Chapter 188 CHAPTER 188

Chapter 188 CHAPTER 188
The Will
The 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. He simply looked prepared, as if he had known this moment was coming long before any of them imagined it.
The head lawyer cleared his throat softly and opened the slender, cream colored folder in his hands.
“Mrs. Tessa,” he began, turning his attention toward Tessa, “and Mr. Ares… as per the instructions left in the late Mr. Marcus Langford’s estate directives, we are here today to read his final will.”
Tessa felt Ayisha shift closer to her like a shadow attaching itself to a body. She didn’t move away. Her mind was already spinning. Marcus’ final will. She had expected one but not today. Not like this. And certainly not with Ares standing there looking like he owned the air they were breathing.
She swallowed hard as the lawyer continued.
“Before his passing, Mr. Marcus made several amendments to his will. The updated document was filed under oath and sealed until after his burial. We were instructed to read it only today, in the presence of his living child and his legally recognized wife.”
The last phrase made something twist inside Tessa not pain exactly, just a strange tightening in the ribs. She wasn’t used to being called that. She had never truly felt like Marcus’ wife. She had been placed there. Positioned. Rescued. Protected. And trapped, in a way she could not name.
Ayisha’s hand found her elbow and squeezed once, excited energy radiating from her like heat. Tessa didn’t know if she should welcome that energy or brace herself against it.
The lawyer flipped to the second page.
“In summary,” he continued, “Mr. Marcus expressed deep concern for the wellbeing of his grandchildren. He stated repeatedly that they represented the future of the Langford lineage.”
At the mention of the children, Ares’ gaze flicked barely, but enough to Tessa. She did not meet it. Could not. Not after everything. The lawyer went on.
“Mr. Marcus leaves all liquid assets, properties, companies, investments, land holdings, businesses, shares, and intellectual estates…” He paused, inhaled, and read slowly and clearly. “…to the quadruplets: Kamal, Jamal, Beauty and Pretty Langford.”
Ayisha gasped as if someone had thrown open a window in her chest. “Jesus! Everything?”
The lawyer nodded. “Everything.”
Tessa blinked. She did not breathe. She didn’t trust herself to. The room seemed to sway a little, the walls bending in and out like waves. Everything? Everything Marcus owned… belonged to her children?
She exhaled softly, the relief rising inside her like a trembling, grateful warmth. After months of threats, fear, uncertainty, public scandals, investigations, betrayals, and secrets her children were safe. Not just safe, they had a foundation now. A future no one could take away from them. Even she could not destroy it, if she ever made a wrong step again.
Ayisha was openly grinning now, nearly dancing where she stood. “Praise God! Tessa, do you know what this means? Your children are set for life! They are owners of everything, everything Marcus worked for, everything the Langford name carries.”
Tessa felt her lips part, but words did not come immediately. She placed her palm over her chest for a moment, as if steadying the heartbeat beneath. “I… I wasn’t expecting…” She stopped, tried again. “I wasn’t expecting that he would leave everything to them.”
“You were a good wife to him,” Ayisha whispered fiercely. “A good mother. God saw everything.”
But Tessa couldn’t shake the confusion threading through her relief. Marcus had never explained his decisions. He had never told her his intentions, never asked her opinion about anything involving legacy. She wondered how long he had been planning this. How long he had been thinking privately about her children, about her, about the future he had no chance to see himself.
The lawyer continued reading smaller, technical details—trustee options, estate management instructions, guardianship clauses, executor names but the heart of the will was already spoken. The verdict had already settled on the room like a storm.
Ares remained silent. He did not flinch. He did not blink. His jaw was set, his hands motionless at his sides. There was no visible reaction, no crack in his expression, no sign of approval or disapproval. He looked like a man absorbing a reality he had expected but hoped not to hear.
At one point, one of the lawyers glanced at him nervously, as though waiting for a protest that never came.
When the final sentence was read, the legal closing of the will, Tessa finally looked at him.
Ares’ eyes were fixed ahead, but something about his stillness felt loud. Too loud. Ares had always been a presence, even in silence. But now he felt distant, unreachable. Like a man watching a ship drift farther and farther away without having the strength to call out to it.
The lawyers gathered the documents neatly and began to pack their briefcases. “We will proceed with transferring all assets into the children’s legal holdings,” the head lawyer said. “We will require guardianship signatures from Mrs. Tessa until the quadruplets come of age.”
Tessa nodded numbly.
Ayisha was already talking excitedly again, unable to contain herself. “Tessa! Do you know what this means? Your children are literally the heirs to everything! My God! Nobody can touch them! Nobody can threaten them again. Not Ares. Not anybody. Their future is sealed. This is the victory we prayed for.”
Her smile was so bright it could have lit candles.
But Tessa didn’t speak. Her relief was real, yes, but it was wrapped in questions she didn’t dare utter aloud. What did this mean for her? What did it mean for the fragile peace she still fought for daily? What did it mean for Ares? She glanced at him again, and this time he turned away fully, his jaw tightening.
The lawyers gave polite bows, exchanged brief goodbyes, and stepped out of the mansion. The heavy front doors clicked shut behind them.
Silence draped itself over the living room like an unwelcome guest.
Ayisha exhaled loudly, clapped her hands once, and spun toward Tessa again. “God has done it! We’ll celebrate tonight. Those children are millionaires before they even learn how to spell the word millionaires!”
Tessa gave a small, soft smile. “I’m just relieved,” she whispered. “They have… security now.”
But her gaze slid to Ares again. He still hadn’t moved.
Ayisha didn’t notice. She was too busy rejoicing. “Thank God Marcus loved those kids the way he did. Look at this blessing, look at it!”
Tessa wanted to sit. To breathe. To think. But her legs felt rooted to the ground. Finally, Ares uncrossed his arms.
It was a small movement, barely noticeable, but it broke the tension in the air like a crack in glass. He inhaled quietly, then turned on his heel and began to walk toward the door. He didn’t look at Tessa. He didn’t look at Ayisha.
He walked like a man carrying something too heavy for his shoulders, something no one else in the room could see.
Ayisha frowned. “He didn’t even congratulate the children,” she muttered under her breath. “What is wrong with him? Ungrateful man.”
But Tessa didn’t answer. She watched the back of his head as he reached the door, the broad line of his shoulders, the controlled, practiced way he carried himself even now.
Just before he stepped out, Ares paused for the briefest moment. Not long enough to be noticeable to anyone else. But long enough for Tessa to feel a strange tightening in her stomach.
Then he opened the door, walked out into the bright late afternoon light, and closed it behind him without a sound.
Ayisha turned to Tessa again, beaming. “Forget him, Tess. Today is a good day. A blessed day. God has remembered your children.”
But Tessa didn’t move. She stared at the door long after Ares left. As if something important had walked out with him. As if something she didn’t yet understand was beginning.