Semua Bab Four Babies and a Billion Dollar Lie: Bab 181 - Bab 190

RealizationAres watched the footage as if it might rewrite the years he had lived without knowing the truth. The laptop screen before him gleamed in the dim light of his study; on it, the masquerade clip hammered through his speakers with the same clumsy audacity that had seized the city when Jude’s files first leaked.The broadcast had spread like wildfire, raw, uncut, and merciless and Ares had not been able to avoid it. Not when half the networks were replaying the scene and social feeds had turned it into an animal of its own.He sat very still, one hand over the mouse, the other wrapped around an untouched glass of whiskey. The image looped: golden chandeliers, feathered masks, a swirl of glitter and silk, and his younger self, leaner, looser, a man who moved through the world without consequence. For a moment he had been only a shadow in the crowd, a laugh and a prop in other people’s memories. Now that shadow had grown teeth.The clip showed him at the first bar, a drink in o

Richard’s Truths and Broken DoorsRichard arrived at Marcus’ mansion just as the sun was lowering itself behind the city skyline, throwing long, soft shadows across the yard. The light caught in the metallic bars of the gate and in the thin film of dust on the steps. He paused a fraction outside, hand on the iron, and breathed once, the inhale shaky with a tension he could no longer keep folded inside him.He had rehearsed the words all morning in the car, had run them in the mirror at least three times, feeling their weight each time he tried to make them soft. Nothing had made them lighter. Nothing had made this less like stepping off a cliff.When Tessa opened the door, she was still wearing the tiredness of the day, her hair pulled into a messy knot, one sleeve pushed up, the marks of the morning still smudged at her wrists. She looked at him like a woman who had been waiting a long time for people to show up at her door only to come and go without meaning. There was the familiar

The Proof That Broke AresAres had woken that morning feeling strangely hollow. Not angry or restless. He was just empty. He had been living in that numbness for weeks, ever since his parents died, ever since the footage of the masquerade hit the internet, ever since the whispers began circling Tokyo like a storm searching for where to strike. He told himself he didn’t care. He told Ayisha, coldly and without wavering, that he would never take a DNA test, never acknowledge anything tied to Tessa.He had convinced himself of that lie so cleanly that even he believed it. But lies had short legs and truth had a longer memory than any man.It was just after nine when his phone buzzed. A soft notification. Not dramatic. Not suspicious. Just a normal vibrating hum on the far end of his desk.Ares barely glanced up from the document he was pretending to read. He wasn’t processing a single word. His mind had been drifting since dawn, circling unhelpful places, Ayisha’s shocked expression, Ju

The WillThe room felt too full, even before anyone spoke. It was the kind of silence that pressed itself against the skin, heavy, waiting, expectant. Tessa stood beside the long dining table, her hands loosely clasped in front of her, pulse thudding in the soft place beneath her jaw. She had expected a quiet afternoon.She had expected to prepare for the children’s return from school, maybe listen to Ayisha rant about something irrelevant and distracting. She had not expected a procession of men in dark suits walking into Marcus’ mansion like an army with a single mission.Ayisha hovered near her, adjusting her scarf with restless fingers. She kept glancing at the line of lawyers as if they were unexpected guests who had arrived without RSVPs. Ares stood a few paces from them, arms crossed, his expression carved from stone. No greeting, no glance at Tessa, no acknowledgement of the chaos his presence always stirred in her blood. He did not look angry, or triumphant, or even composed.

Because If I Don’t…Tessa had held herself together for days, tight, controlled, stitched by willpower and the stubborn belief that she needed to stay calm for the children. Marcus’ mansion felt too large, every hallway echoing sadness.Marcus’ scent still clung to the curtains. His shoes still sat near the foyer. His handwriting still marked notes on the kitchen counter as if he were returning. The silence pressed against her chest, squeezing her breath until her ribs ached.But Ayisha’s voice had not helped. It had chipped at her, pushed at her, filled her head with thoughts she wasn’t ready to consider. Ayisha wasn’t malicious, she was just loud, bold, unfiltered, always speaking what Tessa wasn’t brave enough to vocalize. And today, Ayisha’s words had landed like cracks on a fragile surface.“You’re his widow, Tessa. His actual widow. You have rights. You have access. You have ownership, stop sulking. You won.”Tessa had tried to focus, tried to answer calmly, tried to reason wit