Four Brothers and a Bride-Chapter 101

ASHAL

I haven’t been able to placate Olivia’s feelings. I’ve managed to rack up a lot of hate points with respect to her. She had barely recovered from my affair with Cree when I shocked her by punishing her sister with a forced marriage. Now, she has learnt that I have been playing her by pretending to be Asher. It’s a lot, I’ll admit. I am indeed an asshole.

The worst part is the timing of it all. It’s such a bad time for her to find out given her pregnancy. I would hate for anything untoward to happen to her or our baby.

She has been keeping to herself in her room and left instructions that she doesn’t want to see me at any cost. Each time I call her phone, she doesn’t take my calls. She never comes downstairs when I arrive the penthouse. All she does is cry in her room all day, according to Lily. I am getting very worried over her condition.

Lily returns with a tray of untouched food. I grit my teeth. She can’t starve, not now. I sprint upstairs and knock on the door.

"Olivia, I want to talk. Open up. This is about Maddie." Hopefully, she’ll take the bait.

There is a little movement on the other side of the door and surprisingly, Olivia cracks the door open a notch. She looks like hell. Her eyes are all red and swollen. Her face is puffy from not getting enough sleep. She doesn’t appear to have showered in over a day.

"Liv, what are you doing to yourself? Punish me all you want but not like this. Don’t hurt yourself or our baby. Please."

"What about Maddie?" She asks weakly, her eyes drooping.

"Open up then. Let me in. I promise I’ll fix things with Maddie." Her eyes struggle to stay on mine. I don’t think she’s sleepy. She’s probably woozy. I gently pry the door open as she is too weak to stand a chance against me and catch her before she falls.

"Liv, you’ll be okay. I’ll do whatever you want, okay? You want me to forgive Maddie? It’s done. You don’t want her marriage to take place? It’s cancelled. Please, I need you to take care of your health. That’s my condition. Eat. Freshen up. Rest. I’ll give you all the space you need. You need your energy if you’re going to scold me for my actions. Please Liv."

Thankfully, she lets Lily bathe and dress her. I watch Lily feed her some food. Whenever Olivia wants to stop eating after a few bites, I insist she finishes her plate or we have no deal. She finally finishes every last bit of food and gulps some water.

"Lily, you’ll stay in this room with her. Under no circumstances should she be left by herself for too long. If you have to cook or do something else around the house that requires a good time investment, Olivia will come downstairs to the living room where other eyes can watch her. Is that clear, hon?" I ask, turning to my wife.

She wipes her lips. "You promised to help Maddie."

"I did and I will." When I go close, she tucks her hands away so I can’t hold them and turns her cheek when I try to kiss her. She hates me. Lily clears the plates and leaves us.

"I never cease to disappoint you, do I?"

"Keep your word, Ashal. Don’t let my sister’s life be ruined through marriage. I will harm myself if she has to suffer the same fate as I did by being stuck in a loveless marriage." Tears fill her eyes. "She might have hurt your pride and reputation but remember she was doing it to help me. Maddie sees what you keep turning a blind eye to; a fancy house, comfort ang good food isn’t enough to win a woman’s heart if you take away her choice to stay with you or not." She sniffles and props herself up. I hate where this is going.

"I’m afraid we can never be more this, Ashal. I know you desperately want to believe in a future where I would love you as much as I once loved Asher, your brother. You must have noticed the difference when you pretended to be him for weeks. Is that why you did it? You wanted to see what it was like when I am in love with you?"

"I don’t know what I was thinking when I did that."

"Do you regret it?"

My silence tells her all she needs to know.

"You don’t. You loved it, didn’t you? But you don’t need to pretend to be him just to feel a woman’s love. You could find true love of your own out there, Ashal. I don’t think I can find the energy to love another Rollins brother ever again. Asher was a mistake and a lesson. I can never give you what you want. Why won’t you let me go?" When she tries to take my hand, I lurch to my feet.

"You don’t have to be afraid that love will never find you. At first, I thought you were a monster because of how you hit me but you’ve come a long way from that mindless freak. You have better control of your temper now. I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Go out there and try again. Find love."

"STOP IT."

"There’s no future for us here, Ashal, not even this baby can unite us as you hope. Things will still be the same between us or even worse. Would you also keep the baby trapped in here with me? Would you hide the baby from the world too? Think, Ashal. What kind of home would you want your child to be born into? What we have is too depressing to allow a child grow in."

