Four Brothers and a Bride-Chapter 129

ASHER

I still can’t believe I made it out alive, with my entire family by my side no less. In hindsight, I think the thought of my family not being there when I awoke from surgery because I obviously didn’t tell them about my condition to avoid being pitied or perceived as weak, scared me more than the tumor growing in my brain.

It felt wholesome to open my eyes and find the entire Rollins clan in my room, all brimming with love and care for me. It’s been a while since I have been on the receiving end of such love, especially from my father. I searched for him first obviously. I expected his face to be smeared with equal parts shock and frustration given that we have a major company event coming up in three days which I might not be strong enough for.

It sucks. If I didn’t feel so woozy, I’d gladly drag myself out of bed to do what I can to ensure the program is a huge success. Why did death come knocking too soon? Why couldn’t it just wait a bit longer?

As I lock eyes with father, my heart thuds in my chest. Will this be the way Josh steals the show and usurps my place in the company and in our father’s eyes? I can’t begin to explain how much that thought scares the shit out of me.

"I’d like a word with Asher."

Hearing father utter those words make my heart plummet to my stomach. I silently gasp for air as the room thins out. He stands like a robot with his hands jammed in his pockets until the door clicks shut. I press my eyes shut, ready for the earful. I messed up, I get it. I really wish we can have this conversation some other time.

My heart quickens when I hear a sniffle and when I open my eyes, I am just in time to see father edge close to my bed and ease a hip by the side. The look in his eyes is warm with a tinge of fear. He closes a hand over mine.

"I thought I lost you." He croaks out, his voice laden with guilt. "Jesus, Asher, you have no idea how close you came to giving me a heart attack today." He shakes his head and swipes at his wet eyes. When they settle on me again, they’re red. "I CAN’T LOSE YOU, SON. I JUST CAN’T."

I don’t realize I am crying until father dabs the stray tear rolling down my cheek.

"I’m s-sorry, father."

"Hush now, it’s okay. The tumor wasn’t your fault." He tightens his grip on my hand. "God, you must have been so scared keeping it all to yourself, bearing all that burden alone while putting up a brave front around your family. I wish you had come to me, Ash. Have I truly been too much of a boss than a father that my own son didn’t feel free to come to me with his pain? I am deeply hurt by how distant we truly are as father and son."

I can’t believe his words. I literally want to pinch myself to make certain that I am Asher and not Josh Randall whom these words from father’s lips seem better suited for. More tears gather in my eyes but they’re mostly tears of joy. What was I so afraid of? Father loves me too. I am not just a hard worker in his company. He loves me as a son and dreads losing me. My heart swells with joy to realize this truth.

"Thank you so much, father. You have no idea how comforting it is to hear you say these words to me." I beam at him.

"Then you’d be hearing them more often. I’ll do better, son. I want to do better for all my boys."

Long after we get home, a huge smile is still plastered on my face as I continue to play the hospital scene with father in a loop in my head. How long will it take before I get comfortable calling him dad? Will he also take me fishing soon? Would we also have long conversations that manage to steer clear from work or the HQ? That would be so refreshing.

A light tap on my door is followed by the influx of my brothers. I wish I could sit up painlessly. I hate being flat on my back when I address them. Well, I guess I have to settle for not being the superior for a few days. It’ll hurt almost as much as my head did before my surgery but I think I’ll manage.

My brothers all stand with their hands stuck in their pockets. Their faces are far from cheerful. This must be the part where I apologize for keeping them in the dark about my condition. Jeez. Can they really not let it go? I clear my throat.

"I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have hidden such a serious thing from you all."

A small silence wears on before Ashal speaks.

"You literally confided in Nessa and even Demi who is supposed to be at loggerheads with you but not us?"

"Ok, Nessa was inevitable. She caught on really fast. Demi was an accident. I didn’t mean for her to find out but she did and even tried to blackmail me." freeweɓnøvel.com

"Blackmail you? For what?"

I peer at Ashley. "Forget about it. You all have to forgive me, ok? The last thing I need is your anger. Remember, I’m not fully recovered yet."

"You’re still bossing us around from your sick bed and demanding our forgiveness rather than pleading for it." Ashton says with a long face. "There’s nothing more Asher-like than that. I think you’re doing just fine." He walks closer to my bed and sits by my feet. "I understand why you kept this from us. I understand why you were afraid of getting the surgery..."

"I wasn’t afraid..."

"Asher." Ashton cuts off my protest with a stern look.

"Sorry."

He exhales deeply. "I guess my disappointment stems from the fact that I trusted you to handle yourself even while keeping us in the dark. Why did you wait till your condition spiraled? Having the entire family dash to the hospital in panic mode or causing a dent in father and doctor Ezra’s friendship couldn’t have been your plan so why didn’t you take better care of yourself? We, your brothers, will definitely forgive you but you have a lot of damage control to do once you’re recovered, with our parents, the doctor..."

"Nessa and Anna."

Ashton and I whip our heads towards Ashal following his addition.

"What?"

