Four Brothers and a Bride

and accessories as you know and she felt she would excel there too. | was in support of her decision. However,

her application for a transfer was constantly declined. She grew frustrated as she didn’t want to quit working at

the HQ when a job at the Rollins Mall wasn’t guaranteed."

"I knew she loved fashion but I didn’t think she wanted to work in a mall."

"She didn’t. she just felt suffocated at the HQ in her small office and the pressure of work. The burnout finally got

to her as she explained to me. Though the pay at the HQ was very high, she wanted to switch to the mall and

have shifts so she would have more tto spend with you and your dad. It worried her that she was missing out

on your childhood. She wanted to fix that by working under the Rollins Group with their good pay structure but in

an environment that would allow her tfor her family."

"My guess is that never happened because she never had tfortill she died."

I remember my missed birthdays. She was even absent when | got my period for the first time. It was so difficult

having father-who was super clueless- assistthrough it all.

"No. After several declines, your mom gave up and remained in the HQ. Things seemed fine for a bit until one of

the quads started getting death threats at the office."

"At the office? Wait, the quads all used to work at the HQ?"

"Of course. That's where they got their basic training and did their internships too before they all went on to

head other subsidiaries. Ah, it was a difficult time. Most of them were difficult to work with. One in particular, he

was known as the crazy one for a reason. The chairman put him under your mom's supervision and he got her

into trouble all the time. He snuck whiskey to work almost every day and would get drunk before lunch. The

chairman blamed only your mother for his behavior even though he couldn’t handle his son either."

This is fresh. | never knew the quads once worked at the HQ. That's certainly something I should look into more.

It would hold answers to a lot of my questions.

"You mentioned death threats?"

"Yes. One of the quads was getting death threats for murdering the chairman’s former bodyguard who passed on

when the boys were very young. | wasn’t surprised that someone would stoop so low to attack the young boys in

that fashion because a lot of people tend to be jealous of the golden boys. | felt really bad for them. The one

being attacked suffered major PTSD. It was difficult watching him react to the threats like a bloody knife on his

desk in the office or being delivered the bodies of lifeless chickens all stabbed in the neck. It was gruesome."

Ashley, I think.

"Was the culprit found?"

"Much later. It happened to be one of our male colleagues in the office. He was the first son of the murdered

bodyguard. His nwas Samuel Woodley. He bore a grudge against the Rollins family."

"You said ‘was’. What happened to Samuel?"

"He was arrested and locked away for months. His brother and sister kept coming to the office to beg the

chairman to free their brother but got chased away by security. They were relentless and always returned. One

day, your mom tried talking to the chairman. He warned her not to interfere. | told her to let it go but she was

adamant, claiming that she had a gut feeling that Samuel was innocent. That's when she started making secret

plans and phone calls to leak the matter to the press so a more thorough and fair investigation would be

conducted and Sam set free. She didn’t necessarily believe Sam’s accusations against Ashley Rollins, she just

wanted Sam set free. He was still grieving his late father and was in bad state which led to his poor decision.

That's how your mother felt."

My fingers curl tightly around my glass. Amber eyessuspiciously.

"Are you okay?"

| force a smile. | am just shocked at how similar mom and | are. | always thought | was more identical to my dad

but it turns out that mom and | share similar traits and think alike. | would have done the exact thing if | was in

her shoes.

In a manner of speaking, | am doing the sthing in my own way. The only difference is my motive for doing it.

Mom's reason was more honorable but if | have learnt anything about the Rollins’ family, they're anything but

honorable. Hence, chills run down my spine as | wonder how badly things panned out for my mom.

"I'm okay. Please go on."

Amber doesn’t look convinced. "You said you could handle it."

"I can. Carry on."

Sighing, she sips her drink one more time. "Your mom called and spoke to journalists. Back then, we didn’t have

blogs like Billion-Err where one can anonymously leak information. Your mom also made the mistake of using the

company WiFi and her computer to conduct research about Tobias Woodley. | begged her to stop but she refused

to stand and do nothing. The chairman allowed his son, the one being attacked, to transfer to the fashion

subsidiary. He began working at the mall as the manager of the mall and soon found his rhythm again.

