Four Brothers and a Bride-Chapter 159

ASHTON

I have a sick feeling at the pit of my stomach that tells me everything is about to go horribly wrong in a way we’ve never seen before.

It started since I visited Keith’s house without giving him prior notice as I usually do. I honestly was just so worried about Adriana that I thought I’d spring up on him and have a talk about me making alternative arrangements for my sister’s accommodation.

I knew he wouldn’t be down for it if I called ahead so I planned to show up and sway him. What I didn’t expect was the statement his mother made while I was waiting for Keith.

"What did you say?"

Collete exchanged a fearful glance with her husband. Paul also looked nervous.

"What was that, Collete?" I asked again, eyes skirting from wife to husband. "What are you talking about? Why did you say the woman in the picture isn’t your Zoe? THIS right here is Adriana, I mean Zoe but I later discovered that her birth name is Adriana so that’s what I call her."

My heart was thumping wildly. "How could you say that? How could Keith be wrong about his own sister? How could he mistake someone else for her? That’s not possible, right?"

Then it hit me when they dipped their eyes.

A short laugh escaped my lips. "Wait. Are you trying to tell me that Keith...all this time he’s been playing me for a fool?"

Paul edged close with clasped hands. "Please, Mr. Rollins. Don’t mind my wife. It’s been sometime since we saw our Zoe. She must have grown and changed. I’m sure we are somehow mistaken here."

But Collete wasn’t having that excuse.

"No, Paul. That’s not the case here."

I turned to Collete since she seemed willing to spill the beans.

"And why is that?" I asked.

"I actually recognize the girl in the picture so I know it’s not Zoe. She’s actually Zoe’s former sophomore roommate, Kayla Tuson." Then she proceeded to fall on her knees and grab my feet. "Please Mr. Rollins, forgive my son. I’m sure he didn’t trust you with his sister and thought he was protecting her by keeping her away from you. Maybe it’s all a test. Please, forgive him. Just hear him out first."

Paul also began pleading on their son’s behalf. I collapsed onto the sofa with my hands on my head, unable to process what I was hearing. I truly underestimated Keith. All this time? All the rollercoaster of emotions has been for a fake sister? Adriana has been acting a script? Bile tickled the back of my throat.

I didn’t know if I could hold back my anger. My temper was already frayed from my exchange with father. Finding out that the girl I had introduced to my brothers as our lost sister, the girl whom they had begun to bond with and get protective of was a fake was a different kind of betrayal.

Keith drove in just then. His father leaped to go prep him while Collete remained to appease me further.

"Did you know at any point that he could lie to me like this?" I asked her with a pained expression. "When he said you and your husband should stay out of helping me find my sister because he was going to help me, did it ever cross your mind that your son might end up playing me for a fool because of how protective he was of Zoe?"

Collete ground her teeth.

"Collete, is this the first time he’s fooled someone to hide Zoe?"

"I’m so sorry, Mr. Rollins. I guess I desperately wanted to believe Keith had outgrown that mischief. I swore he wouldn’t try it with the likes of you seeing how serious-minded you were about finding your sister."

Keith walked in and frowned seeing his mother on her knees with her hands clasped in plea. He turned to me.

"Leave them out of this. It’s between us."

"No." I corrected him. "It’s between ME and THIS family. As far as I am concerned, everyone here had a field day watching my emotions get abused." I surged to my feet. "This is exactly why playing nice is ill-advised. If I had done things a little differently, you wouldn’t have had the balls to take me for a ride with Zoe’s roommate."

"Oh yeah? Is that an indirect confession of guilt for the accusations being levied against your family, Ashton? Are you saying ’playing nice’ is just an act to get you what you want but at the end of the day, your ostensibly nice family always do things a little differently resulting in criminal actions behind closed doors?"

I cracked his lips open with a clean punch. Collete’s scream cut through the air as her son fell over. Paul caught him halfway before both men fell on the couch. Blood oozed from Keith’s broken lip.

He shook his parents off him and stood to glare at me with his bloodied lips. They stretched into a sick smile as he leaned close to whisper in my ear.

