Evadne could not help smiling the moment she stepped through the entrance of the main office building of the CZ Foundation.
This was the first time she had ever truly come here.
Last year, when they returned from France, the Foundation's anniversary celebration had already ended. And because she had still been adjusting to a new environment, a new school, and the chaos of her life with Hades and Casadin, she had never really gotten the chance to visit.
But now, she was glad... deeply glad... that she had finally set foot in this place.
According to her mother, Cielo, the Foundation had originally been called The Ceres' Love Foundation. Zeus had built it for Ceres. It had been the one thing that kept him going after her death... to continue supporting the shelters, the orphanage, and every cause Ceres had once held close to her heart.
At the very beginning, when the foundation was first being established, Zeus had asked every institution and every person Ceres had ever helped if they could send him any pictures, videos, letters, or keepsakes they had of her so they could be displayed in the entrance hall.
To everyone's shock, countless mementos arrived.
Photos. Old videos. Handwritten notes. Small gifts. Documents with her signature. Little things that carried her presence.
The Foundation had made the public... especially high society... see the other side of the villainess they had so loved to hate.
A woman with an overwhelming amount of love to give.
A woman who had been loved by many... not loudly, not in grand declarations, but quietly, sincerely, and deeply.
Evadne could only imagine the happiness, grief, and unbearable pain Zeus must have felt while receiving those mementos... mementos now displayed like priceless antiques in a museum.
To walk past these every day for hundreds of days, knowing he would never again see her smile, hear her laughter, or watch her care for the less fortunate the way she once had…
That must have been both heaven and hell for him.
And now, Evadne finally understood the choice he had made... to let go of this world and follow Ceres wherever he believed she had gone.
In her previous life, Evadne had hated Zeus... no, the Demon Lord Caelum... especially after seeing that dreadful foresight of the future where he killed everyone in Solmara once Evadne told him she was not Ceres, that she did not remember him. That foresight had been the reason she hid her real powers, let herself go, and made herself seem ugly and insignificant.
But now, she fully understood that version of him too.
To see the woman you loved most standing before you and know that she did not remember you...
That was another kind of hell entirely.
Another kind of torture.
But now, Evadne was simply glad.
Glad that she now knew Ceres and Zeus might already understand that they had both been reborn into Solmara. That meeting each other again, and continuing the life that had been stolen from them on Earth, was now very possible.
If she had to go through all of that pain again... if she had to endure every hardship once more just to make Ceres happy, just to meet Casadin and Hades... then she would gladly do it all over again.
It was only eleven in the morning, but the building was already full of people.
Most of them were probably employees. Some were visitors. Others, like her, were standing in front of the displayed mementos, quietly looking and reading.
"Oops... sorry."
Evadne immediately looked away from the wall and apologized when she accidentally bumped into someone while being too absorbed in the photographs.
She smiled at the man she had hit.
He looked to be around twenty-seven. Tall, dark-skinned, with curly black hair and glasses, dressed in a perfectly pressed suit.
But the man did not smile back right away.
He only stared at her as if he were looking at something impossible.
Or miraculous.
Then Evadne's eyes widened when she saw tears gathering in his.
She gasped softly when, without warning, the man pulled her into a hug.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing, hugging my fiancée?"
Hades' voice cut in sharply.
He had just entered through the revolving door and seen the man embrace her. He immediately strode over, pulled the man away from Evadne, and put distance between them.
"Atty. Mercer?" Hades said, recognizing him. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Falcon," the man said at once, stepping back.
Then he looked at Evadne again, and his expression softened into something painfully emotional.
"You look so much like Big Sis."
He pointed toward one of the framed photographs on the wall.
It showed Ceres in the center, surrounded by five nuns and around thirty children. Beside her stood an awkward dark-skinned boy, and in the picture, both of Ceres' arms were wrapped around his shoulders.
"That's me," he said quietly, pointing to the boy.
Evadne turned to the picture, then back to him, her smile widening with warmth.
"I'm Vee," she said, offering her hand for a proper handshake. "I'm Ceres' younger sister. But I'm sure you already knew that."
The man took her hand carefully, as though still unable to fully believe she was real.
"Franco Mercer," he introduced himself. "I volunteer here at the Foundation as legal counsel."
"Thank you for your service, Attorney," Evadne said to Franco with a warm smile.
