Hades' Cursed Luna novel Chapter 58

Eve~

I blinked up at him, confused for a second. "What?"

"Who is she?" he echoed.

I looked back at the sketch of the unknown woman. "It’s just a sketch. I don’t know who she is," I mumbled.

His hold on my chin tightened before he finally loosened his grip. Judging by the strain in his features, he wasn’t satisfied with my answer.

"Don’t lie to me," he drawled.

"What is this about? How would I know her? She doesn’t exist."

His eyes darkened at my last statement, and I realized it was more than it seemed.

"You’ve never seen her?" he asked.

"No," I answered. "Never."

"Not even once?"

"No, Hades," I replied, trying to calm my racing heart. What was this about? For the first time since I’d known him, he looked a bit rough around the edges. His hair was tousled like he’d been running his hand through it repeatedly. His tie was loosened, and his pupils had shrunk. He was the embodiment of agitation.

"What happened?" I asked tentatively.

His eyes shifted to me, making me feel small. "Are you willing to take a polygraph test?" he asked.

My heart lodged in my throat at the question, my mind racing. Did he suspect me? Had I not been convincing enough about my identity? But I swallowed my mounting dread and nodded.

"Why not?" I replied, a slight tremor in my voice. "I am willing."

His eyes narrowed. "Are you sure, Red? You don’t have anything to confess?"

I raised a brow. "What could I have to confess?" I asked pointedly.

"If I find out you’re deceiving me..."

A hard lump formed in my throat. I did have many things to confess. So many lies had been told from the very beginning. But if I confessed to deceiving the hand of death, I’d be dooming not just myself but the innocents of Silverpine as well. I bit my tongue until it bled. "You’ll torture me? It wouldn’t be the first time." Time to be a smart mouth.

The strain in his face eased, but his features contorted into something far more deadly. "You have not yet known torture by my hands. That was child’s play."

My breath caught in my throat, but I refused to show how shaken I was. "I am willing to take the polygraph test."

---

The next day, Hades stared at me, his eyes cold and calculating. The tension in the room was unbearable, and I felt every second stretch into an eternity. Without another word, he gestured for one of his men to enter the room. The man carried a briefcase and swiftly set up the polygraph machine on the table between us.

I tried to control my breathing as the wires were attached to my body. The steady beeping of the machine filled the silence, amplifying my already pounding heartbeat. Hades stood nearby, arms crossed, his gaze never leaving my face.

"Are you comfortable?" he asked, though the question felt more like a threat than a courtesy.

"As comfortable as I can be, considering," I replied, my voice steadier than I felt.

He leaned forward, his jaw tight, eyes still dark with suspicion. "Let’s begin."

The man operating the machine nodded, and Hades stepped closer, towering over me. His presence was suffocating, each second dragging the tension tighter around us.

"Do you know the woman in the sketch?" he asked, his voice low, dangerously calm.

I glanced at the sketch on the table, the unfamiliar woman staring back at me from the page. My hands clenched in my lap, but I forced myself to look Hades in the eye. "No," I said firmly. "I’ve never seen her before."

The machine beeped softly, its rhythm unchanged. Hades’ expression didn’t shift, but I saw the flicker of doubt in his eyes.