Four Brothers and a Bride-Chapter 131

ASHAL

It’s been crazy at the mansion lately. Then again, when have my family not been chaotic both internally and externally. With Asher still recovering and father’s scandal attaining new heights of public embarrassment and financial losses by the hour, I wish I could go spend a day at my penthouse and check on my pregnant wife. I can’t exactly do that because I am actively avoiding her right now. I don’t know what she has found out about Maddi and I but I am not ready for that confrontation.

Maddi has also been unreachable lately. I am guessing it has a lot to do with our last meeting and the guilt of entertaining another man when her boyfriend’s funeral is yet to be organized. I plan to give her some time to grieve and process everything before we have the hard conversation about our future, assuming there’s any hope for us.

There’s my family of course and the poor history we have with the Dunns because of Olivia. Father would never agree and I am certain the Dunns won’t allow it either. Olivia will certainly not take it well out of fear of her sister replacing her in the cage I previously locked Liv in. Then there’s mine and Olivia’s baby to think about. Me and Maddi together is an impossible future to fathom but even then, I am willing to try if she is.

I chug down a pint of brandy and listen to Ashton griping on our conference call.

"We’re down by 16% and it hasn’t even been a full day yet."

"Have you spoken to father?" Asher asks. I wasn’t in favor of him joining this call from his sick bed. Frankly, none of us wanted to but he swore at us and dared us to shut him out. If we weren’t in a bind and didn’t need all the help we can get, we would have ignored his threat. Plus, he has always been better at damage control than all three of us combined.

"We literally spent the whole morning with his PR team..."

"About Kristy." Asher clarifies with a sharp voice. I can feel his rage just simmering at the edge. "What’s really going on between them, Ashton? Has he seriously not explained himself to you? Is he seriously waiting to be asked?"

Ashton works his tie and leans back in Asher’s office. He’s killing the Asher look by the way.

"Do we really need his clarification?" He inquires. "I don’t know about you guys but I know what the truth is because I know what father is capable of! Y’all are free to give him the benefit of doubt and hope he is falsely being accused but I won’t. I just want to deal with this problem soon enough before it wrecks our lives. THEN, I’ll give father a piece of my mind for going, yet again, against his word and hurting our mother!"

We all remain silent for a few seconds.

"I agree." I add. "Let’s not pretend to be noble sons and deny who and what our father is. I only defended him to put mother’s mind at ease but those pictures didn’t lie. In fact, I’m afraid somewhere deep down, she’s got her doubts too."

"She does." Asher concurs my statement. "She was in my room last night, badgering me to tell her the truth."

"Really?" Ashley straightens himself on the executive chair in his own office. "What did you tell her, Asher?"

We all fix Asher with concerned stares. Mother isn’t ready for the truth especially not now. There’s too much on ground to pile on her emotional distress too.

"What do you think? She’s been coping just fine, hasn’t she? If I had actually told her the truth, don’t you think all hell would have broken loose at home?"

We all agree. Mother seems to be doing fairly good especially with Mila as a healthy distraction. Ashton encourages Asher to set his feelings for father aside till we deal with the problem at hand. With obvious restraint, Asher proceeds to make suggestions on how to quell the rumors. I listen quietly until my phone buzzes on the table, next to my laptop.

I already know it’s Liv. I have been avoiding her and the penthouse since Asher’s hospitalization. I excuse myself, mute my brothers before taking Liv’s call.

"Where are you?" Olivia snaps at me. "Why have you been avoiding me? Do you realize I am pregnant with your child? Is this anyway to treat me even if we’re getting divorced? What is this, Ashal?"

Her rant causes a headache to brew in my head. I rub it away and grit my teeth.

"I am not avoiding you, Liv." I lie swiftly. "This is all unintentional. Haven’t you seen the news lately? My father has come under fire with a cheating scandal which is false anyway but the family business is suffering because of it. Asher is feeling under the weather at this time. My entire family is stressed out looking for a quick way to put out this fire. I can’t possibly abandon them right now. I know you are well taken care of at the penthouse. You have your doctor, nurse, security guards, maids and whatnot at your beck and call. I’ll provide whatever else you need but right now, my physical presence over there can’t be guaranteed for a few more days. Besides, I thought the last thing you wanted was for me to hover around you. Why are you complaining now that I am giving you the space you always wanted?"

