Four Brothers and a Bride-Chapter 80

ASHTON

I don’t think I heard him right.

"What?"

"Yes, Ash. I need you to tell Demi the truth about that night. She told me she is willing to start afresh with me on the basis of truth. She only wants to know the real identity of the man who denied her after that night. I didn’t think it was my place to tell her so I kept stalling. I think it’s only fair that you come clean now."

Bullshit. I know his intentions aren’t as noble as he is trying to portray. He won’t rest until he is able to make Demi feel nothing but hatred for me. Why does he consider me so big a threat that he would go this far? The plan was for Demi to never find out until after her divorce. Why is Ashley going back on this?

"Ashley, why would you ask that of me? You know mother made us promise not to tell Demi the truth about that night until after your divorce. Are you really asking me to go against mother?

"You said you’d do anything to help me forge ahead in my relationship with Demi. Why are you hesitating now? This was her specific condition, Ashton. She wants me to reveal your identity before she can give me a shot, God’s truth. Why do you think I resorted to cheap antics to draw her closer to me? I was trying to protect you and keep the promise I made. Apparently, you hate my antics so now, you’ll have to tell Demi the truth yourself and deal with her and mother. The ball is in your court."

I wipe a hand over my face and gnash my teeth angrily. He’s really going to make me rue my words. I can’t do this. Demi will hate me. Mother will blame me. This can’t be the only way to make peace with my brother.

"I can’t do it, Ashley. There has to be another way."

"There isn’t. You think I haven’t thought about that?" He huffs out a breath. "I don’t have a lot of tricks up my sleeve, Ashton. How else am I supposed to make Demi want to bond with me? Even our pubic dates are being done perfunctorily by her. This isn’t what I was hoping for when I asked for a shot with her. It’s no different from what we’ve been these last four months under our contract, except now she pretends to be happy going on dates with me. Ashton, if you do this, she has given me her word that she’ll really give me a chance. You have to tell her."

"And mother? Why don’t you tell her about Demi’s condition and obtain her consent for the secret to be revealed? You know she only recently forgave me for everything. I can’t dump this on her too soon."

I don’t want to. I am hoping mother won’t allow this no matter how much Ashley tries to sway her. She’s my mother and however long it takes, she’ll eventually forgive me but Demi? I can’t say for sure what will happen to us. How will she react to the fact that I have been lying to her face from day one? She’ll burn with anger for me.

"I’ll save you the trouble by telling you that mother won’t like it at all. She has Demi convinced that one of us refused to own up to our action that night at the Blue Cove. What Demi doesn’t know is that mother has known all along which brother denied her or that mother was the one who asked you not to accept her. If you tell mother, she’ll definitely kick against it to preserve her relationship with Demi. Hence, you’ll have to leave out those details when you tell Demi the truth, for mother’s sake."

"Are you now asking me to alter the truth so the blame is mine alone to bear?"

He hesitates as the truth unsettles us. "I’m sorry Ashton."

I lurch to my feet, knocking down a few stationeries on my desk in the office.

"Is this what you call forgiveness? Your condition for forgiving me is to make me go behind mother’s back, reveal the truth to Demi and suffer under the weight of mother’s anger and disappointment? You also want me to be thoroughly hated by your wife. Ashley, don’t be like this. You’re stronger than your insecurity. Demi can and will be yours. You don’t have to make me suffer like this to attain her."

"You’re more worried about Demi’s feelings changing towards you forever than mine?" He scoffs at his end. "This is exactly why I find it hard to believe that you’re remorseful, Ashton. You don’t plan on dousing Demi’s feelings for you. You’re enjoying this, aren’t you? You love that she loves and will probably always love you even when she’s on a date with me or sleeping in my bed. It makes you feel good, doesn’t it? Well, you asked for a way to end our beef and this is my condition. You’ll have to risk being hated by the women you love so I can have the one I want. You don’t have to though. We can totally live like strangers for a few more years till I can forget your wicked betrayal."

