Chapter 43

• Hades’s Pov
• Her words hit me like a punch to the gut. I know she had been through so much—more than I’d ever realized. And yet, here she was, enduring it all without complaint, without asking for help. The thought of her suffering alone, bearing the weight of that pain, made something tighten in my chest.
• “You shouldn’t have had to learn to endure it,” I said quietly, my fingers brushing lightly over her ankle as I checked the swelling. “You don’t have to endure it now. Not with me.”