Page 80 of All for her Forgiveness

"There’s something you’re forgetting, Hades," Zeus says. "Vina. How do you plan to tell her about your support for Kennedy?"

"I will call her as soon as we hang up. I made a mistake that almost destroyed my life because condemning Kennedy, an innocent, would also condemn me and King. Nothing and no one in this world will make me forsake her from now on. I will tell Vina the truth."

"And if she doesn’t believe that her granddaughter was worthless?" Christos asks.

I shrug. "She has no reason not to. I have never lied in my entire life. I can show her the video of Pam drugging the drinks, but I won't ask for her blessing. Kennedy and King are mine, and anyone who can’t accept that will be excluded from my life."

"And what about Ryan? Any news?"

"No. That bastard is still hiding, undoubtedly with the support of his family," Odin says.

"I will arrange for a reward of one million dollars to be offered to anyone who gives us the whereabouts of that scumbag. It will be all over the news in"—I look at the clock—"about half an hour."

"You’re going to declare open warfare, Hades. Not only by defending Kennedy but also by hunting Ryan. Until now, we were doing this behind the scenes," Zeus says.

"That’s the idea. I want the whole damn planet to know that not only is Kennedy mine and under Kostanidis protection, but also that I won’t stop until I catch the real culprit."

Five minutes after I hang up, I wait for the phone to ring only twice before Vina answers.

"Hades, I was hoping you would call. Tell me that report in the paper is a joke and you are not on that woman’s side!"

"That woman? I thought you saw her as a granddaughter."

"A figure of speech. Juliet is important to me, just like Pam was."

"Then why this reaction?"

"I was just . . .surprised. Can you at least explain why you’ve decided to support her?"

"I am convinced that Kennedy was the victim of a scheme."

"A scheme? By whom?"

"There were three people in that house, Vina. Ryan's connection wasn’t with Kennedy. Everything suggests it was with Pam. Kennedy will be under my protection." I pause. "Forever."

"Oh, my God! So you think Pam . . .no, that’s not possible! Pam wouldn’t do that! It would be such a disappointment if she had participated in some sordid scheme to harm Juliet."

An alarm goes off in my head immediately because her attitude shift seems abrupt.

When she answered, she acted as if she was about to demand an explanation for my supporting Kennedy, and now, with just a few words from me and without any proof, she is already considering her granddaughter, the girl she raised and who died so tragically, as an accomplice in a scheme gone wrong to harm Kennedy?

At no point did I say Pam was guilty. I merely raised the possibility of a "maybe" when I said that Ryan had a connection with her.

Wouldn’t a normal grandmother assume that her beloved eighteen-year-old granddaughter couldn’t have been influenced by her much older friend to do something so terrible, instead of, without hesitation, adjusting her viewpoint to suit the situation?

This is confirmed when she adds, "I would like to speak with Kennedy, my son. Poor girl! If what you are thinking is true, she went through hell."

Kennedy.

NotJuliet.

Vina is calling her the same name I do.

I feel like I’ve been punched in the stomach, suspicion, something that was already ingrained in my blood, amplifying.

I’ve thought a lot since I found out about Pam drugging the drinks and concluded that even if Vina didn’t know what her granddaughter intended, there was no way she wouldn’t have at least suspected that Pam’s feelings for me were no longer those of a little sister.

The two were very close, and as far as I know, Pam didn’t have any friends. Kennedy was the first one she made, so it would be natural for her to confess a little crush to her grandmother.

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