Chapter 109 CHAPTER 109

Chapter 109 CHAPTER 109
The Uninvited Guest
“What the hell is she doing here?”
Ares’ voice came first, low, stunned, but heavy with disbelief. He stood frozen by the staircase, eyes locked on the tall figure dragging two Louis Vuitton suitcases across the marble floor as though she owned the building.
Julian, who’d been leaning casually on the railing moments ago, straightened at once, his jaw slack. “Oh, this is bad,” he muttered under his breath. “This is very bad.”
Tessa stood beside Ares, holding the edge of the wall like she needed it to stay upright. Chloe hovered near the kitchen entrance, pale, wide eyed, speechless for once in her life. None of them said another word as Lady Bianca’s heels clicked sharply across the floor, a rhythm of authority and elegance that had no business being here.
“Mother?” Ares finally said, voice strained. “What are you doing here?”
Bianca didn’t answer immediately. She stopped at the center of the living room, straightened her coat, and looked around, her gaze gliding over the walls, the furniture, the people, like an appraiser inspecting a property she was about to purchase.
Without so much as a glance at him, she set her bag down and said calmly, “Faith, right?”
Faith, the housekeeper rushed out from the hallway, flustered. “Yes, ma’am?”
Bianca turned her head slightly. “Your name is Dorcas now.”
Faith blinked, confused. “Pardon, ma’am?”
“I said—Dorcas,” Bianca repeated, with that smooth, cold tone that never invited argument. “I prefer the name.”
Faith hesitated, glanced helplessly at Ares, but he said nothing. She only nodded weakly. “Yes, ma’am.”
Bianca adjusted the sleeves of her cream jacket, turned toward the grand staircase, and said flatly, “My room. The one overlooking the garden. Make sure it’s aired and freshened. I’ll have my tea brought up in ten minutes, no sugar.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Faith, now Dorcas hurried off, clearly overwhelmed.
The silence she left behind was suffocating.
Julian looked from Bianca to Ares, his lips twitching like he couldn’t decide whether to laugh or run. “You, uh… you didn’t mention she was coming for a family reunion.”
Ares glared at him.
Bianca started up the stairs slowly, elegantly, her heels echoing with every step. Halfway up, she stopped and turned her head just enough to address them.
“I don’t expect disturbance in this house,” she said, eyes scanning all four of them — Ares, Julian, Tessa, and Chloe. “I came here for peace and quiet. The rest of you would do well to respect that. Especially those parading themselves to be pregnant…I wouldn’t want to send back any to prison to have a baby in there.”
Then she continued upstairs, her perfume lingering behind her like a quiet, expensive threat.
No one moved until they heard her door close.
Julian finally exhaled. “Well, that was terrifying.”
Ares ran a hand over his face, muttering under his breath. “I told her not to come near me or the kids. I told her.”
Tessa folded her arms tightly, her voice thin and anxious. “So what now? She’s just… moving in?”
“She won’t stay long,” Ares said quickly, though the uncertainty in his voice betrayed him. “I think she just wants to rattle you and Tessa a little.”
Chloe scoffed from where she stood. “Oh, please. That woman didn’t come here for a vacation. She came here to make someone’s life miserable and I have a strong feeling it’s mine.”
Julian smirked faintly. “You mean ours. Because if I so much as breathe too loud, I’m dead.”
Tessa scoffed. “I thought you were bragging of how happy she will be knowing you’re pregnant with a ‘real’ Langford.”
They all turned as the faint sound of drawers opening came from upstairs. The sound of Lady Bianca settling in. Calmly. Like she’d never left. Like the mansion had always belonged to her and now it did again.
Ares paced the floor. “She’s not supposed to be here. I heard dad warned her.”
“Well, apparently she doesn’t take warnings,” Julian replied dryly. “She is your mother, after all.”
“Julian,” Ares warned.
“What? You want me to lie?” Julian shrugged. “She’s the type that would set a table on fire just to prove she still controls the matchbox.”
Tessa let out a shaky breath, sinking into the nearest chair. “We can’t live like this. Ares, she hates me. She hates Chloe and maybe our kids. She’s going to ruin everything.”
Chloe crossed her arms, her voice edged with bitterness. “Ruin? She’s already done that by walking through that door.”
Ares stopped pacing and turned to face them. “We’re not going to panic.”
Julian raised an eyebrow. “We’re already panicking.”
“Julian,” Ares snapped, though his own tone sounded dangerously close to breaking. “We’ll handle it.”
“How?” Tessa asked, her voice cracking slightly. “She already moved in, Ares! She just renamed your housekeeper! Who does that?”
“Lady Bianca,” Julian said, deadpan. “Queen of Chaos.”