Everything seemed to have calmed down until the news about Ashley and Samuel Woodley aired. The whole of

Danvarr started taking Samuel's side and giving Rollins group hell for unjustly arresting the poor man. The

company stocks crashed badly. Ashley went into a spiral once more, especially as Samuel's release was

demanded. Samuel got out."

"He did?"

"Social currency is a different kind of power here in Danvarr. If utilized well, even billionaires can’t always have

their way. Your mom knew that. The atmosphere at work was hellish. Everyone was on edge. There were massive

staff cuts, threats against the whistleblower and rewards for anyone who had any information regarding the

whistleblower. Everyone walked on eggshells. | thought of quitting out of fear but Brett Rollins would have

peggedthe whistleblower and lockedup as a scapegoat so | stayed."

"And my mom?"

"She also carried on for the sreason as me. Then one day, the crazy quad who was still working at the HQ

with Asher even after his brothers had been sent to other subsidiaries, found the business card of a major news

reporter on your mom's desk under a stack of papers. He went on to search her computer and her research was

flagged. | think he had one of his father’s men tail her and got pictures of her speaking with reporters and

Samuel's siblings. He was very disappointed in her and felt betrayed. You see, your mom had been instrumental

in helping him mend his ways. He had gone from being regarded as a joke and a failure by his father to being

one of the top performing junior workers in the HQ. He was even far more impressive than Asher, all thanks to

your mom. Their bond was like that of a mother and son. Even his mom grew jealous seeing how he interacted

with Camille."

Ashton and my mom? There is so much to take in here. My heart starts pounding in my chest. Mom had written

fondly about Ashton and then there were bits in her journal where she described him as irrational, hot-tempered

and other bad words. It was almost like she was describing a mixture of the other three quads. Her entries about

him stopped without giving more detail about what happened between them.

"My mom kept a journal but she was terrible in making entries. | don’t think she understood how to chronicle

one’s experiences in a journal. Her entries were mostly terse. However, she mentioned the crazy quad, Ashton

but these details were left out."

"Intentionally. | told her not to empty all her thoughts in one book, especially anything to do with what she had

done at work so she leaves no clues in case someone found her journal. She tried to write as little as possible,

enough to help her to personally recall details of the events but to a stranger, the info would seem harmless. She

thought she had covered her tracks but forgot about the business card. Ashton is computer savvy so he was able

to uncover what research she had done using her computer. Do you need a refill?" Amber asked, pointing to my

drink.

| look down at my empty glass. "I do but I'd prefer something stronger at this point." With a small smile, | follow

her to the kitchen and watch her mixa drink.

"Ashton got into it with your mother that evening at the office. It was a shouting match. He accused her of

betraying his family and biting the finger that fed her. She tried to defend herself but he only grew madder and

stormed away. Your mom was very scared. | think that was on your birthday because she planned to go shopping

at the departmental store for your present. After the fallout with Ashton, she grew scared. | hid under my desk

the whole tso | could understand how she felt. Still, | encouraged her to get you the present she had been

saving up for. As a staff under the Rollins Group, we get shopping vouchers at the departmental store so your

mom planned to utilize it that night. Here you go."

| take a bracing sip of my vodka and wince. "That's really strong."

"You'll need it."

We return to the sofa and Amber carries on.

"I convinced your mom to go ahead with her shopping as planned, trusting that Ashton will calm down and

reason with her. We trusted that he wouldn't rat her out knowing how his father is."

"How his father is?"

"Brett Rollins is a scary man. No one can hurt him, his family or his business and go free. I've never heard of

anyone surviving that. Ashton knew that and we trusted that he wouldn't risk your mother’s safety like that. Your

mom went to the store to shop by six pm that day. It was almost closed when she got there but she begged for a

chance to get you a gift. As an employee of the HQ, they let her in. She calledlater that she had gotten lost

in there and the mall had been closed. Your father had been calling her nonstop and she wanted to start going

home. | told her to givea few minutes while | tried to call scontacts on my phone. She later called to tell