Four Brothers and a Bride

Chapter 114: Chapter 114

ASHTON

Ashley’s raised voice on the phone catches my attention. | retrace my steps and advance towards his room.

"Ash, are you okay?"

When he doesn’t reply, | let myself in. His room is a hot mess. He continues to stand and beg on the phone. From

the snippets of his conversation which | manage to pick up, he’s talking to Demi. They've been in a very bad

place since her miscarriage. She’s gone off the rails. Ashley chucks his phone to the corner of the room and rubs

absentmindedly at a spot just above his eyebrow.

"Hey, Ashley, calm down."

"She’s not coming home, Ashton. She’s so pissed atthat she has moved in with Anna for the tbeing." He

whistles a breath while a small, unfunny smile tugs at the corners of his lips. "She doesn’t know how long she’ll

be staying or how long it'll take her to forgive me. She'll stay at Anna’s, go to work from there and will only

return to the mansion when..." He trails off and plunks down on his bed.

"When what?" | ask, crouching beside his nervous form. | haven't seen him this nervous since Shay’s attacks.

"When what, Ash?"

"When | tell the entire family about Nicci."

"Nicola? What's there to tell?" We all know she’s his ex whom he hasn't been able to let go of. Why would Demi

be upset about Nicola right now?

"I don’t understand, Ashley. Did Nicci have something to do with Demi’s miscarriage?"

"No." Ashley pushes to his feet and holds his head in his hands. "God, | fucked up." He starts pacing his room and

with every gasp or bad-tempered kick to the innocent furniture, my anxiety grows. | grab him by his shoulders

and try to shake scalm into him.

"You have to stop beating yourself up about the miscarriage. There's nothing you could have done. You didn’t

even know about the pregnancy to begin with. Give Demi stime. She's still grieving. She’ll caround

eventually."

Demi can’t stay over at Anna’s for too long. If father gets wind of her recent relocation, he'll just send

bodyguards to go pick her up.

"We'll have to keep this from father so he doesn’t send men in black to go forcefully bring her back home.

Mother too. She's a bit anxious about Demi’s hysterical display the last tso she may side with father in

bringing her home. That might just worsen thing between you and Demi..." | trail off when I realize Ashley

shaking his head. "What is it?"

"You don’t understand."

"Then makeunderstand."

"Nicci has nothing to do with Demi losing our unborn child."

"Then what does Demi want you to tell the family about Nicci?"

Ashley fixeswith a frustrated look. There, in his eyes, realization dawns on me. My fingers fall from his

shoulders. It can’t be. This time, | shake my head and laugh nervously.

"You didn’t. Tellyou didn’t!"

"I didn’t mean to. It was an accident!"

"AN ACCIDENT? DEMI JUST LOST HER CHILD AND YOU'RE HAVING ANOTHER WITH YOUR EX? HOW COULD YOU BE

SO RECKLESS?" | shove at his chest, anger blazing in my eyes. Why does he always have to make Demi suffer?

"I'm sorry. | didn’t want this."

| rake a hand through my hair, suddenly feeling intense grief for Demi. No wonder she lost it the last time. This is

the worst period of her life. She has been betrayed by her family and her husband while nursing tremendous

pain over the loss of her child. How could Ashley do this?

"Ashton, please, | need all the help | can get. Nicci is keeping the baby but she doesn’t want to be a single mum.

She's threateningto divorce Demi and marry her or she'll reveal everything. She’s got steamy videos and

pictures of us together. She has screenshots of our messages, recordings of our calls. | don’t know why she

flipped in one night. She's trying to ruin me."

Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt

"And that is supposed to be surprising? She has done it once before and yet you let her back into your life. | can’t

believe you're even more worried about yourself right now. What happens to Demi? Are you going to do Nicci’s

bidding and cast your wife away in spite of everything she’s been through?"

"No, | won't. Believe me, I still cherish Demi. | don’t want things to end between us like this. | still care about her

but Nicci’s pregnancy is more urgent right now. If | don’t find a way to handle this, then everything | have

suffered to build, including our family’s reputation, will go up in flames. Ash," He takes my hand with a pitiful

look on his face. "lI can’t sink into that depressive state again. | don’t think I'll make it this time. Please help me

talk to our brothers. I'll need all hands on desk to fix this problem of mine. I'll even forgive Asher if that's what

it'll take to put his mind to work to helpdeal with Nicci."

He’s desperate. | yank my hands away from his and indulge in a long sigh.

Everybody sits quietly after | drop the bomb on them. Asher is done feeling guilty like father asked and sits with

his head held high. However, his face is pinched with worry. | know he’s deliberating on a quick solution so

nothing affects the company’s stock market prices. Ashal’s face is hard to read.

"Does mother know?" Ashal asks.

"Yes. She has promised to think of a plan but | am too nervous to leave you guys in the dark. | know we somehow

find a way to fix our messes faster and neater as quads so | thought to share."