"Ashley..."

"Do you ever think about me? Have you ever put yourselves in my shoes, Ashton?" His voice wavers with emotion and my heart breaks at the pain in it. "We might look the same but our realities are very different. With everything I am dealing with because of what Tobias did to me and what YOU did to him, it’s a miracle that I am not powering through each day on hard drugs. I try to distract myself with work and women who throw themselves at me but you know these things will never fill that hollowness inside. It’s different with Demi. Because of our marriage, I got to get a glimpse of the stability and peace that comes with having a woman’s unconditional love as a bedrock. I want to have her because of that. I am not ashamed to admit that I am beyond jealous that she skipped me to have that for you and with you despite the legal knot between her and I. Call me petty or insecure but I will do whatever it takes to make her mine, even if it’s for a brief time. Is it too selfish of me to demand that my brother, who has always claimed to be my hero, gives up on my own wife? That’s for you to decide"

Unsurprisingly, he hangs up. The emotions were raw and deep. I believe them. Yet, I can’t help but feel that I don’t deserve this emotional blackmail from Ashley. We don’t have to go down this road for him to feel better about himself. Why is he okay with hurting me so badly just for a temporal thing with Demi. I am his brother. I have been with him all his life and he is going to tear me down to get a woman to be with him?

"I just don’t think it’s fair. I killed his tormentor and even gave him the credit. I have tried my best when it comes to helping Ashley overcome his trauma and for one mistake, he’s going to make me suffer?" I rake my fingers through my hair in my office while Asher and Ashal listen on the phone.

"Why aren’t you guys saying anything? Do you also think I am overreacting?"

Ashal clears his throat. "I think Ashley really wants to feel genuinely loved by a woman for a change, now more than ever, given how Shay’s actions have refreshed his trauma in his mind. He’s far more desperate for a woman’s pure love because of the self-doubts about his masculinity clawing to the surface. He’s been with Demi for four months and it was never a problem that she didn’t fancy him the way she fancies you. Shay made him this raw. I also think that he doesn’t mean to throw you under the bus. Like he explained, revealing your identity is Demi’s sole condition for giving him a shot. You can’t blame him for wanting to take her up on that offer."

"Ashal’s right." Asher adds. "Ashley requires our sympathy and understanding this trying period in his life. He feels like he’s losing on all fronts; to Shay and to you. It’s too much for him to bear so if he can’t win his war with Shay, he means to win the battle for Demi’s heart against you. Frankly, I don’t see what the big problem is, Ashton. If you are worried about mom, Ashal and I can step in for moral support and make sure she doesn’t give you a hard time. Would you be more willing to restore your relationship with Ashley by doing his wish after we take care of mom?"

My throat dries up.

"So, this is more about Demi’s reaction." Asher clucks his tongue. "You really need to let her go, Ashton. This is ridiculous."

"Ashley is our brother and he’s married to Demi. You have Mila who clearly likes you. Can you really not give up Demi to see Ashley happy?" Ashal’s voice is tinged with disgust.

"Why is no one talking about the unfairness of me bearing all the blame for something I never agreed to in the first place?" I can’t believe they’re both glossing over that fact. "And you’re both wrong. I can stand Demi’s hatred but not mother’s. We only just patched things up and now I am supposed to hurt her feelings again?"

"It’s mom, Ashton. Sure, she’ll be really pissed at you for a few days but she’ll get over it soon enough. She can’t possibly hate on you." Ashal clarifies with a trace of impatience in his voice.

"FINE." I yell into the phone. "I’ll do it, okay? I’ll tell Demi everything but first, I need some time to sort some things out. I have a major acquisition coming up at work. There are also a few things weighing heavily on my mind." I recall the newspaper cutout and our missing adoption papers that still gives me sleepless nights.

"I can’t deal with work if I pile on the stress that will come from my confession into the mix. Can you all help me talk Ashley into giving me a few days to clear my head? Please?"

