Chapter 96 CHAPTER 96
Echoes of the Night
The morning light slipped quietly into Ares’s mansion, soft at first, then bolder, drawing gold lines across the floor and over the small forms huddled beneath the blankets. The air was thick with the faint scent of breakfast — eggs, toast, and warm milk. It was the kind of domestic peace that felt unnatural in a house that had seen too much of everything but peace.
Tessa sat beside the children at the dining table. Her eyes were swollen from crying, but her touch was gentle as she helped Beauty with her cereal. Pretty, still half asleep, leaned on her mother’s arm. Kamal yawned between bites, his voice too small when he spoke. “I like how you arranged our kitchen,” he said, as though the compliment might fix the ache that lived behind his ribs.
Tessa smiled. Finally they were warming up to her.
Ares stood by the counter, mug in hand, watching them. The exhaustion under his eyes was old, but there was something new layered on top, awe, disbelief, maybe even guilt. He hadn’t stopped looking at them since dawn. Every blink risked the fear that they’d vanish again.
Julian was pacing quietly by the window, phone in hand. Chloe sat opposite the children, trying to look casual but visibly shaken, her fingers tracing circles on the table. Her hair was tied back, her lips pale.
When Tessa finally looked up from the table, her voice came out soft, tentative. “Eat, babies. Then you’ll rest, okay?”
They nodded, obedient in that fragile way children are when the world has just tried to break them.
When the plates were empty and the cups drained, Ares took a long breath and lowered himself into the seat beside them. He looked at Tessa first, then at the kids. His voice was deep, careful. “Who brought you home last night?”
The question landed gently, but the silence that followed felt sharp.
Jamal was the only one who raised his eyes. He had always been the bravest, or maybe the most thoughtful. His hands were still around his cup. “Aunty Ayisha,” he said, voice trembling a little.
Tessa froze. “What?”
Jamal swallowed hard. “Aunty Ayisha brought us here. She said we were going home.”
Tessa blinked, confused, her lips parting as if words had suddenly abandoned her. “Ayisha? She kidnapped you guys?”
He nodded.
Ares set his mug down slowly, eyes narrowing. “Was she alone?”
Jamal hesitated, glancing at his siblings. “No. There was a man too. A bad man. He drove sometimes. He shouted at her.”
Tessa’s hand found Jamal’s shoulder, protective, trembling. “Did he hurt you?”
“No,” Jamal said, shaking his head quickly. “Aunty Ayisha said not to be afraid. She said... you wronged her. But she...” His voice broke. “She said she was letting us go because she doesn’t want to be bad anymore like you.”
Tessa went still.
Ares’s jaw tightened, a shadow crossing his face. He leaned back in his chair, silent. The muscles in his arm flexed, veins sharp beneath his skin, but he said nothing.
The room seemed to shrink under the weight of that silence.
Chloe leaned forward, eyes gleaming. “That's not true, your mother isn't a bad person,” she muttered, half to herself. “Kids...”
Tessa’s gaze snapped to her. “You think this is the time to gossip?”
“I think this is the time to see patterns, I am just trying to help.” Chloe shot back, her tone sharper now. “You made enemies, Tessa. You scammed people. You played games with hearts and trust and money. And now it’s coming back to bite you.”
Tessa rose to her feet. “Don’t you dare—”
“Dare what?” Chloe cut in, eyes flashing. “Say the truth? Say that your own friend has had enough of you?”
Before Tessa could answer, Julian stepped in fast, raising a hand between them. “Enough,” he said. His voice was calm but carried the kind of authority that froze both women mid-motion. “This isn’t the time.”
“She’s disrespecting me in my children’s presence,” Tessa hissed.
“You’re disrespecting common sense,” Chloe snapped back. “You scammed Ayisha, Tessa! You lied to her, took her money, and then used that same mess to find Ares and the kids. Did you think she’d just forget? Did you think revenge doesn’t remember names?”
Tessa’s face twisted in hurt. “I did what I had to do! I was a mother fighting for her children! You whore that escaped from prison.”
“By stealing from your friend?” Chloe fired. “By manipulating everyone around you? You think you’re the only one who’s suffered? You think you're the saint?”
Julian moved between them fully this time, his body a wall of calm force. “Both of you stop it.” His tone dropped lower. “The kids are watching.”
They were — four pairs of wide, frightened eyes. Pretty was clutching Tessa’s hand, her lip trembling. Kamal was staring at Chloe as though she had turned into someone unrecognizable. Beauty started to cry, softly at first, then louder. Jamal held his siblings close, his jaw trembling but trying not to break.
Tessa’s expression softened instantly. She knelt and hugged them again. “Shh, it’s okay, babies,” she whispered. “Mommy’s sorry.”