"Don’t turn this around, Ashal. Just because I don’t want you breathing down my neck and begging to keep our marriage doesn’t mean I want to be made to feel like a single parent. I am literally facing antenatal care all by myself. I am lonely. My family isn’t even allowed to come spend time with me. We need to discuss making some adjustments. I need to be allowed to go out for some fresh air, to see my family even if it means smuggling me in at night time only, visiting places which you obviously have to rent out because you don’t want anyone seeing me."

"Slow down, Liv..."

"You were prepared to make these adjustments for me while you were trying to woo me into accepting you, right? You went against your father’s strict rules and let me out a few times. You even let in visitors. Ash, I can’t remain caged in this house. I am losing my mind. I need a change of environment. I need to converse with people that aren’t paid to tell me what I want to hear. Please."

Is that all she wants? No mention of Maddie? I wrack my brain and wonder if I am being lured into a trap. Could this be a ruse to get me to ease up the security so she could bring Maddi in and confront us together?

"Ashal, are you still there?"

I scratch my eyebrows. "Fine. I’ll see what I can do."

"DO IT, ASH. We both know it’s not as difficult as you make it sound. You’ve been running things your way around here for a while now, not your father."

That part hit home.

"And Ash, come home. We have more to discuss and it can’t happen over the phone." She hangs up right after.

I push back thoughts of the change in her tone before she hung up. It’s probably nothing. Unfortunately, I am unable to concentrate for the rest of the day. My brothers proceed to implement their plans to deescalate the damaging rumor but all I do is torture myself with all the ways things could go wrong when Liv and I finally talk about my feelings for Maddi.

There’s no right way in hell to convince my pregnant wife, her family and mine that my crazy ass finally found true love in my wife’s younger sister. Even thinking about it makes me realize how crazy that sounds. Tired of procrastinating and avoiding the inevitable, I show up at my penthouse, half-ready and half-scared to death to face my wife with the truth.

"Sir, we weren’t expecting you." Lily voiced once she saw me barge into the house. Liv appears at the top of the stairs with bewilderment written all over her face. I sprint up the stairs and meet her.

"Well, this is definitely a surprise." She let out, giving me a once over. I notice her growing bump and feel a tightness in my chest. Am I about to mess things up again with my reveal?

"Didn’t you say you were swamped with family issues?" Liv asks, walking back to the living room on the first floor where she was seeing a movie while crocheting.

"I still am but I thought I’d make the time to swing by, check on you and the baby..." I clear my throat. "Discuss other matters that seemed pressing to you."

She sinks into the couch with one leg tucked under her ass and grabs the little beanie she’s making. I remain standing.

"I won’t be long but I already spoke to the security guards. They’ll prepare an itinerary for your movements. You let them know where and who you want to visit. Thrice a week sounds fair. I’ll contact Eliana and Maddi so they can visit or spend some quality time in here with you."

Liv leaps up and smothers me in a hug. She proceeds to kiss my face like I am a cute toddler.

"THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. Oh, I am so happy right now." She clasps her hands together with a big smile. "What’s got you in such a good mood? I expected some friction and tons of arguments from you before you would give into my ’fair’ demands. What’s with you today?"

I stare at her and immediately realize she can’t know about Maddi and I if she’s this giddy. My hands slip inside my pockets as I give a lazy shrug.

"It’s the least I can do to make this pregnancy more comfortable for you."

"How thoughtful." She pinches my cheeks and returns to her seat. I clear my throat again.

"You wanted to talk about Maddi?" I remind her. Instantly, her demeanor changes. She abandons the stuff she’s doing and looks up at me with a somber expression.

"Yeah. Look, I don’t know where to begin. I heard something very disturbing happened between you and my sister but I am not prepared to believe it." A hysterical laugh and a flip of her hair follows. "I don’t want to believe that you could do such a thing, ever."

My throat dries up as she shakes her head in disbelief.

"I know you care about Maddi but not to that extent..."

"It’s true." I interrupt, balling my fists in my pocket. Might as well get the show on the road.