Asher quickly assures me of his support since he will be working with me to acquire a dealership. Ashal also agrees to convince Ashley..

After the call, I bury my face in my hands and wonder how Demi would react when I tell her everything. I can’t explain how much losing her will break me.

Though she and Mila know most of my secrets, she’s the only one whom I feel most at peace with, the only one I deeply care about. I don’t know if Mila and I will ever get to that point. Hence, losing Demi seems like a loss of a lifetime.

I stay back at the office just to avoid going home and running into my family. It’s a bit difficult to face any of them right now. I don’t anyone is prepared to understand my reservations on this matter so I need some time alone to mentally prepare myself for the bleak days ahead.

I must have slept off on my desk. When I stir awake to the sound of my buzzing phone, it’s past 12am.

"What?" I ask the caller groggily.

"Come home, Ash."

"What are you, my wife?"

"You wish. She could never be as hot as me." Asher quips. "I hope you’re not drunk. You know what? It doesn’t matter. I will send a driver."

"I can’t get it out of my head, Asher. Believe me, I keep trying to forget it but I haven’t been able to. It’s just too much on me." When he doesn’t bother to ask me what I am referring to, I connect the dots and realize he must have been thinking about it too.

"Don’t stop trying then."

"Have you also been trying to forget that father has no record of our adoption papers in his study?" Asher breathes heavily on his side of the line. "Asher, what if..."

"I’ll find her, whoever this person is and make her pay for toying with us like this but before that, I refuse to believe the rubbish she is insinuating. I will only care about the beautiful family we have and our successful businesses. Nothing else matters frankly." He pauses. "I think the person running her mouth about our family tree is also Shay Woodley?"

"I do too. I think catching Shay will not only end Ashley’s torment but ours too. We have to find a way to get Shay once and for all, Asher." A light bulb comes on in my head. It’s a stab in the dark but I am too raw to care about perfecting the plan. "How do you think they’ve been getting our private numbers?"

"What?"

"Our phone numbers aren’t easily accessible to just anyone. How do you think these strangers have been getting our direct lines to call or text us?" Asher remains silent on his end. "They have spies around us, people too close to us with access to our personal and contact details."

"Bodyguards."

"Secretaries."

"Personal assistants."

"Drivers."

"The list could go on."

"And it should. We’ll start with Ashley. Shay visited his office. Someone had to have let her in knowing Ashley was in the lounge area. I can’t believe we didn’t look into this." I press my hands to my eyes. It will make a lot of sense. "Let’s set a trap. Change our phone lines and tell a handful of people. If Shay reaches out again, we’ll know who and who to round up for questioning."

"Good. I’ll tell the boys."

Just then, I hear someone coming up the elevator. "I think my driver’s here."

"What? Ash, Barry is still on his way. That can’t be him."

My eyes flash towards the direction of the elevator as goosebumps break out all over my skin. "THEN WHO THE FUCK IS IN MY OFFICE SO LATE AT NIGHT? NO ONE IS SUPPOSED TO BE HERE EXCEPT ME."

"I just contacted Barry. He is three minutes out. Ashton, stay on the line and tell me what’s going on...Ashton? Hello? You there?"

I intentionally cut the line to go switch off the light in my office. Seconds later, the elevator chimes open and I hear heavy footsteps coming towards my office. I bunch my fists and wait for the intruder to come close enough for physical contact.

The person reaches my door, grabs the knob, pulls it down a bit and pauses. Before the stranger can change his/her mind and leave, I wrench the door open and body slam the person to the ground.

"Gotcha."

***

"Who the hell was that?" Asher asks when I call him back.

"It was Gris. False alarm. He forgot some things at work and came back to retrieve them." I slide an apologetic glance at Gris who is still holding an ice pack against his sore jaw. His glasses and his phone screen unfortunately broke upon our contact.

