Aphrodite folded her hands together, elbows resting lightly on the table, her smile never wavering as her gaze shifted between the two women before her.
Hera's eyes burned like molten gold, and for a moment, Aphrodite thought that her friend might lash out without warning.
The silence dragged, heavy and hostile, until Hera finally spoke, her voice sharp enough to cut glass.
"So it's true," Hera said, her tone trembling between rage and anguish. "You dared. You laid your filthy hands on him."
Aphrodite's smile only widened, though inside she felt her chest tighten from the venom in Hera's words.
'So direct. She doesn't even hide it. How unlike her.'
"I didn't dare," Aphrodite replied sweetly, her tone dripping with mock innocence. "He let me. He wanted me."
She leaned forward, her lips curving as she added in a hushed, almost intimate tone, "And you should know, my dear Hera, once Hades decides that he wanted something, no one can take it from him."
