Chapter 70 CHAPTER 70
Tokyo!
The private jet touched down in the pre dawn quiet of Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, glinting against the runway lights. Inside, Ares sat with his phone in hand, scrolling through encrypted emails and spreadsheets, his face lit by the glow of the screen. Numbers, transfers, shell accounts, everything was in motion. By the time the world realized what he had done, his empire would no longer be rooted in the United States. It would be here, in Japan, where no one, not even his parents would be able to touch him.
Only Julian knew.
Julian, his most trusted confidant, had been with him since the first whispers of betrayal from Tessa and Ayisha. It was Julian who helped coordinate the silent relocation of several of Ares’s most profitable businesses: the technology import firm, the shipping lines, and the quiet little luxury goods company that had grown into a multinational under Ares’s hand. All of them now carried Japanese addresses, Japanese bank accounts, Japanese registrations. Ares Langford no longer belonged to America. He belonged to himself.
The mansion was already waiting for him.
It wasn’t just a house, it was a fortress disguised as paradise. Nestled on the outskirts of Kyoto, the estate sprawled across acres of land. Traditional Japanese gardens curled through the property, koi ponds shimmered under moonlight, cherry blossom trees lined the stone pathways. But beneath the serene exterior was steel: state of the art surveillance, reinforced gates, panic rooms, and security staff loyal only to Ares. He had paid for silence, for devotion, and for protection.
No one back home knew.
Julian arrived the next day with the children.
The flight from Dubai had been smooth, and the kids—Jamal, Kamal, Beauty, and Pretty were still buzzing from the adventure. Julian, who had grown into something like an uncle to them, kept them entertained with stories and jokes the entire trip. When the jet landed, they pressed their faces to the windows, marveling at the glittering skyline of Japan.
“Uncle Julian, is this where we’re gonna live now?” Beauty asked, her big brown eyes wide with wonder.
Julian smiled, adjusting her tiny backpack on his shoulder. “Yes, princess. Your daddy has something very special waiting for you.”
And indeed, Ares was waiting.
When they pulled through the gates of the new mansion, the children gasped in unison. The place looked like a castle straight out of a fairy tale. The front doors towered above them, carved with intricate patterns, while the roof curved gracefully in traditional Japanese style. Lanterns glowed softly in the garden, lighting up the pathway as though guiding them home.
The kids rushed forward, laughter echoing against the stone walls. Ares stood on the steps, arms open, his face softened with an unguarded smile. He swept them into his arms one by one, holding them close, pressing kisses to their heads.
“You’re safe now,” he murmured, his voice low, steady. “Daddy will never let anything happen to you again.”
“We love you daddy!” They yelled together.
The mansion was more than just beautiful; it was built to keep them. Each child had their own wing—lavish bedrooms with views of the gardens, walls painted in their favorite colors, toys and books imported directly from America and Dubai. Jamal and Kamal immediately ran to the game room, their laughter filling the air. Beauty and Pretty explored the library, squealing at the sight of an entire shelf filled with storybooks.
But the jewel of the estate was the private school Ares had bought for them.
Just a few miles away from the mansion sat a sprawling school, modern yet intimate, where the children would be the only students for now. Ares had purchased it under a different name, hidden behind a network of shell companies. Teachers, staff, and even the principal had been carefully selected and sworn into secrecy with salaries that doubled anything they could earn elsewhere. The classrooms gleamed with the newest technology, the playground stretched wide and green, and the curriculum was designed to be both rigorous and private.
“Here,” Ares told them when he took them for the first tour. “This will be your school. No one will ever bother you here. No one will hurt you. This is your safe place.”
The kids, unaware of the shadows lurking behind their father’s decisions, cheered. To them, it was magic.
At night, when the children were asleep, Ares sat with Julian in the study. Papers were spread across the massive oak desk: property deeds, business licenses, blueprints of expansion projects.
Julian poured them both whiskey. “You’ve done it,” he said, his voice a mix of admiration and disbelief. “You’ve cut ties clean. America thinks you’re still there, tied up in court drama, dealing with family. And here you are, setting up an empire under their noses.”
Ares leaned back, his gaze fixed on the fire crackling in the fireplace. “They don’t deserve to know. Not even my parents. These kids are mine. My future is mine. And Japan will be where I rise again.”
Julian studied him for a moment, then nodded. “What about your parents? Eventually, they’ll notice your absence.”
Ares smirked faintly. “Let them wonder. By the time they put the pieces together, it’ll be too late. Everything I own, everything I’ve built, will be untouchable.”
Chloe was already gone.
Her escape had been planned in meticulous ways, orchestrated quietly with Lady Bianca’s reluctant help. Bribed guards, falsified paperwork, hidden routes through service corridors. Chloe slipped through the prison walls. By the time the warden’s men realized she was missing, she was already on her way to an underground safehouse, her face hidden beneath a hood, her documents newly forged.
She kept her word to Bianca: she would disappear.
“Japan.”
It was the one place that called to her, the one place she could vanish into a sea of strangers, far from the chaos of her past. Chloe boarded a flight under a new identity, her heart pounding with the thrill of freedom, her eyes set on the rising sun of Tokyo.
Back in Kyoto, the children settled into their new rooms that evening. Jamal and Kamal argued playfully over who got the bigger bed. Beauty begged Ares to read her a bedtime story, and Pretty curled against his side, clutching her stuffed bear. For a rare moment, Ares felt something he hadn’t in years: peace.
He tucked them in one by one, whispering promises of safety, of forever. Promises he intended to keep at any cost.
When the house finally fell silent, Ares stood on the balcony of his new mansion. The night air was crisp, carrying the faint scent of pine and blossoms. Below him, the gardens shimmered under lantern light, koi fish rippling through the ponds.
This was his kingdom. His sanctuary. His secret.
But as he watched the stars, a flight descended over Tokyo. Onboard, Chloe pressed her forehead against the window, her lips curving into a small, sad smile.