Chloe turned away, breathing hard. For a moment she looked almost sick with herself. Julian exhaled, shaking his head, and crouched beside the children. “Come on,” he said softly. “Let’s go to your rooms. You all need to rest, okay?”
Jamal looked up at him, hesitant. “We’ll come back?”
Julian smiled faintly. “Of course you will. I’ll make sure of it.”
He gathered them one by one, guiding them toward the hallway. Tessa pressed kisses to their heads as they went, tears spilling again. “Don’t leave me,” she whispered, but Julian nodded gently. “Just for sleep,” he said. “They need it.”
When they were gone, the house felt too big again. Too empty. Too full of the kind of silence that shakes.
Ares turned, his voice low but steady. “We need to calm down,” he said.
Tessa’s shoulders were trembling. “She took my kids, Ares. She could’ve killed them—”
“And she brought them back,” he interrupted.
She stared at him, disbelief burning through the salt of her tears. “You’re defending her?”
“I’m not defending anyone,” Ares said, his tone firm but even. “I’m saying we don’t know everything yet. Jamal said she talked about you wronging her. You were wrong for stealing everything from her.”
"You took everything from me!" Tessa cried.
"Let's just stay focused." Ares said.
Chloe scoffed, still pacing. “Focused? Focused on what? On another round of lies?”
Ares looked at her. “Enough.”
She laughed bitterly, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “Don’t tell me to calm down, Ares. You think I don’t see it? The whole circle’s rotting from the inside. You, Tessa, Ayisha — all of you tangled up in the same mess.”
Tessa’s eyes flared again. “You talk like you weren’t part of it...look at you, smelling pretending...”
Chloe froze, the words hitting her like a slap. “Excuse me?”
Tessa stepped closer. “You are the beginning of this mess, why the fucking hell did you kidnap me? Weren't we best friends!? Don’t act holy.”
“Don’t test me,” Chloe said through her teeth. "You fucked my man that summer!"
“I don’t have to test you,” Tessa said, voice trembling. “You’re already breaking. I didn't fuck your man, he fucked me.”
Chloe’s breathing hitched. She turned away quickly, pressing a hand to her stomach. Her face paled, and before anyone could react, she bolted toward the sink, doubling over as she threw up.
Tessa’s anger fell away instantly. Ares took a step forward, his brow furrowing. “Chloe?”
She didn’t answer, coughing, trembling. The sound filled the kitchen, raw and human. Tessa stood frozen, confusion flickering between pity and something else. Ares reached her side, placing a hand on her back, guiding her gently to a chair. “Sit down.”
Chloe wiped her mouth weakly, eyes glassy. “I’m fine,” she muttered. “Just—stress.”
Julian’s voice came faintly from the hallway. “They’re asleep,” he called.
Ares turned to Tessa. “We need to talk to Ayisha,” he said, voice flat.
Ethan woke with a start.
His heart was hammering. The sunlight poured through the curtains in hard, bright lines. His head felt like a stone. He pushed up on his elbows, blinking rapidly. “Ayisha?” he croaked. “Ayisha!”
She stirred beside him, groaning softly, her hand over her forehead. “What’s wrong?” Her voice was thick, lazy, practiced.
Ethan swung his legs off the bed, glancing around. “Where are the kids?” His tone sharpened instantly, dread crawling up his spine.
Ayisha blinked, dazed. “What kids?”
Ethan turned on her, his voice now sharp, raw. “The kids, Ayisha! The quadruplets! Jamal, Kamal, Beauty, Pretty! Where are they?!”
She sat up, pretending confusion, rubbing her temples. “What are you talking about?”
He stormed toward the door, his chest heaving. “Don’t play dumb with me!”
Ayisha stumbled to her feet, following him, swaying slightly. “Ethan, calm down! I don’t—” she slurred, feigning dizziness, “—I don’t know what’s happening.”
He turned, his face pale with fury. “The van is gone. The kids’ room is empty. What the hell did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything!” she cried, clutching the doorframe. “Maybe we were robbed, or they— they ran away!”
“Ran away?!” Ethan’s voice broke the air, furious and afraid all at once. He tore down the hallway, flinging open doors, searching room by room. The house echoed with his footsteps, his panic thickening with every empty space he found.
Ayisha stood still in the doorway, her hand trembling slightly. Her eyes glimmered, not with guilt, not with fear, but with something quieter. Relief.
She turned slowly, letting herself sink back against the wall. Her breathing steadied. Then she slid down beside the bed, pulled the blanket around her shoulders, and closed her eyes.
When Ethan came storming back into the room, shouting her name again, Ayisha didn’t move.
She tilted her head just slightly, whispering to herself in a soft, drowsy tone, “What happened? Why are you yelling?”
Her words were slurred, her eyes glassy, perfect.