"What?"

"It’s true, Liv. I know this isn’t what you meant when you asked me to not give up on love and to go out and search for my person. I don’t know when it happened or how or why. I have no frigging clue why the universe keeps toying with me by allowing me to fall in love with people I can’t have but..." Tears shimmer in my eyes to my annoyance. "...what I feel for Maddi is pure and genuine. I know it’s a lot to take in and you have every right to hate me for falling in love with your kid sister but this feels deeper than anything I have ever felt for any woman..."

"WHAT?" Liv exclaims, staggering to her feet. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING TO ME RIGHT NOW, ASHAL?"

My vision blurs. What the hell was she referring to earlier if not my feelings for Maddi?

She clamps a hand over her mouth as tears blur her eyes. Then, she smacks me hard across the cheek.

"I was talking about Maddi’s suspicion that you might know something about her boyfriend’s death and you are saying such rubbish to me? WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE FEELINGS FOR MADDI? WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME, ASHAL?" She slaps me again and again, then shoves hard at my chest. "NO! NO! NOT MY SISTER! ANYONE BUT MY LITTLE SISTER, YOU ASSHOLE. SHE WILL NOT BE YOUR NEXT VICTIM, YOU HEAR ME?"

The last part causes a fresh tear in my heart. I let her vent while she pounds her fists on my chest. The truth was bound to come out someday.

While she locks herself up in her room and cries, I sit outside her door and beg her forgiveness. I overhear her screaming at Maddi on the phone and hate myself for putting Maddi in such a position before she is ready.

"Liv, I just wanted to be honest with you about my feelings lately. I couldn’t look you in the face and not tell you. Please, open up so we can talk about this."

The door wrenches open. I rise up and find Liv looking disheveled with teary eyes.

"I WANT THAT DIVORCE RIGHT AWAY. IF YOU HAVE ANY SHAME, YOU’LL PREPARE THE PAPERS AND SIGN THEM IMMEDIATELY. GET OUT OF MY FACE! I DON’T WANT TO SEE YOU UNLESS YOU HAVE THE FUCKING PAPERS!" She slams the door in my face.

I leave the house and drive aimlessly while my phone rings off the hook. I find a corner of the street and park. I want to hide from the world for a minute or two. Since my phone won’t stop ringing, I take it out and immediately answer it seeing that it’s Maddi’s call.

"What did you do?" she asked in tears. "Why would you tell Liv you have feelings for me? How could you, Mr. Ashal?"

I throw my head back and sigh. "I did it because it’s the truth, Maddi. I don’t know how it happened but I am deeply in love with you."

"STOP. PLEASE DON’T SAY THAT." She cries.

"I know you already knew that. I also know you feel something for me too, don’t you?"

"My sister is married to you and pregnant with your child, Mr. Ashal. Show some respect."

"Olivia already rejected me, Maddi. She suggested our divorce and co-parenting. If she’s hurt about my feelings for you, it’s not because she feels anything for me. She’s mostly worried about my intentions towards you after everything she’s been through. Her fears are valid. I have been a monster to her after all. Why should she feel I’ll treat you any differently?"

"Mr. Ashal, please tell her none of it is true. She’ll hate me if you don’t."

"For a while, yes, but she’ll come to terms with it eventually. I’m sorry I put you on the spot before you were ready." I exhale deeply. "You’re not denying having feelings for me. Do I take that as an affirmation?"

"My feelings don’t matter. They never will, not more than Olivia’s and what she wants!"

"Olivia feels nothing romantic for me. As for what she wants, she wants me to sign the divorce papers and set her free." Maddi sniffles softly.

"Maddi, I’ll sign them and let your sister have her life back. She’ll be free to go home or live wherever she wants. No one from my family will trouble her anymore as long as she keeps to her NDA."

"She will. Thank you so much, Mr. Ashal."

"I just need you to promise me you’ll give us a chance after the dust settles. Promise me you’ll give me a chance to show you I can be the right man for you, to show you how much I love and care for you, Maddi. I am desperate to redeem myself before your family. Promise me our love story will happen and I’ll sign the divorce papers before the week runs out. Do I have your word, Maddi?"