Four Brothers and a Bride

Chapter 104: Chapter 104

ASHAL

A sudden hush falls over the dining room the moment Ashley makes his announcement. Everyone isn’t stunned

because my brothers and | can’t leave the mansion. Of course, we can if we so please. It has just always been

convenient living together in our mansion.

However, Ashley’s sudden announcement takes everyone by surprise for certain reasons. Firstly, he didn’t even

share it with any of us so | am guessing the rest of my brothers are wracking their brains like | am, wondering

what in the world could have made Ashley suddenly want to leave.

Secondly, Demi looks just as confused as the rest of us. It only means that she is also unaware of the sudden

move. | hate where all this is going. It appears there might still sbad blood between Ashley and Ashton

because of Demi. | thought they were over it.

"Ashley?" Demi calls him softly. "What are you talking about? Why would we move out of the mansion? Why

would you even make such a decision without asking my opinion first?" When Ashley turns to gaze at her, the

cheer in his eyes are gone. Demi notices the difference but awaits his response with a bold face.

"Did you hear the part where | said | am doing this to preserve our union? That should tell you why we're

leaving."

"Ashley." Mother calls him sharply. "If this is a prank, | am not finding it funny. What are you saying? How could

you make such a drastic decision and not consult your wife's opinion? And your brothers? Your parents? This is

no way to break such news."

"Ashley." Father finally intervenes. "What exactly is this about?"

Ash drops back on his chair. "I think everyone at this table knows the answer to that. | could still jog your

memories if you wantto but we're having breakfast. | wouldn't want to ruin your appetites."

"Just cout with it already!" Ashton snaps at him. They exchange heated glares. "Say whatever the fuck you

have in mind."

‘Fine. | have cto the conclusion that putting sphysical distance between you and Demi might be the

only way to stop you two from ruining the lives of your spouses."

"Ashley!"

"Don’t, Demi!" He yells at her. "I gave you two the benefit of doubt and for a while | even tried to believe that

you two had moved on like you led everyone to believe so tellwhy you two are meeting up at the church

where you had your drunk wedding like long lost lovers or why MY wife callsASHTON when we're sleeping

together?"

Damn. He went there. The silence is beyond awkward now, except for Asher who whistles loudly.

"Ashley, you're spiraling." Mother snaps at him. She turns to father who surges to his feet and calls on Ashley to

join him to his study. | feel really bad for Ashley. | know how he must feel. Ashton leaves the table angrily and

won't stop even while mom calls out to him. Demi runs up to her room, crying. Asher continues to eat his

breakfast like nothing just happened while | comfort mother and reassure her that everything will be fine.

"This was such a happy occasion. Ashton just got engaged last night. Why did Ashley have to ruin everything like

this?" Mother looks up atand then at Asher. "Did you both know anything about this? Why didn’t you talk him

out of this?"

"Ashley didn't tell us he felt like moving out, mother. We had no idea."

"Well," Asher interjects. "He didn’t tell us he was moving out but he did tell us how frustrated he was feeling

about Demi and Ashton’s feelings and how it was getting in the way of his marriage, mother. Ashley is right to

feel concerned. Those two haven't moved on as they claim. We all know it."

"Asher, you're not helping."

"We all need to stop glossing over Ashley's pain, Ashal. It's too risky to let him slip over the edge again. Mother,"

he says, turning to her. "You had your wish. You saw Ashley married. It's tyou really start considering

speeding up their divorce. Ashley is clearly frustrated because Demi is in love with Ashton. What's the point of

waiting for the next six months when you can just rid him of his misery?"

"Is that what he wants?" Mother asks.

"He is afraid to admit it but he’s blindly trying to stay in this marriage till its contractual end only to please you,

mother. You have to show him that his happiness and peace comes first before your motherly wishes. You want a

daughter-in-law for the fun of it, Mila will be joining us soon. Demi has brought nothing but pain to Ashley and

fights amongst my brothers and I. You need to clear the scales from your eyes and let that woman go before she

ruins our hfurther." With that, Asher storms away. Mother remains eerily silent. She feigns a smile at me

before leaving for her room.

I spend my day cooped up in my office, hoping to blank out the at hand the war raging inside me

ever since | kissed my wife's sister. | don’t know what to do with myself.

There’s a part forthat’s laden with guilt for betraying Olvia yet again because | didn’t exactly hate the feel of

Maddie's lips against mine. Then there's another part that’s trying to justify my action because Olivia gavea

hall pass to go find someone else to love. While that might be the case, | can bet a billion bucks Olivia never

meant forto go to her sister.