"Yeah, I meant to tell you. Anna stopped by at the hospital shortly after you were wheeled into surgery. Nessa wasn’t having it. Both ladies kind of got into a fight over who deserved to be at the hospital and whatnot. I think you should do something about that. Straining both women along might have you back at the hospital if you aren’t careful."

I blinked my eyes. Anna stopped by after all? A warm, fuzzy feeling washes through me. She chose to keep her promise despite our bitter break up. That was awfully kind of her.

Nessa. I owe a lot to her. What the heck am I going to do about both women? Ashton’s hand on my knee jerks me back to the present.

"You can think about all that later. I need to tell you all something."

He heaves a deep breath and gestures at our brothers to get seated. After they get seated, Ashton looks into my eyes.

"I’m sorry, Asher. I should have been at the hospital much earlier but I got held up. The thing is, the news of your hospitalization sadly coincided with my second chance at meeting Adriana. She was already sorely disappointed in me for standing her up the last time and Keith was trying very hard to get her to resent us. He almost convinced her not to give us another chance. I couldn’t let him win. I was shattered when Ashley told me that your life was at stake. I was bolting from there but ran into Adriana at the door. I had to make a bitter choice between rushing to check on you and giving up on the opportunity of reuniting with our sister forever or meeting our sister and possibly missing my last chance to see you alive."

"You chose her." I utter softly, my eyes blank.

"It was a hard decision."

"No kidding. That’s very unlike you, Ashton. You would have come running to meet me but instead you stayed back."

"I’m sorry, Asher."

"Don’t be. I know you were just doing what I would have wanted you to do. You did exactly what I would have done had I been in your shoes; seize an opportunity rather than let my emotions get the best of me."

Ashton nods. "How do you do it? How do you consistently make such hard decisions without succumbing to the guilt?"

"Somebody has to do it among us quads. I figured it would be me since those two over there tend to be crybabies sometimes and you were too headstrong to give a fuck back then."

We all laugh together now. My door bursts open and mother rushes in. Her eyes dilate in surprise at the sight of her four sons having a moment. Beyond her sunny smile at the picture before her, I immediately sense her hesitation and a bit of tension between.

"Mother, is everything alright? You seem tensed."

My eyes drop to the iPad in her right hand. She NEVER uses an iPad much less mine. That can’t be a good sign. My brothers all catch on. While Ashal takes her free hand, Ashton snags the iPad from her and peruses the page displayed on it along with Ashley. Their facial muscles contract painfully.

"What is it? Let me see!" I yell but no one pays heed to me. Ashal has also joined them in reading what I believe is an unsavory article probably on Billion-Err. Could it be that my health condition was leaked? Damn it. I hate to feel so weak. I manage to prop myself up despite some pain shooting up my spine. Mother rushes to help me. Tears are falling from her face even more than they did when I first opened my eyes after my surgery. What could have her hurting so badly?

"GIVE ME THE DAMN IPAD OR START TALKING!" I yell at my brothers.

Ashton sighs and hands it over. Why can’t he even speak? I look at the pictures and immediately lose my mind. Father and Kristy Randall? When did he meet with her in such compromising locations? Has he been seeing her secretly under the guise of being an active father for Josh? HE PROMISED ME HE WOULDN’T DO THIS! How could he still be cheating on mother despite the heartbreaking secret of fathering Josh?

"Mother, you can’t believe everything you read." Ashley begins, pulling mother to her feet. "You know how the media manipulates pictures. Josh is an esteemed employee at the HQ. His mother happens to be one of our shareholders so naturally, she must have met father. Don’t fall prey to the wicked imaginations the media want to paint in your head. Don’t you trust father? These aren’t what they look like."

"Yes, mother." Ashal adds. "You know better than to let them get to you. Father isn’t having an affair. Don’t let a silly article fool you."

"Where’s father?" I ask mother with a firm voice.

"In his office, shouting on the phone. He plans to sue them for defamation." She dries her eyes. "I don’t believe those lies. I am just exhausted. Why are these bloggers relentlessly trying to pull us down? We aren’t the only billionaire family in this country. Whatever happened to the Spellmans, the Cliffords, the Hamiltons, the Grishams and all the rest? Why are we their sole target? Our family has been through a lot because of these nasty publications. It’s always one lie after another." She sniffles. "Our stocks are already dropping. The Spellmans will be leading by tomorrow morning. Your father’s blood pressure will go through the roof then and I am worried. Asher is also convalescing. This is all bad timing."

She breaks into a sob and Ashal rushes to hold her. I grit my teeth. This is what I feared. I always sensed that once I was incapacitated, issues will arise that would need my urgent attention and I would be too helpless to help. I want to go down to father’s study and rub minds on how to tuck this problem away but I don’t think my strength will last. I also have a million questions for him regarding his true intentions for Josh and his mom.

Dang it. I feel so helpless right now.

"I need to see father." I utter in a low voice.

"I’ll handle it." Ashton remarks with his eyes trained on me. "You can’t exert yourself. You know that. I need you to sit this one out, Asher."

"Ashton, seriously..."

