LOGINShare
CHAPTER 3
Last Updated:
2025-09-05 20:03:48You’re Not the Victim, Ares
Ares stormed down the hallway like a man possessed, shoving open the drawing room door as Tessa followed slowly behind, arms crossed over her chest, cradling her still tender body.
“Marry you?” he scoffed, pacing. “My father has finally lost it. A wedding? To a stranger who faked a baby story with me in a hospital hallway?”
Tessa didn’t respond. She was still processing the whirlwind that had hijacked her life.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he snapped, turning to her. “You started this too. You could’ve said no.”
She blinked, her eyes rimmed red with exhaustion. “I just gave birth to four babies. I couldn’t even stand up straight, and you threw a million dollars in my face. What was I supposed to do?”
“You were supposed to keep it simple!” he barked. “Play pretend, help me dodge a damn ticket, and disappear!”
Her lip trembled, but she held it together. Barely. “And now I’m being pulled into a billionaire family with news reporters asking me what kind of push playlist we used while I screamed through contractions alone!”
Ares rolled his eyes. “God, you’re so dramatic.”
“I have stitches.”
“Well, I have stakes! My future, my company, my entire life is hanging on this circus!”
She went quiet, pressing her hand over her abdomen. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Your life? You think you’re the victim here?”
Ares scoffed. “What do you know about my life?”
“I don’t. But you barged into mine like a bulldozer.”
A tense silence fell between them.
***
Downstairs, Bianca Langford was already planning a luxury wedding with crystal chandeliers and designer baby tuxedos. Upstairs, Ares was silently imploding.
His phone buzzed.
Julian texted: Bro, what the hell? You’re trending. Hard.
Ares opened the link. His stomach dropped.
Langford Heir or Master Manipulator?
Sources close to the family question if Ares Langford is really the father of the mystery quadruplets. One nurse claims she saw him asking for “abandoned babies.”
“Shit.”
Tessa sat on the edge of the sofa, wincing slightly as she tried to adjust. “Something wrong?”
“Someone’s leaking info. The story’s blowing up. This… this could get ugly.”
She looked down at her lap. “Then maybe we should just tell the truth.”
He turned sharply. “What?”
She hesitated. “We end it before it gets worse.”
“No,” he snapped. “You don’t get to suggest that. You don’t get to walk out now. You’re in this as deep as I am.”
She met his gaze, tired but clear. “But I didn’t lie to the world, Ares. You did.”
He laughed bitterly. “You think my father cares about the truth? It’s about optics. Reputation. Perception. You start a lie? You stick to it. If he knows I lied, it’s over for me.”
She stayed quiet, the heavy silence filling the room.
Ares paced again, then pulled out his phone. “Fine. You want out? Name your price.”
“I already did.”
“Double it. No, triple. Five million, final offer.”
Her chin trembled, but she shook her head. “I don’t want your money anymore.”
He blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I just want to survive this. To make sure my babies are safe. That’s it.”
“You think you can do that without me?”
“I don’t know. But I’m not doing this your way anymore.”
Ares stepped closer, looming. “You forget who you’re talking to. You’re in my house. My name is on those babies.”
Tessa looked up at him, eyes glassy. She was still afraid. Still unsure. She had nowhere to go, no money, no insurance, no one to call, no house. No plan.
“Then what’s the way forward?” she asked softly.
He didn’t answer.
The door opened abruptly. Bianca waltzed in with a team of stylists.
“Darling! We need to talk wedding dresses. Tessa, you’ll look divine in Vera Wang. Oh…and we’re holding the engagement press conference tomorrow at noon!”
Tessa nearly fainted.
Ares stepped back, his heart pounding.
This was spiraling too fast, too far…too real.
And for the first time in his charmed life, his life was falling apart. His dream was to travel the world clubbing with different kinds of women.
He was supposed to be planning a trip with Julian to Byron Bay, Australia…to relax in the laid back coastal town with stunning beaches and naked women…
Not planning a wedding with stranger!
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
My Bestfriend's Brother Shouldn't Know How I Taste
Demiah13493.0K viewsOne Night Stand With My Boss
BELLA1.1M viewsMy Marriage Is A Contract
Marvy501.2K viewsWanted: Billionaire's Wife And Their Genius Twin Babies
Pamela973.7K viewsCatching the Moon (Chasing the Moon Book 2)
Lissa B 146 viewsProtecting the Billionaire’s Daughter
Lara Hills111 viewsThe Alpha’s Unbroken Mate
El inocente 263 viewsTHE WRONG MAN'S BABY
ABY1.8K views