"Oh. Does he tend to forget things at the office and pick them up in the wee hours of the morning like this?"

At Asher’s question, I glance at Gris, my scrawny looking, bespectacled personal assistant for three years and counting. Though I haven’t exactly made his life easy at this job, I want to believe Gris wouldn’t stab me in the back like that.

"I don’t know, Ash but I’ll find out." I hang up and face my P.A.

"What did you forget, Gris?"

He squints at me. "The drive with the minutes of the acquisition strategy meeting. I wanted to go over a few points and realized I left it in my drawer."

I head to his corner office and slide open his drawer. Truly, the flash drive is where he says it is. I hand it over to him and return to my position with a hip against the edge of my desk.

"Has anyone contacted you to ask for my direct phone number in the last couple of weeks? Anyone at all?"

"Sir?"

"Think Gris! I have been getting unsolicited calls and texts from a stranger and I keep wondering how they got my number."

"No sir. I never pass along your phone number without checking with you first. It’s against ethics."

I don’t think he’s lying so I let him go. Before leaving, I rehash the plan with Asher and get some of our security personnel on board to discover who has been leaking our private lines to strangers.

***

"Are you okay?" Mila asks me when I can’t concentrate on the game we’re playing. When I called to hang out with her because I need the distraction, I thought we were going to go do something fun like we always to, with just the two of us.

I didn’t expect her to lure me to a fucking golf course with her dad and his golf buddies present. She doesn’t even play golf so this is definitely a set up with her dad. It just grates on my already raw nerves.

I glance at her father as he swings his golf club and nails the ball in the hole. I hate golf. I don’t even know what I am looking at right now. I would much rather be behind a steering wheel of a Porsche somewhere, speeding across an unending road flanked by tall trees and hills like I have nine lives. Mila cups my chin and makes me look at her face.

"It’s okay. No one is expecting you to be perfect."

I slide a look at her father who has barely talked to me since he mistook me for Asher and I introduced myself as Ashton.

"I think your father will disagree." I dab my sweaty brows. "Why exactly am I here, Mila? You didn’t even tell me your dad was going to be here."

"I was already here when you called and asked to hang out. I couldn’t leave my dad yet and I didn’t want you to head over to the race track days after your collision with the metal post. I want you close, where I can keep an eye on you. Just give him a few more minutes," she says, throwing a cheerful smile at her father who glances our way every few minutes while taking turns attempting to hit an impossible ace with his friends. "Then we can leave."

"I don’t think I can last that long." I slide my golf club back into the golf bag lying at Mila’s feet. "I’m getting out of here."

"Ashton." Mila calls, a tight grip on my arm. Her eyes are no longer warm and considerate. "What’s up with you? You called to spend time with me and now you’re leaving barely twenty minutes after you arrived? What’s my dad supposed to think of that?"

"Since when did it matter what he thinks of me?" I return with curious eyes. "Is that why I am here? Is this some kind of test to win his approval of me?" I chuckle softly. "Not slick, Mila. You know I don’t give a damn about all that. I called to hang out with you at our usual spot doing our favorite pastime, not to stand here pretending to enjoy watching some middle-aged men shoot balls into a hole."

"Going somewhere, son?" Mr. Hugh asks, leaning on his club.

"It’s Ashton." I clarify. The smile on his face might just be him assuming I am Asher, again. The humor drains from his face at my reminder.

"I know who you are. You are the one that handles the automobile subsidiary of Rollins Group, the tardy boss."

He works a muscle on the band of his neck when I only smirk at his words. "I don’t expect everyone to appreciate the game of golf but you are the first guest to openly show your ignorance and disdain for it." His eyes swerve to Mila who looks at her feet to hide her cringe. "So, Ashton, what pastime do you consider superior to mine?"

"I never said it was superior to golfing. I just enjoy it more but since you’re asking..."

"Dad, Ashton and I will be leaving now." Mila interrupts me, tugging at my wrist. She leans forward to kiss her father’s cheeks before proceeding to pull me away. Her father watches us through the dome of his bushy brows.

