Chapter 138 CHAPTER 138
The Departure
The sky was gray that morning, the kind of dull color that made everything look lifeless. The rain hadn’t fallen yet, but the wind carried that faint dampness that always came before a storm. Tessa stood in the living room, her hands trembling slightly as she folded one last stack of the kid’s clothes into a box. The air was heavy and silent as if the mansion itself was holding its breath.
Her face was swollen from crying all night, her eyes rimmed in red. Pretty and Beauty sat on the couch beside Dorcas, their small backpacks beside them, clutching their favorite stuffed animals. Kamal and Jamal were outside with Julian, waiting by the gate, pretending to kick a football around. They didn’t understand fully, but they knew something was wrong. Their mother’s silence said it all.
Ayisha came down the stairs with two suitcases. “That’s the last of it,” she said, dropping them beside the door. “I told the cab guys to park by the side gate. Less drama that way.”
Tessa nodded weakly. “Good.”
Ayisha glanced around the big marble room one last time, her expression hard. “After everything that woman and her son have done to you, this is how it ends? You just… leave?”
Tessa swallowed hard, folding another shirt, then setting it aside. “It’s not about pride anymore, Ayisha. It’s about peace. My kids deserve that. They’ve seen enough shouting, enough crying. I won’t raise them around people who think they’re mistakes.”
Ayisha scoffed. “Peace doesn’t mean surrender, Tess. You built something here. You carried that man through storms, stood by him when nobody did. And now because some washed up model in a mini skirt tells him to throw you out, you’re just going to walk away?”
Tessa turned, her jaw tight. “What do you want me to do? Beg? Fight? I’ve done that before. It never ends well. I just want to breathe again. That’s all.”
Dorcas came in then, carrying another box of toys. “Madam, the cabman is waiting.”
Tessa nodded. “Okay, Dorcas. Load them in the car.”
Dorcas nodded and began taking boxes out through the front door, humming faintly under her breath — a nervous habit she’d picked up after living with the constant chaos in this house.
Ayisha followed her to help, grumbling all the while. “If it were me, I’d make that man regret ever looking at me sideways,” she muttered.
“Please, Ayisha,” Tessa said softly. “Not now.”
Ayisha paused, then exhaled sharply. “Fine. But just know I’m not happy about this.”
Tessa forced a small smile. “You don’t have to be.”
As they loaded the last bag, footsteps echoed from the staircase. Chloe stood there, her face pale and swollen. Her long gown was wrinkled, and her hair was undone. She looked broken, a shadow of her usual self.
“Tessa…” she started, her voice trembling.
Ayisha turned sharply, narrowing her eyes. “What do you want?”
Chloe stepped closer, wringing her hands. “Please… don’t leave me here. I have nowhere to go.”
Ayisha crossed her arms. “Good. Maybe you’ll finally face the consequences of your actions.”
Chloe flinched. “I didn’t mean for things to turn out this way. I never thought Ares would…”
“Go to prison.” Ayisha cut her off. “Save it. You helped create this mess. You, Lila, Bianca…”
Tessa raised her hand gently. “Enough.”
Ayisha frowned. “Tess—”
Tessa looked at Chloe. “You want to come with us?”
Chloe nodded quickly, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Please. I know I don’t deserve it, but I can’t stay here. I’ll find a place later, I swear, I just… I just need to get away.”
Ayisha threw up her hands. “Tessa, no. She’s part of the problem! Don’t let her ride with us.”
Tessa didn’t respond immediately. She looked at Chloe and saw the desperation there. Whatever Chloe had done, she was still human. And Tessa had learned that sometimes helping someone else was the only way to keep from drowning yourself.
“Pack your things,” Tessa said quietly. “We leave in ten minutes.”
Chloe gasped. “Thank you.”
Ayisha groaned loudly. “You’re making a mistake.”
“Maybe,” Tessa murmured.
Ayisha shook her head in disbelief and stormed out to check the cars.
Upstairs, the curtains in Ares’s bedroom fluttered as he stood by the window, watching everything unfold. From that height, he could see Dorcas loading the last boxes into the cab, Ayisha pacing angrily by the gate, and Tessa standing beside the open car door, helping her kids climb in.
His chest felt hollow, like all the air had been sucked out of the room. He ran his fingers through his hair, eyes narrowing as he watched her tuck the kids’ jackets, smoothing their hair like she always did. She looked so gentle, so composed.
He told himself he was doing the right thing. That this was the only way to clean up the chaos, to rebuild his life. Lila had said it, he was wasting resources training another man’s children, letting freeloaders eat off his table. He couldn’t afford to be sentimental anymore.
But watching Tessa now, something twisted inside him, something he didn’t want to name.
Chloe came out of the house last, clutching a small bag. She hesitated at the door, looking up at Ares’s window for a second before lowering her gaze and hurrying to the cab.
Tessa didn’t look back. Not once.
Julian came running from the backyard, his face tight with worry. “Tessa! Wait! Don’t go like this. Please talk to him again…”
Tessa shook her head. “No, Julian. It’s over.”
“Please, Tess,” he tried again, his voice breaking. “Let me speak to him. Maybe he’ll listen if—”
“He’s made up his mind,” she said softly, forcing a sad smile. “And so have I.”
Julian clenched his fists, looking up at the house in frustration. “He’s not thinking straight. He’s letting them control him. Lady Bianca, Lila… they’re poisoning him!”
Tessa sighed. “You can’t save a man who doesn’t want to be saved, Julian.”
He looked at her, eyes glassy. “You really leaving, huh?”
Tessa nodded. “Yes.”
Julian rubbed his face and stepped back, voice trembling. “Then at least promise me you’ll stay safe.”
She smiled faintly. “Always.”
Ayisha called out from the gate. “Tessa! The cabs are ready!”
Tessa turned back to Julian one last time. “Goodbye, Julian. Thank you for everything.”
He nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. “Goodbye, Tess.”
She walked toward the cab slowly, every step feeling heavier than the last. The air seemed to grow colder around her. She could feel the weight of the mansion pressing on her back, memories clinging to her skin — laughter, fights, nights spent crying in that house, mornings spent pretending everything was fine.
The driver opened the door for her. She helped the kids in first, then Ayisha, then Chloe. Dorcas slid into the front seat beside the driver, still wiping her eyes.
Tessa stood outside for a moment longer, looking up at the window. She thought she saw a shadow move behind the curtain, Ares, maybe but she didn’t linger to confirm.
She inhaled deeply, blinked back the last of her tears, and got in.
The cab door shut with a dull thud.
Engines hummed, and the cars began to move slowly down the long driveway.
From the upstairs window, Ares watched them go, jaw clenched, eyes burning with something between pride and regret.
He told himself this was for the best. That she’d move on, that he’d rebuild. That someday he’d thank himself for having the strength to let her go.
But deep down, as the cab turned the corner and disappeared from view, a quiet voice whispered the truth he didn’t want to face —
He had just watched the only piece of peace he ever had drive away.
And this time, she wasn’t coming back.