Chapter 157 CHAPTER 157
Regrets while yelling
Lady Bianca had never been a subtle woman, not before the stroke and not after it. Even sitting in a wheelchair, wrapped in a soft shawl the nurse insisted she wear, she carried the same fierce spark in her eyes. And tonight, that spark was burning hot enough to drag her across the driveway.
The staff member pushing her chair looked terrified, glancing back every few seconds as if hoping she would change her mind.
She didn’t.
“Move faster,” she snapped.
“Ma’am, he said you’re not supposed to—”
“Did I ask what he said?” Lady Bianca barked. “Push me to that door.”
Marcus’ mansion stood directly opposite Ares’, massive, expensive, and smug looking even at night. Warm lights glowed from the windows, and the faint hum of a quiet evening floated across the small distance between the estates. To anyone else, it was a peaceful, elegant night.
To Lady Bianca, it was war.
When the wheelchair reached the front porch, she didn’t wait. She used her good hand and slammed her fist against the door.
“Marcus!” she shouted, voice cracking with fury. “Open this door right now!”
The staff flinched. “Ma’am, maybe we should…”
“Again!” she ordered.
He knocked.
She knocked harder, pounding with the flat of her palm until her arm shook.
“Marcus, don’t make me call the police!” she screamed. “Open this door!”
Inside, footsteps moved. Locks clicked. Shadows shifted.
Then the door opened.
Marcus stood there in an immaculate suit, looking frustratingly calm, as if he had expected this exact moment down to the minute. And beside him, Tessa appeared barefoot, wearing a simple house robe, her hair pulled back. Her face was unreadable, pale under the golden lights of the foyer.
Lady Bianca’s chest tightened at the sight.
Tessa now married to Marcus.
Lady Bianca trembled. Not from weakness. From rage.
“Are you out of your mind?” she demanded.
Marcus raised a brow. “Good evening to you too.”
“Don’t play with me,” Lady Bianca snapped. “You married her? You married Ares’ woman? Are you insane? You left me?? For this?”
Tessa stiffened, but she didn’t speak.
Marcus stepped forward. “She’s my wife now. And you will address her with respect.”
Lady Bianca tried to stand. Her legs refused. Her pride didn’t.
“You snake,” she hissed. “You absolute snake.”
Tessa looked away.
Marcus smiled coolly. “Careful, Bianca. Your blood pressure.”
“You don’t care about my blood pressure,” Lady Bianca spat. “You care only about humiliating me and Ares. Have you no shame?”
Marcus didn’t answer.
Lady Bianca leaned forward in her chair, voice shaking from effort. “I knew she was a whore.”
Tessa’s fingers tightened around the edge of the doorframe.
Marcus’ posture hardened. “Be very careful what you imply.”
“Oh, please,” Lady Bianca shot back. “The whole city could smell the desperation off you the day you dragged her into that wedding!”
Tessa exhaled softly, jaw clenching.
Marcus stepped closer, his voice a low warning. “You are in my home, Bianca.”
Lady Bianca laughed a bitter, exhausted sound. “Thank God. Because if I were in mine, I’d have security throw you out of the whole neighborhood.”
Marcus’ eyes flashed, but before he could answer, footsteps came from behind them.
Then a familiar voice.
“Mom?”
Ares.
He came down the driveway at a fast pace, not quite running but not walking either. Lila trailed beside him, wearing a fitted dress and a polished expression, heels clicking softly on the pavement.
Ares’ gaze swept over Lady Bianca, then Marcus, then Tessa.
The air tightened instantly.
Lady Bianca could feel the shift. The electricity. The pain. The shock.
Ares’ chest rose and fell slowly as he looked at Tessa standing beside Marcus, wearing a ring that didn’t belong to her story. His fingers curled at his sides, and the muscle in his jaw ticked once.
Tessa held her breath.
For a brief moment, something passed between then a silent, aching recognition. Not love. Not forgiveness. Just… the memory of both. Something that lived in the space between what they had been and what they could no longer be.
Ares finally tore his eyes away.
He crouched beside Lady Bianca. “Why are you out here? You should be resting.”
“I came to give your father a piece of my mind,” she said sharply. “And I will not apologize.”
He exhaled slowly. “Mom…”
“No,” she said, gripping the side of the wheelchair. “No. He needs to hear it. He will not walk around pretending this is normal. He has the audacity to…”
“That’s enough,” Marcus cut in.
Lady Bianca snarled, “Don’t silence me!”
Ares rose to his full height and turned toward Marcus. His posture was calm, controlled, the dangerous type of calm that came right before something violent.
“Don’t speak to her like that,” Ares said.
Marcus smirked. “You don’t get to tell me how to run my home.”
“This isn’t your home,” Lady Bianca snapped. “It’s your stage. Your performance. Your pathetic attempt to pretend you haven’t lost control of your life.”
Marcus’ smile vanished.
Tessa shifted uncomfortably.
Ares turned toward Tessa again but only for a second. Long enough for her to feel the weight of what he wasn’t saying.
Long enough for her to feel everything he was trying to hide.
Tessa’s fingers curled tightly against her robe.
Ares saw it.
Which was exactly why he did what he did next.
He looked at Lila.
Then he pulled her toward him.
And kissed her. Lila melted into it, hands sliding up his chest, playing the role he thrust her into without hesitation. She kissed him back like she had been waiting for it, smiling against his mouth, enjoying the effect it caused.
Tessa flinched not visibly, but enough that Marcus noticed.
Marcus smirked.
Lady Bianca gasped. “Ares!”
Ares held the kiss a moment longer… then pulled back, expression unreadable.
“Let’s go,” he told Lady Bianca. “You shouldn’t be here.”
He didn’t look at Tessa again.
He didn’t have to.
The burn of the moment stretched like a fresh scar between them.
Lady Bianca gestured angrily toward Marcus. “This isn’t over. Not by a long shot.”
Marcus answered calmly, “It is for tonight.”
Tessa stepped back into the house as if wanting to disappear from the entire confrontation.
Marcus followed her, placing a hand on the small of her back like they were a perfect married couple instead of a twisted arrangement built on threats and desperation.
“Come inside,” he murmured to her.
Tessa walked through the doorway with stiff shoulders and a carefully blank face, the light swallowing her as she crossed the threshold.
Marcus lingered for one last second, directing a victorious, poisonous smile at Ares.
Ares didn’t react.
He only placed a steady hand on Lady Bianca’s wheelchair and began to push her away.
Lila looped her arm through Ares’, proud, smug, glowing with the satisfaction of being chosen at least in appearance.
Behind them, Marcus closed the door.