Chapter 148 CHAPTER 148
The Wedding Next Door
The late afternoon sun washed Tokyo in a gold lavender haze as Ares drove through the long private road leading toward his mansion. The sleek black car hummed beneath him, a low steady vibration threading through his hands on the wheel. He hadn’t slept. He hadn’t eaten. His thoughts had been looping since dawn like a storm refusing to settle.
Lady Bianca had been discharged earlier that morning — wheelchair, strict rest, reduced speech ability. Julian had called him with the news. She was home, stabilized, but far from healed.
“You should come home early,” Julian had told him.
“A lot has changed.”
Ares didn’t ask what.
He didn’t want the answer yet.
He took a slow turn onto the driveway, eyes drifting to the row of mansions lining the private residential lane. Lights glowed from the mansion next to his, the one that had been empty when Tessa left. Staff had mentioned someone bought it recently, some private billionaire, some name no one had heard clearly. Ares never cared. Wealthy foreigners bought houses all the time.
But today…
Today, the place looked different.
Cars lined the entire driveway, silver limousines, elegant sedans, tinted SUVs. Soft music floated into the air, delicate and serene, carried on the wind like silk. Lanterns hung along the entrance of the mansion, glowing in soft ivory tones. Floral arrangements draped the walls and pillars, white and blush pink, fragrant and fresh.
A wedding.
A whole wedding.
Ares tightened his grip on the wheel.
“What the hell…?”
He parked slowly, frowning as he observed people walking in, elegantly dressed guests, smiling, holding gifts, whispering congratulations. The atmosphere was festive, almost too perfect. Too intentional.
He stepped out of his car, confusion tightening the muscles in his chest. His eyes drifted to the far right corner of the lawn, where a small crowd was gathered.
And there, next to the entrance of the decorated mansion — he saw them.
Julian and Lady Bianca.
His mother sat in a sleek, white wheelchair draped with a light cashmere blanket. Her hair had been brushed neatly, her skin pale but glowing slightly under the sunlight. Julian stood beside her, adjusting the blanket over her knees, speaking softly to her. When he saw Ares approaching, his eyes flickered.
“Hey,” Julian said quietly. “You’re back.”
Ares nodded, still trying to make sense of what he was seeing. “What is this? A wedding? Here?”
Julian hesitated. His eyes never lied, they were telling Ares to brace himself.
Lady Bianca turned slowly, her movements stiff. Her eyes widened with recognition and she lifted a trembling hand to him.
Ares knelt beside her, taking her hand gently. “I’m here, Mom.”
She blinked slowly, squeezing his fingers. Her lips moved but produced no clear words, only a soft breath of effort.
Ares’s voice softened. “It’s okay. Don’t strain yourself.”
Julian cleared his throat. “We were invited,” he said. “The staff from the new mansion came earlier. They said guests from the neighboring estates were welcome…”
Ares shot him a sharp look. “Invited by who?”
Julian swallowed. “We… didn’t know. We just came to check. Your mother wanted fresh air.”
Ares stood slowly, his eyes narrowing. Something was off. The grand decorations. The elegance. The sheer number of guests. The style of the event, nothing about it looked random.
“Who’s getting married?” Ares asked.
Julian didn’t answer immediately. He watched Ares as if measuring how much truth he could drop without the world exploding.
Ares frowned deeper. “Julian.”
Julian exhaled. “Just wait and see.”
The ceremony music shifted, soft violins rising in harmony, the kind played for brides entering the aisle. The guests all turned toward the grand staircase leading down from the mansion’s front balcony. Their murmurs rippled through the air like a tide.
Ares, Julian, and Bianca turned with them, eyes fixed on the stairs.
A soft breeze stirred the petals scattered across the marble steps.
Then, there she was.
Tessa.
She stood at the top of the staircase, a full white wedding gown cascading down like a waterfall of light. The gown was fitted around her torso, shimmering subtly with pearls, the skirt blooming outward into layers of soft tulle. A delicate veil draped over her hair, framing her face in a halo of white.
Her makeup was soft yet defined, elegant, controlled, beautiful in a way that hurt to look at.
Her expression was unreadable.
She wasn’t smiling.
She wasn’t crying.
She was simply… composed.
Behind Ares, Lady Bianca sucked in a slow, painful breath. Julian froze beside her, his eyes wide.
Ares felt his heart thud, once, sharply, painfully. His chest tightened as if invisible hands had gripped his lungs.
“Tessa…?”
His voice wasn’t loud, but the shock in it was unmistakable.
But then movement on the other side of the stairs.
A man stepped forward.
Marcus Langford.
Ares’s father. Lady Bianca’s husband.
Marcus wore a cream tuxedo, perfectly tailored, white rose pinned to his lapel. His hair was combed back, his posture tall, regal, every bit the man who had built his empire from the ground up.
His eyes swept the crowd with quiet ownership… then landed on Tessa.
He reached for her hand, she placed hers in his.
Julian’s lips parted in disbelief. “Oh… my God.”
Lady Bianca’s hand shot to her chest, trembling violently.
But Ares… Ares did not move.
He didn’t blink.
Didn’t breathe.
He simply stared as if the world had frozen around him.
As if the ground beneath his feet had cracked open.
Marcus lifted Tessa’s hand to his lips and kissed it gently, then placed it on his arm. The officiant at the end of the aisle raised his book.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he announced, “please rise for the bride and groom.”
Bride and groom.
Bride and groom.
Ares’s mind went blank. Completely blank.
His father.
His Tessa.
Wedding.
Here.
Now.
Slowly, mechanically, Ares turned to Julian.
Julian flinched. “Ares… listen, I…”
Ares stared at him, expression unreadable.
“Is this real?” he asked, voice low and steady. Too steady.
Julian swallowed hard. “It appears so.”
Ares felt something in him shift — something sharp, something cold, something ancient. But his face remained calm.
He turned back toward the ceremony.
Marcus and Tessa had reached the aisle.
The guests had risen.
The music soared.
The officiant smiled.
“Please take your seats,” he said warmly. “We will now begin the marriage ceremony of Mr. Marcus Langford and Miss Tessa Monroe.”
Julian went still.
Lady Bianca’s breathing hitched violently.
And Ares…
Ares didn’t move.
He just watched.
Watching the woman he loved, walk toward vows with the man who had raised him.
The man he was preparing to fight.
His own father.
The world around him blurred, sounds dimmed, the warmth of the afternoon fading to a cold whisper against his skin.
Tessa kept her eyes forward.
Marcus held her hand like a victory prize.
And Ares’s heart beat once, sharply, painfully then fell silent again.
Because this was real. Right next door. Right in front of him.
His father. His Tessa.
Their wedding? Everything else faded. Everyone else disappeared. The violins rose. The guests smiled.
And Ares stood in stunned, breathless silence…
…watching the woman he loved marry his father.