do, Princess.”
“Don’t call me that,” I said between gritted teeth. I was on the verge of tears, my emotions far too volatile right now. I swore I saw something flicker in his eyes before he masked it so quickly I wondered if I’d envisioned it.
“Things have drastically changed in your life, Persephone.”
I swallowed the thick lump in my throat that suddenly made itself known.
“This isn’t about your parents’ unfortunate demise.”
It felt off the way he said that last part, as if he didn’t care about the fact my parents had passed. And maybe he didn’t. It wasn’t as if he was on good terms with my father.
“I’ll be blunt with you. Your father was fucking broke… amongst other things.” Hades drummed his fingers on the desktop, and the sight transfixed me. “And because of that, you have nothing to your name.”
I slowly trailed my gaze to his face. He watched me, an unwavering expression etched into his cruel expression.
“No access to your money. No assets. No home. Nothing. All but destitute, Persephone.”
I heard this ringing in my ears that drowned out everything else. My vision swam, and I blinked my eyes furiously, trying to focus.
Hades’ image in front of me wavered, and I could see his mouth moving, but I couldn’t hear anything aside from the rush of my blood through my ears.
“Persephone.” The loud snap of his voice pulled me out of whatever fall I was plunging into.
I sucked in a great lungful of air. “All but?” I wheezed out those two words.
He leaned back again, one arm resting on the desk, the other on the armrest. He opened his hands and held them out, palms upward. “All isn’t lost, Princess. We are family.”
God, it was hot in here. I couldn’t breathe.
“What does that mean?” Had I said those words out loud? They seemed to whisper in my mind, floating through my subconscious. But when he slowly smiled—a grin that was anything but pleasant or friendly—I curled my hands into fists on my lap in frustration.
As if my words had prompted the next whirlwind in this turn of events, there was a hard knock on the door. Hades barked out for whoever it was to enter, and a moment later, the door opened and closed again.
I didn’t look behind to see who it was. Part of me was too afraid. I heard heavy footsteps coming closer before a briefcase was set on the desk beside me with a heavythump.
I finally looked up to see an older gentleman standing at my left. He wore a pair of wire-rimmed glasses that were perched on his nose, and his tweed suit covered his willowy form. He had his black-and-gray hair slicked back from his face.
The man tipped his head in my direction in greeting and said, “Miss Cronus.” He unlatched his briefcase and popped the lid, pulling out a stack of papers before setting them in front of Hades.
My uncle started flipping through the pages before taking the pen offered by the other man and scribbling his signature on the bottom of several of them.
“W-what’s going on?” I looked between the two of them, but both ignored me as Hades finished up. He picked up the papers, stacked them neatly, then slid them in front of me.
“These are documents to appoint Mr. Cronus as your legal guardian until your twenty-first birthday, at which point your inheritance will be released.”
I glanced at the older gentleman as he addressed me, then slowly looked at Hades. “Excuse me?” I stared at the papers but didn’t read a word. The letters all swam together.
I heard thetap,tap,tapof Hades’ pen against the desktop.
“What would you like broken down, darling?”
I hated his tone. It was so cold and condescending, as if I were beneath him. No wonder people hated him if this was how he addressed them.