I can’t believe she is still going on about this separation. Why is everyone telling me to try and find love again? Can’t I just have the woman I am with? It hurts to hear the same harsh truth from Olivia as it is proof that she has given up on us too.

"I’ll go to your father and have Maddie’s wedding cancelled, as promised." I utter in a low voice before leaving Olivia to herself. I can’t bear to spend another minute with her telling me we can’t work out. I’ll rather find someone else to vent my frustration on and right now, Maddie doesn’t seem like a bad idea. Her recent actions have influenced Olivia’s decision no doubt. At least with Maddie, I can scream obscenities at her without worrying about the health of an unborn child.

Mr. Dunn isn’t happy when I show up to tell him I’ve had a change of heart. I can understand why he’s frustrated. It can’t be easy to keep making promises to young men and their families only to renege on such promises a few days later.

"Mr. Ashal, I don’t understand why you want me to cancel this wedding. It was your decision to have me arrange my daughter’s wedding. You even handled the selection of the groom to sift out the most eligible and though I had concerns, you assured me the young man is a good choice. All the arrangements have been made between both families. What am I supposed to tell them now?"

"Tell them the wedding is off. It’s as simple as that." I snap at him.

"No, it’s not that simple for folks like me. You have enough money to buy your way through anything and anyone. For a man like me, my word is my bond. If I keep going back on my word and canceling Maddie’s weddings like this, word will spread and soon, nobody will take me seriously when I propose the marriage of my daughter and their son. I might be stuck with Maddie for the rest of her life unless she elopes with a man and does one of those hasty court weddings that young people do."

He throws an apologetic glance my way as he recalls my wedding with his first daughter was as distasteful as what he just described. I bet he wants a proper wedding for Maddie.

"I’m sorry but I can’t cancel the wedding. I have given my word. Maddie will wed Hunter as scheduled."

I rise on my feet. I can appreciate Mr. Dunn’s reason for turning me down. My decisions lately have been coming off as fickle and just because I happen to be wealthy and influential doesn’t mean I get to play with a young woman’s life like that. I am left with one last option; to pay off Hunter so he cancels the wedding from his own end. Mr. Dunn might get upset when he learns of it and he will definitely know I have a hand in it but we can discuss that later.

"Thank you for your time." I tell him.

Hunter is an easy man to find. I use the address he gave during the interview process as Maddie’s groom to be and trace his home. It turns out to be much nicer than I thought. His red car is also parked out front, indicating he is home. He does very well for himself as a banker.

I almost went with another guy but Elyon had managed to convince me to pitch Hunter to Maddie’s father as he was a decent young man who had the wherewithal to give Maddie a good life. His looks might be average but he looks like he can build a good home and raise a lovely family with her. Hopefully, Maddie will find love with Hunter one day.

I approach the door and knock. It takes a minute before an elderly woman opens.

"Hello." I greet her.

"Can I help you, sir?"

She doesn’t recognize me. Refreshing. "I’m looking for Hunter Cummings. I’d like a word with him." A wave of confusion washes over the woman’s face.

"Hunter? Is there a problem?"

"Mom, who’s at the door?" A young woman asks from within. Her mom repeats my enquiry and she comes to the door to see me. Her eyes dilate in surprise.

"Ash Rollins, pleasure to meet you again. It’s Octavia."

"Meet me again?"

"Yeah. We already met at the bar on Foxton Grove. My friend whom you called blondie saw you, freaked and left the bar? Skye Sanders? You were quite taken by her." She leans on the door. "At least I thought you were but here you are on my doorstep. This has to be fate. We’re meant for each other." A seductive wink follows.

"None of that rings a bell. I think you must have met one of my brothers." Her face assumes an embarrassed hue.

"Oh, I’m so sorry." She tucks her hair behind her ears. "You are looking for Hunter, I gather?"

"Yes."

"He doesn’t stay here."

"Why’s that? Isn’t this his home?"

Octavia laughs. "Why would you think that? Sure, he does some work around the house every now and then but that doesn’t make him part of my family. He’s just a hand we hire to fix the plumbing issues, mow the lawn, that kind of stuff."

What? Hunter lied?

"And the car?" I ask, pointing outside. "Whose car is that?"