Maddie has been avoidingsince we kissed or maybe it'swho has been avoiding her. We were too

mortified to even talk about it or look each other in the eye. | dropped her off at her friend's dorm that night and

never called to check in.

Mr. Dunn had been pissed since | had the wedding called off. | managed to get a hold of Hunter and paid him off

generously to back away. He was shocked at my offer but took it as expected. We had a little chat about his fake

life and the lies he had told. | warned him to stay away from Maddie. | hadn't meant to sound so overprotective

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but I did.

Even after | narrated everything to Mr. Dunn, he was still disappointed that once again, | used my money to force

people to do my will.

"What happens to Maddie now?" He had asked with a bitter look in his eyes. "If she can’t go to school or get

married, what next step is she supposed to take right now?"

"She can take a break to figure out what she wants to do with her life, Mr. Dunn."

"Such things like breaks or gap years are for rich folks like yourself, Mr. Ashal, not people like my family and I.

Tis very precious."

"Then she should get a job."

"She's a college dropout. Her options are vastly limited because of that."

"Fine. I'll get her a job then, a well paying one if she’ll be interested. You tell her and letknow what her

response is."

Mr. Dunn is yet to get back toon that. | could just call Maddie to know what her response is or what she

wants to do next with all the tshe’s got on her hands but like | said, | am avoiding her. No one in our families

know about our kiss and it is important things stay that way.

| take a break from my office to go pay Elyon a visit.

"Look what the cat dragged in." Elyon sighs as | walk into his space. "lI was wondering when you were going to

take a break and leave your office before your ass started moldering in that chair."

| plunk down on a chair, throw my head back and sigh deeply.

"What's up with you?"

"Nothing." I reply.

"You look downcast for someone who just managed to arrange his blind date’s wedding with the loser he

handpicked. | thought you'd be chipper."

My eyes flutter open. "What did you just say?"

"Maddie is getting married but you already knew that so what's with the surprised face?"

| shake my head. "No, she’s not. The wedding was called off." | refrain from telling him I personally saw to it.

"That can’t be right. Maddie personally invited Cher and I. She is marrying Hunter tomorrow." Elyon’s face

contorts with surprise. "How do you not know this? | thought you are quite close to her dad and all."

The wedding is tomorrow? They changed the date? What's with the hurry? Are they trying to have the wedding

behind my back as fast as possible so | don’t show up and crash it? What is Maddie thinking? And that asshole

Hunter? How could he take my money and proceed with the wedding. | am sure he didn’t tell Maddie about the

check I wrote him.

| leap to my feet and check my wristwatch. "I have to go somewhere. I'll be back." | dash out before Elyon can

protest.

In less than an hour, | am walking through the front door of Maddie's father’s apartment. Her mother basks in

fear when she opens the door and finds me. Mr. Dunn is not around at the moment. I try to put the woman at

ease and ask about Maddie. Before she can tellanything, Maddie strolls out from her room. Her eyes widen

at the sight of me.

"Mr. Ashal? What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you."

With the subtlest of hints, | nudge her outside. She takes her precious tin coming to meetin my car

where | am parked outside their apartment complex. She heaves a deep breath and burrows her fingers between

her thighs. | can tell she’s uncomfortable being back in my car so soon after the last time. The memories of that

night must have refreshed in her head.

"Look, I..." We both begin in sync, then blush horribly. | shake mine off. | don’t have much time.

"Maddie, tellyou're not marrying Hunter!"

Her eyes slash up at me. That was probably not what she expected to hear.

"I am marrying Hunter." She affirms.

"You can’t marry him!"

Something flits across her eyes as she weighs my statement. She tears her eyes away coyly and looks out the

window.

"Mr. Ashal, you can’t say such things. Whatever happened...| was drunk...It was a mistake."

"What? No!! That's not what | meant." | suddenly feel hot all over. "That’s not why | don’t want you to marry him.

Did your father not tell you everything | discovered about Hunter? He's not who he claims to be, Maddie. He's a

bum and a liar. Is that the kind of man you want to spend the rest of your life with?"

"What does it matter? It's my life, right? | am marrying Hunter and that’s final."

| grab her arm before she can unlock the door. "What has gotten into you? Why are you trying to punish yourself

like this? You don’t have to marry Hunter to prove anything."

"I AM NOT TRYING TO PROVE ANYTHING. | AM JUST SICK OF DISAPPOINTING MY FAMILY, MY DAD!"