"It is the least we can do, Ms. Monteverde," Franco replied.
"Please, call me Vee," Evadne said. Then she tilted her head slightly. "And 'we'? How many of you here are volunteers?"
"Almost fifty-five percent of the people working here, baby, are not really employees," Hades answered, and Franco nodded in agreement.
"It is the only way we can give back to Big Sis and Big Brother Zeus," Franco said. "Most of us orphans were able to continue our studies without interruption because of this foundation. The orphanage never had to worry about pushing us into adoption just to survive, because the financial support it received was more than enough for us. And because of that, we were able to focus on our education instead of being transferred from one foster home to another while waiting to be adopted. So ever since we became capable, we volunteered here. It is our way of giving back for everything Big Sis and this foundation gave us."
Evadne's expression softened.
"Thank you, Franco," she said sincerely. "For honoring my sister's legacy."
Franco smiled, but there was emotion behind it.
"She did not only give us hope," he said quietly. "She gave us love too... when we thought even our own parents did not love us. We will honor her legacy, and Big Brother Zeus' legacy, forever."
Their conversation was interrupted by a stern yet melodic voice.
"Atty. Mercer, Madame Falcon is waiting for you in the conference room with the others."
All three of them turned toward the woman who had just arrived.
She was wearing a skirt suit, neat and elegant in a severe kind of way. Though she looked formal and reserved, with her eyes hidden behind thick reading glasses, no one could deny the beauty beneath them.
"Ah, yes. I am on my way, Ms. Hope," Franco said to the woman before looking back at Evadne and Hades. "I am truly glad to meet you, Vee. And just a warning... do not be too surprised if some random person suddenly hugs you in this building. But I will apologize in advance on their behalf."
He dipped his head slightly, then walked toward the elevator.
"Young Master, Madame said that you may wait for her and Madame Cielo in her office for the time being," Ms. Hope said before turning to follow Franco.
"Baby, let's go," Hades said, taking Evadne's hand to lead her away.
But he stopped when he realized Evadne had gone still.
"Baby?"
Evadne slowly looked at Hades as if she were in a trance.
"Who was that woman?" she asked.
There was something in her voice that Hades could not quite read.
"She is Remi Hope," Hades answered, brows knitting with concern. "She is Mom's executive secretary. Why?"
"How long has she been Mom's secretary?" Evadne asked.
"Five years, I think," Hades said. "Like Franco, she has also been volunteering here since high school. And when she graduated from Harvard, she applied for the position."
"Five years?" Evadne repeated, almost to herself.
"Baby, is something wrong?" Hades asked.
"She is an archangel," Evadne whispered.
The words were soft, but loud enough for Hades to hear, and his eyes widened instantly.
He stepped closer to her at once. From a distance, they would have looked intimate. Only the two of them knew the worry that now filled their eyes.
"Are you sure?" Hades asked. "Could you be mistaken?"
He did not truly doubt her, but he had to ask.
"Hades, I am very sure," Evadne said. "I feel her celestial aura the same way I feel Uriel's."
"How can that be?" Hades asked, stunned. "Remi Hope is the girl Ceres saved in that accident."
Evadne's eyes flew wide.
"What?!" she asked, shocked.
"It is true, baby," Hades said. "She was the girl who was supposed to be hit by the truck that killed Ceres. And she has been volunteering here in the foundation all these years out of gratitude for the life Ceres saved."
He looked around instinctively, lowering his voice.
"Let's not talk here. Let's go to Mom's office first."
He gently led Evadne toward the elevator, and she could only move and follow because, in that moment, her mind no longer knew what to make of anything.
She was absolutely certain that Remi Hope was an archangel.
But if she was truly the girl Hades said she was... the six-year-old child Ceres had saved, the child whose rescue had cost Ceres her life... then nothing made sense.
She could not have been sent by Michael to keep an eye on the Falcons, because Michael and Evadne had only met less than a month ago.
So what did Remi want with the Falcons?
Evadne remembered her conversation with Ceres during her last dream session with Uriel. Ceres had said that Lucifer sent her to Solmara with the Fates' consent because she died before her time.
Then Evadne remembered Hades' dream and what Caelithariel had told him there.
Ceres' death was not an accident.
And in that moment, only one thing made sense to her.
Remi had made that accident happen.
But the biggest question remained.
Why?
Why would an archangel kill Ceres?