LOGINShare
CHAPTER 2
Last Updated:
2025-09-05 20:02:37Welcome to the Family
Ares Langford had survived many wild nights. But nothing…not drugs, not women, not crashing his father’s Bentley into the golf fountain had prepared him for this.
He stood in the grand marble foyer of Langford Manor, holding a screaming baby while three more wailed in the arms of stunned maids. Tessa, the girl he’d bribed less than two hours ago, looked like she’d entered the gates of hell disguised as a mansion.
“This one’s leaking,” he muttered, holding the baby away from his Prada shirt like it was radioactive.
Tessa snatched the baby back. “She’s peeing. You hold her upright, genius.”
“Right. Okay. Noted.”
Bianca Langford swept into the hallway like a queen returning from war. “Oh, the joy in this house!” she cried, dabbing her eyes dramatically. “Ares, darling, I’ve waited years for this moment. And look at you…already a father of four!”
Tessa gave him a sharp look. Ares cleared his throat.
“Yeah, uh… we went big. Or went home.”
“Speaking of home,” Bianca said, gesturing to the butler, “set up the East Wing nursery immediately. We’ll have the decorators in by noon. These children deserve elegance. Royalty. No…legacy!”
“Wait,” Tessa said, stepping forward. “I…uh…I don’t think I can stay here.”
“Of course you can, sweetheart,” Bianca smiled. “You’re family now.”
Ares leaned in and hissed under his breath, “You’re not helping if you blow the cover. Just stay calm. Collect your check. We’ll fix this.”
Tessa glared. “You signed birth certificates. You made this real.”
He paused.
He had, hadn’t he?
His name was now legally printed under four tiny humans. Ares Langford. Father. That title hit harder than any hangover.
Bianca turned. “Oh, and darling? I’ve arranged for the press to do a tasteful front page spread. We’ll announce the surprise birth and your beautiful love story.”
“What…press?” Ares panicked.
“We must control the narrative. Your father doesn’t know yet.”
“My father doesn’t…” Ares dropped his voice and grabbed Tessa’s arm, dragging her into a side hallway.
“Okay. We’ve got maybe six hours before my dad finds out and rips my throat out with his bare hands.”
“You think he’ll kill you?” she asked, not even sarcastic.
“He’s ex military, hates drama, and he’s very allergic to scandal. So yes, I think murder is on the table.”
She sighed. “You dragged me into this mess.”
“You agreed!”
“For a million dollars, which I have not seen.”
“Because the transfer hasn’t gone through yet! Besides, it’s not like I expected this! My mom just kidnapped your uterus and adopted it.”
Tessa crossed her arms. “You want me to keep pretending?”
“Just until I figure something out. I’ll double your payment.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Triple.”
“Add lifetime diapers and one private nurse per baby.”
“Done.”
A throat cleared behind them. Ares turned and nearly dropped dead on the spot.
Marcus Langford. Towering, broad shouldered, crisp suit, face carved from stone. The man radiated billionaire rage.
“I got a call from a reporter,” his father said coolly. “Imagine my shock. Quadruplets? A secret girlfriend? A whole family?”
Ares fumbled for words. “Dad, I can expla….”
“I don’t want explanations,” Marcus snapped. “I want results. Where are the babies?”
“Sleeping,” Ares lied. Screaming was more accurate.
Marcus’s eyes moved to Tessa. “You’re the mother?”
Tessa gave a tight smile. “Apparently.”
“Hmm.” His eyes narrowed. “What do you do?”
“I’m a nursing student. I graduate in six months.”
“Hmm. At least she’s educated. That’s a start.”
Ares let out a slow breath.
Then Marcus delivered the bomb.
“You’ll marry her. Immediately.”
“What?!” Ares and Tessa shouted at the same time.
Marcus folded his arms. “If you want to stay in my will, if you want to run Langford Global, and if you want to keep those babies under this roof then you make this right.”
“But…”
“No buts,” Marcus growled. “I built this family from dirt. You will not turn it into a circus.”
And just like that, he walked away.
Tessa turned to Ares slowly. “What the hell did you drag me into?”
“I think…” Ares swallowed, heart pounding. “I’m not getting married to you…never!”
“Neither do I want to.” Tessa scoffed, folding her arms. “Just pay me so I can leave, okay?”
“No!” Ares looked around, then lowered his voice. “You’re not going anywhere until I figure this out.”
