Virgin At 25-Chapter 115: A DEAD LANGLEY…

The mansion was already in motion when Camila Langley walked in.

Voices overlapped. Footsteps echoed sharply against marble. A stretcher was being pushed down the corridor, sheets pulled high, wheels rattling as two doctors were ushered out by security.

"Please, this way quickly."

Phones rang everywhere, on tables, in pockets, in clenched hands. One call ended, another began before the screen even dimmed.

"Has anyone contacted the hospital director yet?"

"Security, lock down the east wing."

"No staff leaves the property."

Servants stood in clusters along the walls, whispering behind trembling hands.

"I told you something was wrong..."

"He said not to disturb him..."

"God help us..."

Camila froze just outside the guest room.

"What is happening?" her voice cut through the noise again, sharp and controlled...

No one answered her immediately.

A security officer stepped forward, lowering his voice. "Ma’am, please, this isn’t the time..."

Her heels struck the floor as she moved past him. "I asked a question."

A doctor glanced back briefly, his face grave, before disappearing through the front doors.

Another voice rose urgent, panicked.

"We can’t let the press find out yet."

The housekeeper wrung her hands. "Sir Victor instructed us not to enter his room this morning. He said he needed rest."

Silence rippled through the room for half a second.

Camila’s gaze snapped toward the staircase.

"Where is my husband?"

No one met her eyes.

Inside the man who controlled everything... moved nothing at all.

The mansion erupted.

Doctors were ushered out of the guest room one after another, white coats brushing past marble walls, murmured medical terms colliding with sharp whispers.

Phones rang once, twice, nonstop.

"Lower your voice."

"Close that door."

Two guards moved swiftly to block the hallway. Another stood by the staircase, hand already pressed to his sides.

Camila Langley stood at the center of it all, her eyes searching vigorously for one person... Aec

Perfect posture. Pale face. Hands trembling only when no one was watching.

"Clear the hall," she said sharply. "Now."

The staff moved instantly.

Aec came out just as the doors to the guest wing were being pulled shut.

He still had the folder in his hand.

The signed inheritance document.

He stopped the moment he saw the tightened security, the lowered voices, the unnatural stillness beneath the noise.

Camila turned and saw him.

Her breath caught.

"Aec," she said quickly, already moving toward him. "Come with me."

He didn’t move at first.

"What’s going on?" he asked, eyes scanning the chaos behind her.

She didn’t answer.

She took his arm and pulled him a few steps away from the guest room door far enough that the whispers blurred, close enough that the weight of it all pressed in.

Her composure cracked.

Just slightly.

"Your father is gone," Camila said, voice low but steady. "We don’t have time to waste."

The words landed.

Aec didn’t react immediately.

Then he laughed.

"Waste time you said" he repeated flatly. "That’s it?"

Camila swallowed. "This isn’t the time for you to prove stubborn "

"You called me aside," Aec cut in, his gaze flicking briefly toward the closed door, then back to her. "So say what you actually want to say."

Her fingers curled into the fabric of her dress.

"The documents," she said. "You have them. Since Victor is no longer, since he’s passed, they should be handed over to me."

There it was.

Aec stared at her.

Slowly, his expression shifted not grief, not shock.

Disbelief.

Then contempt.

"You haven’t even finished announcing his death," he said quietly. "And you’re already collecting paperwork."

Camila stiffened. "This house is unstable right now. Everything must be secured."

"Secured," Aec echoed, scoffing. "You sound prepared."

Her eyes flashed. "Watch your tone."

He stepped closer.

"You don’t look like a woman who just lost her husband," Aec said coldly. "You look like someone checking items off a list."

Camila’s lips parted.

"That’s unfair," she snapped. "You have no idea what I..."

"No," Aec interrupted, lowering his voice, lethal calm settling in. "You seem to have known exactly what was coming."

Silence hit between them.

For the first time, Camila faltered.

Aec lifted the folder slightly, then let it fall back against his side.

"These documents were meant for Victor Langley not Camila," he said. "Not you."

"Aec..."

He turned away from her without another word.

Walked straight out.

Camila stood frozen, the noise behind her swelling again as the guest room door opened briefly to usher someone else out.