"That’s my brother’s. Hunter also helps maintain it when Jackson isn’t home. Why?"

I am speechless right now. If Hunter lied about his house and his car, then he must have lied about everything else; his job as a banker, his earnings, his family, his intentions for Maddie. I excuse myself and jump back in my car.

"Mr. Dunn." I say the second he picks up. "That wedding is not taking place. Hunter is a pathological liar. I have just been to his house. It’s not his. It belongs to complete strangers. He lied about his assets. He’s not even a banker. He’s an errand boy for the family that owns the house he claims as his. Are you listening to me?"

As I take a moment to breathe, I start to wonder. Why am I so bothered that Maddie is about to end up with a bum? Shouldn’t that excite me? That was the plan after all when I altered her father’s list so why does this trouble me so much? Maddie’s father’s response cuts through my thoughts.

"Will you really stoop this low to tarnish the young man’s reputation just to get me to back out of this wedding? Why are you doing this, Mr. Ashal? I know Maddie wronged you but this is pushing it too far."

He doesn’t believe me. Typical. "Where is Madeline? I want you to call her and get her exact location and then text it to me. I’ll be seeing you soon, Mr. Dunn. Maddie’s address. Text me now. Don’t forget."

It takes him a few minutes but he texts me Maddie’s location. I immediately follow her to the store where she told her father she is headed in a taxi. I keep calling her but she doesn’t take my call. When I see her alight from a taxi cab in front of me, I want to honk at her. I know she knows my car is right behind her cab but before I can honk at her, Demi hastens into the store after Maddie.

My eyes drift to the car in front of me. How did I miss it? I stare at the store. Are those two ladies seriously still meeting up? Maddie promised me she would handle Demi. Could Demi still nurse suspicions about me?

I haven’t had a chance to iron out things with are. I have been waiting for her to make the first move by coming up to me and asking the burning questions in her heart. If I try to defend myself before she asks, I’ll only look defensive and fuel her suspicions all the more.

I contemplate going into the store and confronting both women together. They’ll feel like they were stalked. Demi will believe the worst of me. Maddie won’t come with me. The confusion about what to do continues to plague me until Demi walks out alone, eating chips she just got from the store. Where’s Maddie? Is she still inside?

I shift awkwardly. She’d recognize my car the moment she sees it. Before she can suspect that I followed her, I get down to fill my tank. Demi’s eyes spot me and a smile stretches her thin lips. It looks genuine. There’s no trace of shock or surprise which I find weird considering she was just with Maddie inside the store. I can’t keep pretending I don’t know the two of them linked up.

"Hey, fancy meeting you here." Demi throws more chips into her mouth.

"Yeah, needed some gas." I come around and start filling my tank. "Was that Madeline I saw you running after earlier?" Demi arches a brow at my bluntness. "It’s okay. I know you two have met. We probably should talk about it."

"Yeah. We should. I’m sorry I haven’t brought it up. It’s just being crazy lately and I didn’t think it was my place to bring up your personal life. Maddie explained everything to me. You have a right to your privacy, Ashal. I understand why you kept your relationship with Olivia private. Your brothers have had some tough run with their relationships out in the open. No one can blame you for wanting to deviate from that path."

I sigh tiredly and lean on my bumper. "I guess there’s nothing left to hide. I have only ever loved one woman and that’s’ Maddie’s sister. We’ve had lots of complications in our relationship which led us to seek a private, almost secret one. Even then, I couldn’t guarantee the happiness I craved."

"What do you mean?"

I slide a sorrowful look her way. "Liv wants to break up with me. Given everything we’ve been through, I am deeply hurt by how easily she wants to end things. She does this all the time. When the going gets tough, she demands to end our relationship and when I give her a few days to her thoughts, she comes to her senses and begs me not to leave her." I indulge in a long sigh. "I love her to bits but she drives me crazy most times."

"I’m sorry to hear that. What are you going to do?" She asks, coming to join me on my car.

"We are going through a rough time and as always, she is afraid of change. I’ll give her a few days to cool off. We always manage to pull through times like this. After a few days, she’ll be clinging to me again and begging me not to leave her."

Demi only nods her head while munching her chips.

"I want to believe that there’s still hope for us even though Olivia sounded very resolute this time."