"What was that?"

"What was what?" She replies, a little unnerved by my question. I yank her hand to a halt.

"Does your father not know that you love racing in fast cars?" Her eyes are flat and cold as she inclines her head towards me, saying nothing. "Mila, is there a reason you’re keeping it from him?"

"Can we just leave, Ashton?" She leaves me and keeps walking ahead. I don’t understand why she’s being like this. Ahead of me, she takes a call that leaves her with a deep frown on her face. When I fall into step with her, her eyes darken at the sight of me.

"Thank you." She replies curtly and hangs up her phone. Before I can ask why she seems so upset, she smacks me hard across the cheek under the blistering heat of the sun. The slap is so resounding her father and his golf buddies turn around to stare at us in shock.

"What was that for?" I ask Mila who’s vibrating with temper.

"GET OUT. LEAVE FROM HERE ASHTON. I DON’T WANT TO SEE YOUR LYING FACE."

"What? What the hell is wrong with you, Mila? Can you talk to me first?" She backs away from me when I try to take her hand. Her father reaches us and ranges himself between me and his daughter.

"Maybe you should leave."

Behind him, Mila swipes at the tears rolling down her eyes and storms away towards the resort. Who the fuck called her and what did they say? What could have Mila reacting this way? When it clicks, I curl my fingers into fists and narrow my eyes before leaving from there.

"Ashley." I mutter under my breath as my temper crescendos with the thought of him. Did he really tell Mila about Demi and I? No one else would have done this and nothing else will make Mila feel betrayed enough to react like that.

When I get home, I barge into Ashley’s room to find him fresh out of the shower.

"Did you seriously rat me out to Mila? I asked you for some time."

"I don’t have any time to give, Ashton. The longer I wait, the less interested Demi seems."

"How is telling Mila going to solve anything?"

"Are you hurt? Does it sting to be unsure of your future with her? Well, welcome to my world, Ashton." He brushes past me to fluff his wet hair by the window. "You always acted like you didn’t care too deeply for her and now you’re raging because you might lose your shot with her." He throws me a bitter look. "How are your feelings for her more valid than mine for Demi?" He snorts when I don’t respond.

"You asked for time? It’s the end of the weekend. You’ve had two days! Demi will be here shortly and you’re going to tell her the truth, the truth as we discussed."

"And if I refuse?"

He meets my blazing eyes. "Do you really want me to be the one to break it to her? Trust me, you don’t. My version is a little tainted from what really happened. If you don’t do this now, you’re going to regret it big time."

A small knock on his door is followed by Demi poking her head in. She appears shocked to find me inside the room. Ashley invites her in.

"Is everything all right?"

"Come here." He calls to her with an outstretched hand. She takes it nervously and goes to stand by his side. He cups her face and kisses her forehead.

"Everything is fine. I am ready to start the next phase of our lives together as a true couple but before that, Ashton here has a few things to clarify with you. Right, Ashton?"

Beads of sweat form on my forehead as I glare at him.

"Go on brother, it’s okay. She’s all ears."

Demi’s anxious eyes fasten on my face. I can tell she’s holding her breath.

"Go on, Ash. Please. She needs to know."

"I’m sorry. I’ve got some place to be." I whirl towards the door to exit the room, ignoring the anger that washes across Ashley’s face.

"THE NIGHT AT THE BLUE COVE," I hear Ashley say in a loud voice. "THE MAN YOU MET DRUNK AND MARRIED, THE MAN YOU’VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR?" I turn back in time to see Demi’s face crumple with tears. "IT WAS MY BROTHER, ASHTON. THERE, THAT’S YOUR GUY, TRUTHFULLY THIS TIME."

I ignore Ashley’s rant about fulfilling Demi’s condition for his acceptance and focus on the pain in her eyes. Tears roll down her cheeks as she advances towards me.