Her hands shook now.

Not from grief.

From shock.

From losing control.

She stood there, just steps away from the epicenter of the chaos, watching as Aec crossed the hall and stopped near the staircase.

One of the doctors approached him.

Aec didn’t notice her watching.

"Mr. Langley," the doctor said quietly, glancing around before lowering his voice further. "I wanted to speak to you privately."

Aec turned.

"Yes?"

The doctor hesitated, then leaned in slightly.

"Your father had no prior indication of heart failure severe enough to cause sudden death," he said carefully. "It was... unexpected."

Aec’s grip tightened around the folder.

"What are you saying?" he asked.

"I’m saying," the doctor continued, "that we will list the cause as cardiac arrest unless instructed otherwise. But I would advise a full review."

Aec nodded once.

"Thank you," he said. "That’s all."

The doctor stepped away.

Across the hall, Camila watched as Aec stood still, eyes dark, unreadable.

He didn’t look back at the guest room.

He didn’t look back at her.

Victor Langley was dead.

And somehow, the house still felt like it was holding its breath.

Aec left the Langley mansion without looking back.

The documents were still in his hand when he slid into the back seat of the car, jaw tight, eyes forward. The gates opened too slowly for his liking. By the time they shut behind him, the house was already swallowing itself in whispers, orders, and fear.

He didn’t go home.

He went straight to the office.

The building was quiet at that hour, almost sterile. His footsteps echoed as he crossed the marble floor, security snapping to attention out of instinct more than instruction. He didn’t stop. Didn’t greet anyone.

In his office, he dropped the folder on the desk and loosened his collar with one sharp pull. His phone was already in his hand.

He called his mother.

It rang once. Twice.

"Aec," Catherine answered softly.

"Victor is dead."

The silence from the end felt heavy. Not a gasp. Just silence.

Aec straightened slowly, fingers tightening around the phone. "Mom?"

Nothing.

He pushed back his chair so hard it scraped loudly against the floor as he stood. "Mom, talk to me. Are you okay?"

A breath came through the line. Slow. Controlled.

"I’m here," Catherine said at last. "I heard you."

His chest rose sharply. "You went quiet."

"I needed a moment," she replied. "That house... it finally exhaled."

Aec closed his eyes briefly, then opened them. "You shouldn’t be alone."

"I’m not," she said. "And I’m fine. Truly. I just need to lie down. The doctors warned me not to stress."

He didn’t like it. Not the calm. Not the timing. "I’ll come to you."

"No," Catherine said gently, but firmly. "Stay where you are. Do what you need to do."

"You have the documents?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Good," she said. "Then rest doesn’t belong to you yet."

The call ended quietly.

Aec lowered the phone slowly and stared at the dark screen for a second too long. Then he placed it on the desk and turned to the window.

Below, the city moved like nothing had happened.

Victor Langley was dead.

And the world was not aware yet...

The phone rang again.

Aec hadn’t moved from the window yet when the vibration cut through the silence. The screen lit up with a name he hadn’t expected this soon.

Mr. Hale.

One of Victor Langley’s oldest business accomplices.

Aec frowned slightly and answered.

"Mr. Hale"

"Is it true?" Hale cut in, voice sharp, impatient. "Victor. Is he really dead?"

Aec went still.

"That information isn’t public," he said coldly. "Who told you that?"

A short laugh crackled through the line. Nervous. Wrong.

"Camila," Hale replied without thinking. "She called earlier. Said we should be prepared. That things would be... changing."

The words landed like a quiet explosion.

Aec’s grip tightened around the phone.

"She called you," he repeated slowly.

"Yes," Hale said. "She said the board would be informed soon, but it was better we heard it from family. You know how she is always thinking ahead."

Aec didn’t respond.

Behind the glass, the city kept moving. Cars. People. Noise.

Inside him, something locked into place.

"I see," he said finally.

Hale hesitated. "So... are we meeting today? Or..."

The line went dead.

Aec lowered the phone.

The office was not where he was supposed to be... but he was confused too

Now that Victor was dead, how would things play... He was still thinking when his phone buzzed again...