"How is marrying Hunter not a disappointment to them?"

She blinks away the tears threatening to spill. "Dad toldeverything you had to say about Hunter. Not all of it

is true. Hunter isn’t a bum. He does well for himself. When he cby yesterday, he bought a lot of things for

my parents and |. He even gave dad smoney. Dad asked him questions about everything you said but

Hunter was able to debunk your lies. The car he rode was registered in his name. He even tookto the new

apartment he is thinking of moving into after our wedding. He is not the bad guy you made him out to be so why

are you trying to ruin my wedding, Mr. Ashal?"

I run a hand over my face. That prick used the money | gave him to impress Maddie and her family? Shit. What's

his gplan? Why is he hellbent on marrying Maddie when he can just go splurge the money with a bunch of

women in clubs?

"He's fooling you all, Maddie. That money...the money he’s spending was given by me! | paid him off so he could

leave you alone."

"You did what?"

"No, no, it’s not like that."

Maddie unlocks the car and starts heading back inside. | go after her.

"Madeline, wait! You're taking this the wrong way."

She turns sharply to me. Her eyes are burning with anger. "There’s no other way to take this. Why are you doing

this? Why are you trying to stop my wedding? | told you that whatever happened while | was drunk was a

mistake. | hate myself for doing something so stupid and with you. You're my sister's husband and though you

might feel nothing about cheating on her, it's not the sfor me."

"Maddie..."

"I'm not done!" She snarls. "Don’t act like you care how | end up. | know you're against my wedding because you

wantto end up with a worse groom. | saw father’s list and the alterations you made in the list you sent to

Cher." My heart sinks to my stomach as her tears track down her face. "You must hateso much and want to

punishfor everything I did to you. | don’t blyou for how you feel but what's the need to pretend like

you've forgiven me? Why act like you actually care about me?"

"I am not pretending or acting. | have forgiven you and | do care about you. This whole mess with Hunter started

because | was pissed at you. Please, letfix it. You're making a grave mistake, Maddie. | can’t live with the

guilt if you let Hunter into your life and he ends up giving you hell. Please."

For a second, | can tell Maddie desperately wants to believe me. | take her hands in mine.

"Letprove it to you. I'll call Hunter and talk to him. You're welcto listen in. He'll admit everything to me;

taking the bribe, lying about his possessions, everything. | could also take you to the address listed as his home.

You'll meet the family he works for there. There's a girl, Octavia, she'll tell you just who Hunter truly is. Maddie,

please don’t punish yourself like this. | forgive you for everything. Don’t go through with this wedding, please!"

Maddie pulls her hands away from mine. "I can’t back off now. | already gave my word."

"You can and you will."

"No, Mr. Ashal, you don’t understand. After you called off the wedding, | called Hunter and promised to marry

him. I got everything back in motion. | can’t go back on my word now simply because his bank account is

millions of dollars short of what you consider decent. | am not looking for a billionaire. Hunter is kind toand |

know in time, both of us will learn to love each other in the course of our marriage."

"Madeline, don’t do this."

"Please, you have to leave. I'd hate for dad to meet you here."

"Maddie, Olivia will never forgive me." | can’t stand another daughter's life ruined on my account. At least with

me, Liv never had to want for anything. Maddie’s case is worse. There's no telling what plans Hunter has in store

for her.

"I'll be fine. | can take care of myself." She echoes before going in and shutting the door. | strap down on the

urge to kick or punch something. What sick twisted gis Hunter playing at?

When | get back to work, | call his phone. When he picks up, I hit record.

"What is this | hear? You're going ahead to marry Madeline? | gave you five hundred thousand bucks so you

could stay the hell away from her life with your broke, lying ass. You eagerly accepted the money and even

groveled at my feet. Why are you going back on your promise now?"

Hunter laughs. "I didn’t plan to but Madeline seems to have the hots forsuddenly. It’s either that or she’s

desperate to get married as soon as possible. Was | supposed to turn such a beautiful woman down?"

"Precisely. That's the whole point of a pay off."

"Easy for you to say. | bet you get girls like that with the snap of your fingers. The opposite is the story of my

life."

"You don’t love her."

"Does she love me? We literally just met. If | suddenly professed undying love for me, wouldn't that be strange?"

He is being calculative with his responses. Maddie won't find any reason to back away from this marriage if

Hunter doesn’t expose himself. | take deep breaths.

"So, you genuinely want to marry her."

"Of course. She's a lovely lady."

