Four Brothers and a Bride

Chapter 82: Chapter 82

ASHTON

"Ashton." Demi repeats nervously. | didn’t realize how uncomfortable | make her, since | cclean about our

meeting at the Blue Cove, until now. Could Ashley have instilled more fear and hatred in her towards me? She

casts sidelong glances, scanning the area, especially the apartment building at the end of the street.

"I'm sorry. | didn’t mean to stalk you like this but | needed to meet with you alone. | have a few things to clarify."

"I don’t need clarification, Ashton. That Chapter of my life is over." She begins to walk hastily away frombut

my fingers grab her wrist in a vice like grip. She shifts uncomfortably. Again, her eyes keep skirting around like

she expects Ashley or someone else to pop out and give us a hard time. "Letgo."

"Are you okay? You're sweating bullets." She slaps my hand from touching her face and dabs away her own

sweat. At the sound of a door cracking open behind me, | follow Demi’s shocked eyes back to the apartment

building behind us but before | can make out the faces of the women stepping out, she yanks my arm towards

her car.

"Fine! Let's talk."

"I drove here."

"Then lead the way and I'll follow behind."

I ignore her weird behavior, get behind my wheel and guide her towards a familiar place. Minutes after we park

in front of the building, Demi and | fail to step out of our cars. My phone buzzes with her incoming call. With a

ghost of a smile, | take the call while removing the straps of my seatbelt.

"Is this your idea of a joke? You didn’t have to bringhere. | clearly remember everything that transpired that

night." Her voice is thick with emotion which tellsshe’s still hurting. My heart splinters at the sound of a

sniffle.

"I don’t mean to regurgitate sad memories, Demi but this is the one place | can be sure we won't be interrupted.

Like I said, | have sexplaining to do. It may not change anything but it will helpsleep better at night

knowing you have the full version of events. Can we go in? The owner lentthe space for an hour. There's

nobody inside."

Like | suspected, she pauses, breathing heavily.

"It’s alright, Demi. You know | would never do anything to hurt you. I just want to talk."

I hang up, get down from my car and go around to hers. She deigns to look atwhen | tap on her glass before

taking the back door into the Blue Cove, straight to the VVIP room where | met her for the first talmost five

months ago.

The furniture has been changed but everything else is pretty much the same. Demi comes in behindjust as |

frown at the bottle of Whiskey Donna left for me.

Demi’s face flushes with anger when she spots the drink.

"You've got to be kidding me. Are you trying to reenact that night?"

"It's not what you think." | hurriedly explain as she whirls to leave. "I never asked for this. Donna must have left

it out as a gesture of goodwill. We are not drinking."

Quick as a whiplash, | snag the tray and set it at the far corner of the room. Demi takes a seat, deliberately

avoiding the spot she sat on that night. She's very uncomfortable, | can tell. To help, | also take a different spot.

"Comfy?"

"Not really." She responds with a small shrug. "Well, you have my attention. Talk."

| shift my weight, trying for casual. "I had a pretty rough day that day. | fought with my family. | was reeling with

shock and despair over the scars of an incident that happened years ago. Couldn't forgive myself for it." Just the

thought of it makes my voice shake. Demi’s eyes are fixated on me.

"What incident?"

I have never seen her more curious.

| shake my head. "We haven't got the tto dabble into every small detail."

| have no desire to share my dark past with her but this is better than bluntly refusing to share the truth with her.

From the look in her eyes, she isn’t satisfied with my answer but thankfully, she also doesn’t make a fuss about

i)

"I was brimming with rebellion and wanted to get back everyone, the world, for the shitty way | was feeling. |

cdown here without my brothers and ordered a drink | had sworn never to touch again."

"Whiskey? Why?" Demi interruptsagain. "Why did you choose to stay off whiskey out of all other alcoholic

drinks?"

Why is she nitpicking my story? The curiosity in her eyes will make her excel in a journalism career.

"| just did. No epic story behind it." I lie with my eyes down. "Anyway, | was determined to get so wasted my

brothers would be called to chaul my ass out of here. Donna, the owner of this club is an old client of ours. |

was counting on her alerting Asher. | don’t think there was anything | wasn’t prepared to do that night just to

spite my family."

That's not true at all. The truth that | keep from Demi in my head is that | wasn’t pissed at my entire family. | was

mostly pissed at Asher. Coupled with the emotions | was feeling from the incident that led to the loss of lives

years ago, | had just discovered what a douchebag Asher could be.

| had just learnt the truth about him and Olivia, how he was responsible for the incident that brought Olivia into

our lives and how he intentionally plotted to dump her on Ashal, our sick brother. It was so cruel of him to use

Ashal’s condition against him and watch him get blamed for everything. | was hurting for Ashal too.

