Semua Bab Four Babies and a Billion Dollar Lie: Bab 1 - Bab 10

Ticket to TroubleThe engine roared beneath Ares Langford’s trembling hands as his bloodshot eyes squinted through the early morning haze. Still buzzed from too many vodka shots and half a line of something he couldn’t pronounce, he cursed as blue and red lights flashed in his rearview mirror.“Shit.”He pulled over reluctantly, tossing his designer sunglasses on the dash as an officer approached with slow authority.“License and registration,” the officer said, his expression flat.“Officer, listen,” Ares slurred slightly but straightened. “I wasn’t… I mean…my girlfriend’s in labor. We’re having a baby. Like now. Water broke. There’s screaming, contractions…the whole scene.”The cop blinked, skeptical.“And that’s why you were doing 120 in a 50?”“Wouldn’t you?” Ares offered his best innocent rich boy smile. “My kid’s about to enter the world…I’m sorry officer, I promise it won’t happen again.”The officer sighed. “Hospital?”“Uh…yes. St. Claire’s. Downtown.”“Then I’ll escort you.”

You’re Not the Victim, AresAres 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 pus

A bad dayThe engagement party was underway — live orchestra, champagne towers, diamond draped guests, and a swarm of reporters buzzing about the “miracle”dad and his mysterious fiancée.Tessa Monroe stood at the top of the staircase, her heart pounding.The glittering gown scratched her skin. Her heels pinched. But the worst pain came from knowing her quadruplets, two boys, two girls were just two floors below with nannies… and not one of them had been brought to see her all evening.This wasn’t an engagement. It was a trap. A cage.Downstairs, Ares Langford shook hands and posed for photos, laughing with a senator, smiling for cameras. He looked like the king of the world.Until he saw Julian Reyes enter.Julian, his best friend since prep school. Partner in crime and confidant.Julian’s expression darkened the moment he spotted him. He didn’t even grab a drink before charging straight through the ballroom.“What the hell is this?” he snapped, gripping Ares by the arm. “Engaged?”Ar

Regret in your tearsThe call ended with a sharp click that seemed to echo in Ares’s ears. His pulse raced as he lowered the phone, jaw tight, eyes gleaming with the storm that had been building since he realized Tessa was gone. Across the room, Julian paced like a caged lion, his normally calculated composure unraveling with each step.“Are they in position?” Julian demanded, pausing only to rake a hand through his dark hair.“Yes,” Ares muttered, voice taut. “But it’s not enough. I want every unit in the city, every pair of eyes and ears…hell, every camera on the damn grid searching. Tessa and Chloe couldn’t have vanished into thin air.”Julian’s eyes flickered with frustration. “She’s scared, Ares. You pushed too hard, and now she’s running. And if she’s running, it means she doesn’t trust us.”Ares shot him a glare sharp enough to slice through steel. “Trust isn’t the point. Safety is. If she thinks she can hide from me, from her responsibility, she’s wrong. I’ll find her. And whe

Please help me“Where are you going in the middle of the night?”The driver’s voice was low, gravelly, and thick with suspicion as Tessa sat frozen in the passenger seat of the dented pickup truck. Her lips trembled as she tried to form words, her chest still rising and falling from the desperate sprint she’d taken down the dark Pinewood road.“I—I need to get to the city,” she whispered, her throat hoarse, her body trembling. “Please, sir, my babies…they’re waiting for me. I just need to get away from here.”The man grunted, shifting the gear, his eyes fixed on the road ahead as though she hadn’t spoken at all. His silence pressed down on her, heavy, unsettling. Tessa swallowed hard, forcing herself to speak louder, desperate to be heard.“You don’t understand. I’ve been trapped. My friend doesn’t know I’m gone. My children—they’re just infants. Four of them. I can’t…” Her voice cracked as tears slipped down her cheeks.Still, no answer. The headlights cut through the woods like dag