"And what if she really wants to call it quits this time? Will you be able to let her go?" The keen edge of Demi’s voice makes me tilt my head in her direction. Is she asking what I think she is asking? Is this some kind of confirmation that I am more humane than Maddie must have described? In response, I simply feign a smile and head back into my car. I honestly don’t have that answer yet.

"Madeline already left, didn’t she?"

"Yeah."

"See you later, Demi." She stands by her car with a hand dipped in her chips and watches me drive away while I watch her through my rearview mirror in return. I don’t know where we stand now and what she thinks of me. I only know that the look in her eyes have become one I never wanted to see; fear.

I track Maddie’s phone through the waning light of dusk and when it takes me to a strip club, I barge in with a deep frown. I don’t know what is going through her head. She used to seem like a rather sensible young lady. It beats me how quickly she changed and how fast she’s been making one bad decision after another.

Is this the next best thing after getting kicked out of school and being forced to get married to a stranger? I would have expected that she would have eloped by now. It seems far more honorable than having to watch her on a table with half of her clothes on, drunk and teasingly stripping off the rest of her clothes in a bid to entertain a bunch of horny, screaming dudes.

I plow through the meshed, sweaty bodies and semi nude waitresses to get to the table.

"Maddie, get down from there, NOW."

Maddie blinks down at me and her eyes pick up my face. She laughs lazily.

"Ash Rollins is in the house everybody! I guess it’s my lucky day after all."

When I try to reach her hand, she moves back. Thankfully, most of the customers here are dead drunk and will barely remember this until after tonight. A few sober ones come up to me and try to make conversation. I dismiss them and climb up on the damn table. Maddie is singing tone deaf to the music in the background with her back turned to me. She only has her lingerie on with some pieces of jewelry.

She yelps in shock when I sweep her off her feet and throw her over my shoulder. I ignore her screams, kicking and scratching as we make our way through the hooting, drunk crowd.

"Put me down!"

"Shut up, Maddie."

She laughs drunkenly. "You’re such a fun killer. The night is young and it’s my bachelorette party. Can’t I have one thing for myself?" I reach my car, shove the passenger door open and help her inside.

"Seatbelt."

"I’m not leaving." She stubbornly argues. She bites my ear while I strap her in.

"Stop it!" The bite isn’t very painful but I can’t stand her being so naughty. My phone buzzes with calls from Mr. Dunn. I look at Maddie’s state and realize she can’t possibly go home like this. Her father will throw a tantrum and give her a hard time when she gets sober tomorrow.

"Where’s hunter?" Maddie asks when I get behind the wheel. "I need to ask him if he thinks I’m hot. I need to ask a few other questions too. Ashal, do you think Hunter will be good to me? I don’t care about his looks or his money anymore. I just want to cherished, not tolerated." Her weak slurs fade out and she starts crying.

"Hey, Maddie, you’ll be fine. You are not getting married. The wedding is canceled."

Her cries only intensify. "No one wants to marry me. How am I supposed to find true love if nobody wants me, not my parents or Carter. Everyone hates Maddie’s guts. Everyone."

I lean over to wipe her tears. "Don’t cry, please. They don’t hate you. They love you. Stop crying."

She turns to me with sad eyes.

"You hate me. You hate me the most."

"I don’t hate you, not anymore."

I’m being honest. I feel bad for her. My decisions have drastically affected her life and I don’t know how to pull her out of this depression. Tears stream down her face as she stares at me with half-closed eyes. Did I manage to ruin the lives of the Dunn sisters? How will I sleep at night knowing all the damage and pain I have caused them?

Maybe Olivia is right. She and I were doomed to fail from the start. She will never love me and I can’t blame her. I shouldn’t hold onto her simply because I can’t find love. I should let her live her life free of me.

I have seconds to react when Maddie closes the distance between us and brushes her lips against mine, almost like she wants to taste them. Then she gets into it, kisses me sensually with a hand tangled in my hair. My insides explode with heat before I pull away from her, wide-eyed with shock. She slumps back on her seat, her hair over her face and drifts off to sleep with a smile on her lips.

With my heart still thumping wildly and the hardness in my groin dulling my senses, I touch a hand to my throbbing lips.

She is drunk. She didn’t mean to. It was a mistake. I continue to chant these words in my head, more to keep my own sanity, while I watch her sleep.