"That's good to know. | just have one question. You could have easily disappeared with the money | gave you,

gotten yourself the finest things in life, food and wine, women. Why did you use it to impress Maddie and her

family if you don’t even love her? What do you hope to gain by spending a huge chunk of the money to marry a

middle-class college drop out? Enlighten me." Hunter falls oddly silent and | instantly get worried. "Hunter? You

still there?"

"You're invited to my wedding tomorrow, Mr. Rollins. | do hope to see you there." He hangs up on me.

When | send Maddie the recorded call, | wait with bated breath for her to get back to me. She has to know

something is fishy about Hunter. He didn’t answer my question. An hour goes by and still nothing from Maddie.

Angrily, | call her incessantly but she refuses to pick up. What the hell is wrong with her?

| drop my phone and suck in a breath. I've tried my best. If she’s desperate to throw her life away, | refuse to

take the blfor it. God knows I have tried.

| take a break from the Dunn family to check on my brothers. Ashley and Ashton haven't responded to any of the

messages left for them in our group chat. Asher textsto say that he is at the race track to speak with Ashton

while mom is handling Ashley. | guess it’s all settled then.

Moments after | drop my phone, a call comes through. Maddie. Finally. | grab the phone and answer the call

without checking first.

"Maddie, what took you so long?"

"Sir, it’s Lily."

"Lily?" I check the caller ID. "Lily."

"Yes sir."

"Is everything okay, Lily? Why do you sound nervous? What's wrong?"

"It's your wife."

| surge to my feet instantly. Olivia. Damn it. | haven't checked on her in days after she said those hurtful things

to me.

"What happened to her?"

"She isn't waking up!"

ork

| have Olivia admitted in a private ward in our family hospital. She has an oxygen mask on which breaks my

heart. Though the doctors assureit’s nothing fatal and that she will be fine soon, that doesn’t put my heart

at ease.

| wait outside her hospital room because | am too conflicted to go in. | dab my eyes when my phone rings. At the

sight of the caller, | signal Lily to watch Olivia while | go down the corridor to take the call.

"What do you want?" | bark into the phone.

"What did you tell her?" Hunter snaps at me. "What did you tell her to make her call off the wedding AGAIN?"

Maddie called off the wedding? Why didn’t she get back to me? It’s been hours.

"I didn’t have to tell her anything. She’s a smart woman. She probably saw through your lies and realized she

was going to be wasting her life with the likes of you."

He chuckles. "You're right. She's too good forbut isn’t that the point? Why would a broke guy likemarry a

college drop out from an average family if | can’t gain anything from her?"

"So, why are you hurt that the wedding’s been called off?"

"Because | do have something to gain from marrying Madeline. | don’t know what your connection to this family

is but | can tell you're very invested. | found that interesting enough to risk marrying Maddie."

He wanted to use her as a cash cow because of her connection to me? Why the fuck didn’t | realize that? The

guys had all been shocked to findcherry picking Maddie's groom at the interview Elyon and | conducted. |

shouldn't have showed my face at a commoner’s groom selection but | was too angry to pass up an opportunity

to choose the worst groom for a woman who had tormentedso much.

"You planned to use her to milkfinancially?" | laugh at that. "She isn’t my family. | was only at her groom

selection to assist my friend. She doesn’t mean as much toas you think so your plan would have failed."

"I don’t think so. You wouldn't give half a million dollars as pay off to a random guy wanting to marry a girl who

means nothing to you. There’s more money to be made through your affiliation with Maddie than you care to

admit." He laughs malevolently. "Are you in love with her? is that it?"

"You're delusional."

"No, you are for thinking no one sees it."

| grit my teeth and wish he was close so | can break his jaw. "The wedding’s off, Hunter. | don’t want to see you

anywhere near Maddie or I'll make your life more miserable than you've ever thought possible."

"It’s a little too late for that."

"What?"

"| can’t stay away from Maddie since she’s already here with me. She can’t say hello to you right now. She's still

knocked out cold. | can ungag her and send you proof of life when she wakes up in a bit if you don’t believe me."

"You kidnapped her?"

"Damn right. You pushedto the wall by changing her mind on the wedding. Now, | have resorted to drastic

measures. If you don’t transfer fifty million dollars to the account I will text you shortly, poor Madeline won't live

to see tomorrow. | don’t bluff, Mr. Rollins. Don’t testby trying anything stupid. I'll send bits of her to her

family in a gift box if | don’t get my money or you try to involve the authorities. You have an hour! | suggest you

hurry."