Asher scoffs. "You're right about us cleaning our messes faster and neater but don’t forget most of those messes

happen to be false claims against us, emphasis is on the word ‘false’. If Nicci is truly pregnant with your child,

then you picked the worst tto sire a child. If her career was still thriving and her father was still in power, she

wouldn't have even told you about the baby in order to preserve all that. She would have terminated it quietly."

We all give him a look.

"I'm sorry. | know it’s too soon to make comments like that but you get what | mean."

"No, Asher, we don’t." | reply. "Why don’t you elaborate?"

"I'm not advocating for an abortion. | have learnt my lesson. | think | might have a way of convincing Nicola to

keep the baby without tainting Ashley’s nand reputation."

After he shares his plan with us, Ashley exhales deeply.

"I hope this works."

"It will, trust me." Asher givesa look | instantly recognize. | nod at him. "Hey, Ashley, Ashal, there's

something | have to tell you guys but you must promise not to lash out or give away the fact that you've cto

know the truth." His eyes sweep the room. He rubs both hands together and huffs out a breath.

"Ashley, | didn’t have Demi attacked. It’s like | told you from the jump, | didn’t do it."

Ashley steals a glance at me, then back to Asher. "If you didn’t do it, then who had those men attack her and kill

my baby?"

A long, uncomfortable pause follows his question. Asher trades glances with me. | turn to the rest of my brothers.

"Father did it."

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"That can’t be true."

Ashley is up on his feet with a murderous look in his eyes. They wheel to Asher. "I told you | was ready to forgive

you if you helpedout with Nicci. What's the need to lie against our father just to save your hide?"

"He's not lying, Ashley." | defend Asher uncharacteristically. Everyone turns to me. "Father arranged everything.

He had his men attack Demi and by his men, | mean the sones that hover around him and this mansion

every damn day. He doesn’t need to hire thugs. Most of our bodyguards have worked with him for a very long

time. They'll do his bidding without asking questions even if it's an order to maim one of us."

"What are you talking about?"

"Sit down, Ashley. There's a lot | haven't told you guys but that’s about to change. Letstart by saying that

Asher is telling the truth. Father had him take the blfor Demi’s attack to cover his own tracks. Asher didn’t

do it. Sure, he isn’t particularly fond of Demi and is the most culpable of the crcommitted against her but he

truly didn’t do it this time. He told father over brunch that Demi is pregnant. Displeased with the idea, father

texted Nessa with instructions to distract Asher and even drug him so his minions can go take care of his dirty

work against Demi."

"Yeah, Nessa confessed everything when I confronted her."

Ashley’s eyes droops with pain. "How could father do that to me? That was MY child!" His eyes are misty when

they climb back on my face.

"Trust me, there's a lot about father’s distasteful acts that you don’t know. For now, we have to keep Nicci’s

pregnancy away from him."

"Why? Is he going to kill her baby too if he finds out?"

"Do you really want to find out, Ashley? That's what I thought." Asher replies.

"Does this mean that Olivia is in danger too?" Ashal breaks his pensive thoughts. He looks up at us frightfully. "I

also told father about her pregnancy. Could he be plotting to harm her too?"

1 go to him. "Calm down, Ashal. | don’t think father will touch Olivia for now given your threat. He was only able

to hurt Demi because he believed Ashley would never suspect him. He does things like this and ensures that

fingers will never be pointed accusatorily at him. | think Olivia is in the clear for now."

With that said, | hurry to inform them about our sister. | also need everyone to be onboard with the plan to find

and protect our sister from father’s claws. | tell them everything | have learnt about Zoe/Adriana so far.

"You broke your promise!"

"I know, Asher and | apologize. | tried to ignore it. | really did but | just couldn't. | wanted to pursue the lead | had

till | confirmed that the story was false. | was too afraid to be riddled with guilt if it turned out to be true and our

sister is out there somewhere."

"You also lied about Cree." Ashley adds with a bitter stare.

"Again, | apologize for that." | keep my eyes on Ashley this time. "I wanted to confirm the truth of her words

before bringing this to you all. I'm sorry. | know it seemed insensitive when | kept defending her after what you

went through but that wasn’t to spite you. She was helpingout with finding Adriana. | hope you can

understand." Ashley dismisses my plea with a wave.

"Can we see the picture Keith sent?" Ashal asks. A small smile breaks on my face as | quickly whip out my phone

and pass the photo along. They all take turns to get a good look at her.

"She looks familiar."

I turn to Asher. "How so?"

"I met someone that looks just like her a while back. | can’t say for certain that they're one and the sbut the

resemblance is there." He passes my phone back to me. Can | join you in meeting her? I'd know for sure if | see

her again."

"I don’t think Keith or Adriana will like that. Maybe sother tif she allows it. She seems like the jittery

type for good reason."