"Mother, stay with him and make him understand. Take your medication and try to sleep early, Ash. The rest of us will be in father’s study dealing with the situation. Please don’t worry too much. We’ll fix it like we always do."

You mean like I always do, I correct him in my head. I clench my fist and throw my head back in annoyance when they hurriedly leave. Why now for gods’ sake? How did this happen? Who leaked these photos?

I believe now more than ever that we have a sworn enemy working overtime to see our downfall. I need to smoke out this person or persons. I won’t sit on my hands and watch them ruin our lives.

"Get some rest, mother. You need it. You’ve had a long day. Please, I’m begging you. I don’t want you to fall ill."

Thankfully, she doesn’t argue. After planting a kiss on my forehead, she leaves me. My eyes are already getting heavy from the drugs that were administered to me the moment I arrived home. My muscles feel sore with every move. Hard as I try, I can’t get out of my bed much less go downstairs. I decide against complicating my health as it wouldn’t help my family at this time. I’ll have to trust my brothers to clean this mess on their own.

I stay online though, watching the trends as the scandal causes our stocks to dip gradually. Social media is also abuzz with father’s cheating rumors. More speculations arise and people even start throwing in unfounded sexual harassment accusations at the HQ.

My heart skips a beat when a few intelligent ones start drawing conclusions and making a connection between father and Josh’s similar appearances. Thankfully, their deductions don’t make it to the trending hashtags.

Silently, I wonder why Billion-Err is late to hop on this bandwagon. No other blogger has been so fixated on our downfall like that treacherous blog. I am genuinely surprised that an average blog got this scoop before Billion-Err. Could it be that Billion-Err chose to sell the story to throw my family off its scent? That’s a matter for another day.

I grab my phone, dial a number and do breathing exercises to strengthen my voice.

"Asher, I was wondering when YOU were going to call." Josh answers cheekily. I guess my brothers and father must have called him to clarify.

"This is your doing, isn’t it? You are the anonymous person who leaked those photos to the blog. I know you did this."

"Like I told dad, I DIDN’T DO IT. Why the hell would I do something like that knowing it would ruin my dad? I am nothing like you and your brothers. Unlike you, dad’s reputation is of great importance to me. I don’t go about creating scandals that ricochet back to hurt him or the company. Besides, I trust dad to reveal the truth at his own time. He is already a great dad to me which is more than I ever hoped for so what’s the use of hurrying to have the world know of our true relationship?"

"And your mother? Is Kristy really fine with the wait?"

"My mother would never hurt my dad like that. She isn’t desperate."

I let out a chuckle. "That’s not what it looked like from the photos."

It takes a great deal of restraint to not sputter insults at this point. If I give into my anger, Josh will come to know that I am unaware of father’s secret relationship with his mother. I am hoping he would confirm or deny my suspicions so I know how to handle myself when I face father for the truth.

Josh laughs. "It’s not my mother’s fault that dad can’t get over her. I guess it’s a Rollins thing. He enjoys variety. You of all people can attest to that trait, right brother?"

"To hell with you and your whore of a mother. You both have really fucked up this time. You failed to realize that you two are still an embarrassing secret that father would like to remain in the dark. Tell that old hag to enjoy her two seconds of fame because as sure as I live, it won’t last. Brett Rollins is a happily married man with four wonderful sons that the world loves. We are a strong unit that collectively hold the pillars of the Rollins empire. He is a smart man. For that reason, he would NEVER give that up for your lousy mother’s tired pussy and the uninteresting life you two will bring him. Get that into your thick skull!"

I hang up on him and exhale tiredly as my last outburst seemed to sap most of my energy. Still, I am glad I got my message across. Josh and his mother can’t choose this dicey moment to reveal the truth. My family won’t survive it so I have to do everything I can to discourage them till I am back to full health.

My door swings open. Is it time for another round of meds already? I don’t think I can keep my eyes open for much longer after it. I’ll just call it a night and get some rest.

"Mother?" I utter in palpable shock as she steps in. Did she overhear my phone call? How much did she pick up? I watch her face.

"Asher, I thought you’d already be asleep." Meekly, she comes to sit at the edge of my bed. I guess she didn’t eavesdrop.

"What are you still doing up? I begged you to get some rest too."

"Like mother like son, huh?" Her smile is thin and forced. I close a hand over hers and rub gently.

"Your father and brothers are still up. I couldn’t sleep. I swear I tried but I just couldn’t."

"You have to try harder."

"I will." She says, grabbing my hand. "I’ve just been thinking. If anyone knows your father almost better than me, it has to be you, Asher. You spend more time with him because you two work together." Her eyes go dim. "I need you to be honest with me, son. Please, I need to know something."

My heart crashes to the pit of my stomach as a single tear runs down her cheek. Please don’t make me lie to you, mother. Please don’t ask what I think you want to ask, I think in my head.

"Asher, tell me the truth now. Is there even a slight chance that your father and that woman, Kristy Randall, are involved beyond her being just a shareholder in the company?" Her hands tighten around mine. "Tell me the truth, my son. Don’t lie to me."