Latest chapter
Four Babies and a Billion Dollar Lie CHAPTER 122
Please let her go“Excuse me—please, I’m looking for Detective Morenike,” Tessa said, almost breathless as she pushed through the swinging glass doors of the police station. The faint smell of old files and disinfectant clung to the air. It was past midnight, yet the front desk still buzzed with murmured voices, papers, and the hum of ceiling fans struggling against the Lagos humidity.The officer at the reception desk looked up. “Madam, she’s in Interrogation Two. Who should I say is asking?”“Tessa. Tell her it’s about Ayisha Bello.”The officer nodded and disappeared down the narrow corridor. Tessa exhaled shakily, rubbing her palms together. Her phone had been vibrating nonstop, missed calls from Julian, messages from Chloe, updates from the hospital but she couldn’t think about any of that now.All she could think about was Ayisha. She had been looking for her for days now. Thank God she could find her.Ayisha, who had been caught in the web of Ethan’s madness. Ayisha, who had tr
Four Babies and a Billion Dollar Lie CHAPTER 121
Love in the air“Do you ever wonder,” Ares murmured, staring through the small oval window, “why the people we trust the most are always the first to destroy everything we built?”Lila turned her head slightly, studying him beneath the warm, dim glow of the cabin lights. The jet hummed softly, slicing through the night sky, an endless blanket of darkness stretching beyond the glass.“I don’t think they mean to,” she said quietly. “Sometimes, people just forget that love isn’t ownership.”Ares’s laugh was tired. The kind of laugh that carried too many unspoken things. “My father didn’t forget. He planned every step, every signature, every transfer while my mother trusted him with her life.”Lila’s eyes softened. “You sound like you’ve been fighting for too long.”“I have.” His voice dropped lower. “He’s not just taking her company, Lila. He’s taking her sanity. When the hospital called and told me she collapsed again, I knew it wasn’t just the stress, it was heartbreak. He’s filing for
Four Babies and a Billion Dollar Lie CHAPTER 120
High school crush Julian moved to the window and looked out over the city. It felt dangerous and raw, as though something was always about to explode. He hated that feeling. He hated that it had followed Ares and dragged his mother into it. He turned back when he heard the quiet sound of shoes on linoleum.Chloe stood in the doorway, as if she had appeared from nowhere. She wore a long dark coat, collar turned up against the cold, and a cigarette smoldered between her fingers. The smoke hung over her. Her face was partly shadowed, but her eyes were clear and bright in their way, sharp as glass.Julian’s lips thinned. He watched her, assessing, and for a sliver of time he remember the Tv footage OG Chloe’s presence at Deez, the way she’d orchestrated fear until the police came. She didn’t see him approach. He stepped into the corridor with easy, slow movements. She exhaled, watching the smoke curl into the ceiling.“Done smoking?” Tessa said, voice cool and crisp. “Maybe now you can
Four Babies and a Billion Dollar Lie CHAPTER 119
Quiet Rooms, Passing Faces“Are you sure they’ll sleep?” Julian asked as he crouched by the bed, one hand smoothing the duvet over Jamal’s small chest.The drive back to the mansion was exhausting. Dorcas smiled without looking up from where she tucked Pretty in, her usual movements steady and patient. “They’ve always been good at bedtime when they’re tired. Your driving did them in, Mr. Julian.” She reached for Kamal’s hand and laid it over the blanket like a benediction.Kamal’s lashes fluttered. Jamal’s breathing had already shifted from hiccuped to even. Pretty’s small fists relaxed. Beauty, last to be tucked, clutched a faded stuffed elephant and blinked at Julian with sleepy trust before settling.Julian felt something in his throat tighten, a soft, private ache he rarely allowed himself to name. Four small faces, his friends’ faces lined up in the soft glow of the nursery lamp, and for a moment the world outside the mansion’s tall hedges and iron gates slipped away to nothing
Four Babies and a Billion Dollar Lie CHAPTER 118
Bloodline War“Tell the pilot to prep the jet. We leave in ten.”Ares’s voice was sharp, controlled but the fury behind it cracked through every word like lightning. He stood in the middle of the hangar, still in the same black shirt from the hospital, his sleeves rolled up, his hair disheveled, eyes burning with sleepless rage.Tessa and Chloe stood a few feet away, watching him in silence.“Ares, think about this first,” Chloe said finally. “You just got your mother admitted an hour ago. She needs you here.”He turned, his stare cutting through her. “She needs her life back. And the man who destroyed it is waiting for me in another country.”Tessa stepped forward carefully. “What if he doesn’t listen? He’s your father. He knows exactly how to push you.”Ares gave a humorless laugh. “Then I’ll push back harder.”The pilot approached, helmet tucked under his arm. “Sir, the jet is ready. Clearance has been approved.”Ares nodded once and walked toward the stairs. He paused halfway, gl
Four Babies and a Billion Dollar Lie CHAPTER 117
The Man Behind the Curtain“Mom, what do you mean the Tokyo branch isn’t ours anymore?”Ares’s voice cut through the thick air of the suite like a knife. Papers lay scattered across the mahogany table, the laptop screen still open with documents flashing in red, Ownership Transfer Successful.Lady Bianca stood frozen, her trembling hand gripping the back of the chair for balance. She had been staring at the screen for the past two minutes, unable to process what she was reading.“It’s gone,” she whispered finally, her voice breaking. “The Tokyo properties, the warehouse in Osaka, even the accounts connected to them,” she swallowed hard, blinking through her tears, “Your father took everything. Everything in America too. Every single thing. All our accounts are frozen.”Ares stared at her, the muscle in his jaw twitching. “That’s impossible. He can’t just…”“He can.” Bianca’s eyes lifted to meet his. They were red, hollow, almost empty. “They were under his name, Ares. He transferred t
You may also like
In Love With The Hot CEO
Tula574.2K viewsHiding the Twins from Their Billionaire Father
Pixie487.8K viewsMadam Winters’s Fight For Her Children
Summer Wine1.2M viewsAccidentally Married
Swiftpen123876.8K viewsRevenge: Rising Beyond the Tempest
Blissful Ositas388 viewsMy Ex-husbands Secret Regret
Blackrose245 viewsTHE CEO CONTRACTED WIFE
AUGUSTINA T490 viewsReclaiming What's Mine
D Infinity132 views