My words remind everyone of the horrid details of the demise of our biological parents. My brothers are all

finding it difficult to digest and | can relate. Asher insists that he won't believe that bit until he questions Cree’s

informant. Ashal concurs with him but Ashley remains mute. | bet he is adjusting his view on father’s capabilities

given the heartless murder of his unborn child.

My phone beeps with a message.

"I have to go. I'll see you all later. Ashley, everything will be fine. We'll fix this."

Mila has been callingnonstop. | don’t know why she has chosen to be so clingy and insecure since we

officially got engaged. It’s honestly annoying.

A lot has been going on in my family lately. | agree that | haven't necessarily opened up to Mila about any of it

just to ensure nothing leaks. Mila has shownthat she has a tendency to threaten to expose secrets when she

doesn’t get her way. Until she becomes a member of the family, I plan to keep her in the dark about a lot of

things.

Besides, | doubt she'll truly sympathize with Demi. The two of them don’t exactly gel as friends.

Speaking of Demi, | spot her sitting by herself on a table tucked away from the best views of the small café. She

has sunglasses on. Her drink is untouched. She merely twirls her straw around the cup, sloshing the non-

alcoholic beverage with less gusto.

When I slide into the seat across from her, she barely acknowledges my presence.

"HL

"If you're here to plead on your brother's behalf..."

"He's a dick." | clarify, earning the first decent stare from her. "You don’t deserve to be hurt or betrayed like that.

He messed up, big time." She takes off her glasses to reveal the heavy bags under eyes. "You've been crying.

Hey." | reach for her hand as she battles a sudden influx of tears. "I'm so sorry, Demi. My family has caused you

so much pain. You don’t deserve any of it."

She tucks her hands between her thighs. "What do you want, Ashton? You know how your brother gets."

"lI wanted to check on you. Ashley just toldyou moved in with Anna and why. | was worried about you."

"Well, | am still breathing. Don’t worry. | won't slit my wrist no matter how many times | think about it."

"You're thinking suicidal thoughts?" | ask with a panic. "Demi, you can’t allow such thoughts."

"I can and | will because that’s the only way | can distract myself from the fact that Asher totally got away with

wrecking my life like he has always wanted and now my husband is preparing to welca baby with his ex and

you..." She laughs nervously. "You are moving on, getting married to a rich girl that your family prefers. Everyone

wins except the poor orphan girl."

"Please, don't say that." My heart breaks for her as more tears stream down her face. "Demi, you have to be

strong."

"He's going to divorceto be with Nicci, isn’t he?"

"What? No!"

"Don’t lie to me, Ashton. | can take it. Just tell me. She's clearly the one he truly loves, the one your family

prefers for him and now they're having a baby together. Your mother is excited to be expecting a grandchild

again. What's more perfect than that? | am just the third wheel in their relationship."

"Ashley isn’t divorcing you. He is pained that his actions have led to this. The baby was an accident but he’s

doing his best to handle the problem without giving Nicci her wish."

"What exactly can he do? He can’t hide it forever even if he wants to. Nicci, she’s very devious. She has always

wanted to usurp my place in Ashley's life. She won't back down."

"She'll have no choice. You and Ashley belong together. | won't let her get between the two of you." She allows

again."

She closes a hand over mine and rubs gently, causing my breath to hitch.

"| can’t stop thinking that my life would probably have endured less pain if we...if you hadn't denied me."

Oh crap. This line of conversation is dangerous. She retreats but | find myself clinging onto her hands when she

tries to pull them away.

"I haven't stopped feeling guilty about it. Every tyou suffer, | suffer with you. I'm the reason you're roped

into all this."

"I'm sorry. | didn’t mean to make you feel guilty." She shakes her head. "I know it's wrong to dredge up the past

like this but it helps keepsane. | tried my best to give Ashley a chance. | tried to be a good wife. | even broke

my own rules and let him touch me. In spite of everything, | haven't been able to feel for him a smidgen of what

| feel for you. It hurts to force myself to forget that night at the blue Cove or to stop myself from imagining the

life you and | can never have. | hate my life."

"Don’t say that. Maybe we weren't meant to be. I'm sure we'll find happiness again."

She chuckles. "You'll find that faster than me. Mila seems amazing. She seems to make you really happy."

"That's funny. If that were true, I'd probably be sitting here with her and not ignoring her calls."

Our eyes lock. Heat flares insidewith the passion in her eyes. Even the tips of our fingers grazing makes my

stomach churn with delight. | wish it was her. | wish | was getting married to her. I'd wed her in a heartbeat.

"Don’t hurt yourself. | won't forgive you, ever."

Her gaze warms. "if | could talk to you every day like this, that would be easy to obey."

"Then we'll talk."

"Ok." She smiles sweetly. It's been so long since I've seen her beautiful smile. It disappears in a flash before | can

ingrain it in my memory. Suddenly, Demi pulls her hands away from mine and stares at a spot above my head

with shocked eyes. When | follow her gaze, my stomach drops.

MILA.