Chapter 65 CHAPTER 65
Hold on…
Ayisha’s hands trembled on the steering wheel as she drove back, her knuckles bone white against the leather. The hum of the engine drowned beneath the roar of her pulse. Every time she blinked, she saw Damien’s smile, his wife’s soft eyes, the little children clinging to his legs. The picture perfect family. The lie she had walked into with open arms.
“Bianca,” she hissed under her breath, her teeth grinding. The betrayal tasted metallic on her tongue. She should have known. Lady Bianca’s fingerprints were everywhere. The sweet, flirtatious jogging partner who just “happened” to appear at the right time, the sudden attention when she felt most vulnerable. Every word Damien had said, every late night call, every smile..it had all been a carefully constructed script.
And she had fallen for it.
By the time she pulled up outside the house, her rage was boiling, ready to spill. She slammed the door and stormed inside, her voice carrying through the halls.
“Tessa!”
Her friend appeared almost instantly from the living room, worry etched into her face. “What? What happened?”
Ayisha didn’t answer immediately. She was pacing, her chest heaving as she tried to force the words out. “Damien,” she finally spat, as though the name itself was poison.
Tessa frowned. “What about him?”
“He’s married.” Ayisha’s voice cracked on the word. “Married, with children. An entire family he never told me about. I showed up at his house and his wife opened the door, Tessa. His wife!”
Tessa’s eyes widened in shock. “What? No, that doesn’t…are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure!” Ayisha snapped, tears brimming in her eyes. “Do you think I don’t know what a wedding ring looks like? Or children who look exactly like their father? He lied to me, Tessa. Lied about everything. And you know what? It wasn’t even him. It was her…Bianca.”
Tessa’s lips parted. “Bianca?”
Ayisha nodded fiercely. “She planted him. She set me up. She wanted to distract me, keep me away from you, make me look like a fool. And it worked. She’s been pulling strings this whole time.”
Tessa pressed a hand to her forehead, the room spinning. “I knew she was manipulative, but this…” She trailed off, her chest tightening.
Ayisha stopped pacing and faced her, voice raw. “You need to understand something, Tessa. We’re in the middle of a war. Bianca isn’t going to stop until she breaks you. Me. Ares. Everyone. And Damien works for her.”
Tessa swallowed hard, anger and despair twisting inside her. “I should have seen it. I should have known better.”
Ayisha’s expression softened, her voice lowering. “No. She’s good at this. She’s been playing this game longer than us. But now we know and we can’t afford to underestimate her again.”
The two women stood in silence, the weight of betrayal pressing heavy between them.
Elsewhere, Ares’ car rolled into the driveway of his mansion, but he didn’t go inside. He sat in the front seat, staring blankly ahead, Chloe’s voice echoing in his mind like a curse.
What if it was Tessa all along?
Her words had sunk into him like thorns, pricking at every doubt he had tried to bury. Tessa’s tears, her accusations, her warmth in his arms the night before it had all seemed so real. But hadn’t Chloe been right before? Hadn’t she warned him about the courts, about Tessa’s games, about Bianca’s meddling?
The worst part wasn’t that he believed Chloe. The worst part was that he didn’t know who to believe anymore.
With a growl, he shoved open the door and strode out. His steps carried him not into his house, but back into his car, toward the one place that burned in his mind.
Tessa’s house.
The atmosphere inside was already fragile when Ares arrived. The knock at the door was sharp, impatient. Tessa tensed instantly, her shoulders stiffening. Ayisha glanced at her, then went to open it.
Ares stood there, his frame filling the doorway, his expression grim.
“We need to talk,” he said, his voice clipped.
Ayisha folded her arms. “This isn’t a good time.”
“Every time is a bad time,” Ares shot back. His eyes found Tessa over her shoulder, and something in his gaze made her pulse stutter. “But we don’t have the luxury of waiting.”
Reluctantly, Ayisha stepped aside. He entered, the air shifting with his presence.
Tessa stood her ground, chin high, though her heart was racing. “What do you want, Ares?”
He didn’t answer right away. His eyes scanned her face, searching for truth, or lies, or something in between. Finally, he said, “I saw Chloe today.”
Ayisha stiffened. “We don’t need to hear about your wife.”
He raised a hand, silencing her. His gaze never left Tessa. “She thinks Tessa staged the kidnapping.”
The words detonated in the room like a bomb.
Tessa reeled back as though struck. “What?”
“She says you wanted sympathy. That you wanted me tied to you. That you’d do anything to control the narrative.” His jaw tightened, anger and doubt mingling in his voice. “And I came here to ask if it’s true.”
Ayisha gasped, fury blazing across her features. “How dare you! You think Tessa would put her own children through that? You think she would fake something like this?”
“I think I don’t know what to think anymore,” Ares snapped, his voice raw. “I’ve lost everything. Chloe, my children, my reputation. And every time I reach for solid ground, it disappears beneath my feet. So yes, I’m asking. Because I need the truth, and I don’t know where to find it.”
Tessa’s eyes burned with unshed tears. “The truth? The truth is that I’ve been fighting for my children while the world tears me apart. The truth is that Bianca has been pulling strings, poisoning everyone around me including you. And now, after everything we’ve been through, you come here and accuse me?”
Her voice broke, her fists trembling at her sides. “Get out.”
He faltered, the pain in her voice slicing through his anger. But before he could speak, Ayisha stepped between them.
“She’s right,” Ayisha said coldly. “You’re not seeing clearly, Ares. Your sweet mother already turned me into a fool with Damien. Don’t let her poison you against Tessa too.”
Ares blinked, taken aback. “Damien?”
Ayisha’s laugh was sharp, bitter. “Oh, you didn’t know? He’s married. With kids. And Bianca planted him in my path to distract me. To make me at war with Tessa. She’s doing the same thing to you.”
The room vibrated with tension, three hearts beating to three different rhythms. Ares’ anger faltered into shock, suspicion into uncertainty. Tessa’s despair deepened, her chest heaving as she tried to steady herself.
Ayisha’s eyes burned with conviction, her voice steady as she whispered the words that sealed the moment:
“Bianca is the real enemy. Not Tessa. Not me. If you can’t see that, Ares, then you’re already lost.”
Ares stared at them both, torn between Chloe’s venom and Ayisha’s truth, between his doubt and his love.
The battle lines had never been clearer. But his place among them had never been more uncertain.