So, | went to the Blue Cove dressed like Asher and ordered whiskey knowing my entire family will not suspect me

since | had sworn to stay off whiskey. | planned to impersonate Asher and do such crazy things that will make the

news so the position he covets in Rollins HQ as well as his reputation will be tainted. For once, the meeting at the

living room downstairs would be called because of him.

| thought he deserved it for his selfish act against Ashal. He had betrayed his own brother to protect his precious

reputation before father and the world. | went to Blue Cove to sully his reputation as payback for what he did to

Ashal.

When Demi, a nobody, cin drunk, | figured | would go big and marry her too. That way, Asher will be stuck

with a wife he never planned for just as Ashal was. | was prepared to do sdamaging things just to deal with

Asher. If Demi hadn't showed up at the house to make her claims, | was going to leak the marriage certificate

anyway.

When Demi showed up and mother intervened, my plans fell through. Demi was supposed to be settled after the

annulment while Asher fell out father’s good graces for a while but things didn’t go so smoothly.

Mother won't let Demi get an annulment and passed her to Ashley instead. | was prepared to own up to my

mistake and give Demi a quick annulment so she could go back to her life. Things got messy as Ashley and

mother refused to listen to me.

Asher didn’t butt in. | think he suspected that | tried to tarnish his image. He has never said anything to me

along those lines but sometimes | see it in his eyes; Demi is your mess, Ashton. You didn’t get me. It'll all be your

fault if she harms our family.

Since Demi married Ashley, things have been topsy-turvy, and here we are.

Sighing, | continue the abridged version of my story. "When you cin that night, | was inebriated. Still, |

remember being mesmerized by you. One look and | knew you were ill-fitted for the environment. You didn’t

belong here. Your story about your shitty boyfriend's betrayal only lent credence to that fact. | could relate to

your pain and misery not because | had been cheated on before but because | was dealing with a different

permutation of anger and betrayal too. One thing led to the other and we kissed, and kissed again." | stare into

her glassy eyes now. "And | liked it."

Demi sniffles and looks down at her hands.

"You suggested the church." | tell her. Her head rears up. "You said it was close by. | was whipped after our kiss

and on cloud nine and | figured, why not make it official? It was silly. We went there in my car and said our vows

while | pretended to be sober. | think the priest suspected us but he was far more excited to join us because he

recognized me."

"Yeah. He wouldn't stop smiling at you. Called you Ash Rollins the second he saw you."

"He wasn’t sure which one | was and | didn’t think it was worth clarifying. We were just having a fun night." |

mirror the small smile on Demi’s face.

"I don’t remember dropping you home."

Demi’s lips quiver slightly. "You were too drunk to make the long drive so | called an Uber for myself and | think |

called one of the contacts on your phone."

"Ashal. He crunning. Kept my secret after | told him everything."

After | told him why I tried to trap Asher, | mutter in my head. | am grateful Ashal was the last person I spoke to

that day before hitting the club. If Demi had called anyone else, Asher especially, my gwould have been

over.

"lI am sorry about the next morning. | was still hungover and barely recalled much of the previous night. | barely

recognized you in the plain, lengthy clothes. Your aunt was talking too loudly and pissingoff and my family...

wasn't ready to admit | had done something so crazy the previous night so | denied you. | am sorry, Demi. You

didn’t deserve that."

Demi wrings her hands. "It’s all in the past. Thank you for your apology. I'm with Ashley now. Maybe | was always

meant to end up with him."

That hurts my feelings.

"You two look happy. I'm glad it worked out fine."

"You and | could have been happier." She blurts out, then regrets the hasty reply the second it leaves her lips.

The awkwardness hangs thickly in the air between and around us. She shuffles to her feet, a bit anxious. "I'm

sorry. That cout wrong. No, | mean, | didn’t mean to say that."

| grab her as she tries to leave.

"I believe it too, but our paths are different now. We have to forge on and make happy memories with the people

we have been blessed with." My finger brushes off a single tear that slides down her face. "In another life, Demi.

Maybe you and | will be together."

She laughs. "Yeah. Maybe." Eyes dry now, she givesa meaningful look. "Mila is great. At least she knows

more about cars than their names, knows how to race in a fast car and doesn’t make silly complaints about the

way the car tyre looks or how the engine sounds when buying cars."

With moist eyes, | pull her in for a hug and kiss her forehead. Her hair smells like flowers.

"Your petulance was always cute to me."

While we make our way down the stairs towards the exit, Duncan calls me.

"Yes Duncan?"

"We ran the checks with your secretaries and personal assistants and found something." | signal Demi to wait for