Ares ignored him. “I’ll talk to her tonight. Calmly.”
Chloe gave a sharp laugh. “Oh, good luck with that. You don’t talk to Lady Bianca.”
Julian raised his soda can. “At all.”
Ares gave him a withering glare. “You two aren’t helping.”
Julian sighed, lowering the can. “Fine, fine. Serious face. Let’s strategize. How do we make the demon queen of Manhattan leave her son’s mansion in Tokyo?”
Tessa frowned. “Julian, stop calling her that.”
Julian leaned back on the bench. “You’ve met her, right? The woman renamed a grown adult in thirty seconds. If that’s not demon energy, I don’t know what is.”
Ares pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly fighting a headache. “I’ll find out why she’s here, and then—”
“She’s here because of me,” Chloe interrupted quietly.
Everyone turned to her.
Chloe’s gaze dropped to the grass. “She found out I’m pregnant. She gave me freedom in exchange of me staying away from Ares forever. I should’ve known she’d do something like this.”
Julian blinked. “Wait—how would she even—?”
“Bianca has eyes everywhere,” Ares said flatly. “If she’s here, she’s already planned something.”
Tessa’s voice turned tight. “We can’t let her find out I’m pregnant too.”
Chloe’s head jerked up sharply, eyes narrowing. “You’re so selfish thinking about yourself only. Let me shock you, she knows we’re both pregnant.”
“I really don’t want her around the kids,” Ares cut her off immediately. “Not now.”
Julian looked between them, brow furrowed. “Okay, someone explain this soap opera to me before I lose my mind.”
“Julian, shut up,” Ares and Tessa said in unison.
Julian threw his hands up. “Fine. But when your mother kills all of us, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
The sound of heels echoed faintly again from inside the house, slow, controlled. Bianca’s voice carried from upstairs, calling out, “Dorcas! I said ten minutes, not twenty!”
Julian winced. “Yup. Demon energy confirmed.”
Ares turned toward the mansion, jaw clenched. “Everyone stay calm. The last thing we need is to give her a reason to dig deeper.”
Chloe folded her arms. “Too late. She already is the reason.”

The four of them sat outside in the garden later that evening, the fading sun painting the sky in streaks of gold and orange. The tension hung heavy, unspoken but everywhere.
Ares sat with his elbows on his knees, staring blankly at the grass. Julian was sprawled across the bench beside him, sipping from a can and making occasional faces at the sky. Tessa sat quietly, her hands clasped, while Chloe leaned against the stone table, eyes cold and unreadable.
Julian broke the silence first. “So… do we fake an earthquake?”
Tessa blinked. “What?”
“I’m just brainstorming,” Julian said innocently. “Something to scare her off. Maybe a ghost? Hire a fake shaman? Pretend the mansion is cursed?”
Chloe shot him a look. “You’re an idiot.”
“An idiot with ideas,” Julian countered. “You’re welcome.”
Ares ignored them both. “She’ll test everyone. Watch every move we make. If anyone slips, she’ll use it.”
Tessa bit her lip. “So what do we do?”
Ares looked at her, then at Chloe, then Julian. “We don’t provoke her. We let her think she’s in control.”
Chloe’s laugh was dry. “You can’t out control Lady Bianca. She’s been playing that game since before you were born.”
Julian nodded in agreement. “She’s like the final boss in a family drama video game.”
Tessa leaned forward, her voice barely above a whisper. “What if she stays? Like… permanently?”
Ares’ jaw tightened. “She won’t. She can’t just leave my dad.”
Julian tilted his head. “You said that this morning about her not coming.”
Ares glared at him. “Julian.”
Julian held up his hands. “Just saying, man. She’s already unpacking. That’s not a weekend bag, that’s an invasion.”
Chloe rubbed her temples. “I swear if she gives me one of those fake smiles and calls me ‘sweetheart,’ I’m leaving this house.”
Ares stood abruptly, pushing the chair back. “Nobody’s leaving. Not yet.”
“Bold of you to think she’ll fake anything with you or call you sweetheart.” Tessa eyed.
Julian looked up at him. “Then what’s the plan, General Ares?”
Ares turned toward the mansion, where a faint light glowed from Bianca’s window. “I don’t know.”
Tessa exhaled shakily. “You need to know.”
Ares looked back at them, his expression dark but calm. “I will talk to her.”
The others fell silent. Even Julian, who usually had a joke for everything, stayed quiet.
From the second floor, Lady Bianca’s silhouette moved past the curtain — elegant, graceful, dangerous. Watching.
And in the garden below, her son and the people she despised most whispered and schemed beneath the fading sun, already knowing that living under the same roof as Lady Bianca Langford was a war waiting to happen.