"You are crazy to think I’d tell you exactly who Zoe is after everything Brett did to obliterate her and her father from this earth. You should really be ashamed pandering to the whims of the man who murdered your biological parents in cold blood."

Chills ran up my spine but I kept a bland face.

"You can’t throw such vile accusations without proof, Keith. You know that. There will be dire consequences if you can’t back up what you just said about my father."

"Even if I hadn’t seen that horrendous video, I still wouldn’t have doubted it knowing how despicable Brett Rollins is. You know him better so I imagine nothing I’ve said is farfetched."

There’s evidence of Brett hurting my biological family? I remained calm and tried to sift it out of him.

"What video?

"GET LOST, ASHTON, AND STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME AND MY LOVED ONES!" He stabbed his index finger towards the door, signaling the end of the conversation. His parents pleaded with him to behave but he remained adamant.

I smiled at his audacity.

"You can’t get rid of me that easily, Keith, not after the stunt you pulled regarding my sister and the rubbish you just spewed concerning my father. Here’s how it’s going to go, buddy." I barely shove at his chest but he drops down on the couch, staring wide-eyed up at me. "You are going to end this childishness by taking me to my real sister, AND you must provide evidence to back up the things you just said about my father. If you fail to comply with both demands by weekend, I’d make sure you get arrested for deception and defamation. You’ll finally get a taste of what it feels like to estranged from your loved ones."

His parents shrieked over my threat.

"YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING!" Keith replies with sizzling eyes.

I leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Oh, you bet I can. The only reason I’m waiting till the weekend is because your parents need to say a proper goodbye to you, before you get whisked away for good."

His eyes were petrified when I pulled back but the fire remained.

"Please Mr. Rollins...." The couple continued to beg with folded hands.

"Paul, Collete, you’ve got three days to do a better job ensuring your son knows who he can and cannot mess with. If he doesn’t give me exactly what I asked, he’s going to pay for trifling with me!"

Collete bolted in front of me and knelt again to plead for her son. "Please sir, have mercy. He’s just protective of his sister. I swear, we didn’t know about this. I can give you Kayla’s address. If she pretended to be our Zoe, maybe she’ll know exactly where your sister is."

"NO!" Keith shrieked, pushing his father aside. "DON’T YOU DARE, MOM. He doesn’t deserve to know her." He leered at me. "Even though she hates you all to the core, you still don’t deserve to know her identity."

Did my sister truly hate me and my brothers or was Keith just trying to throw me off as usual? The former made little sense so I opted for the later and ignored him.

Collete did give me Kayla’s address before I left their house. I stopped by the mansion first to see my brothers first because I felt so guilty about misleading them.

They had warned me about pursuing this and I refused to listen. I honestly don’t know how I am supposed to break it to them given everything we have going on in our family. So, I am going to get my facts right before telling them the sad truth.

But after hearing what Asher had to say about imploring Demi to forget me, I feel uneasy. That’s why I rush to Anna’s place to ask questions. I’m hoping I can get concrete info on Demi’s whereabout. I badly need to know she’s okay.

Anna looks surprised to find me on her doorstep.

"Hey, Anna."

"I waited for your call all day. Did you find her?" When I only continue to look perplexed, she gets antsy. "She can’t just disappear off the face of the earth, Asher. You MUST know who has her so tell me right now or I am going to involve Ashton and the media. I mean it."

The fire in her eyes winks out when I stagger backwards and brace a hand on the wall for support. Slowly, she drops the hand she poked in my face.

"Ashton?"

"How long has she been missing?"

Anna wipes her eyes. "It’s been over a day. Her phone is turned off and no one has heard from her since she returned to Danvarr. It’s unlike her to keep me in the dark about her plans. It can only mean someone’s behind her disappearance."

"And you suspect my family is behind it."

She tips her head back. "It can’t be Liam. They might not see eye to eye on a lot of things at the moment but he wouldn’t kidnap her."

"And what makes you so certain?"

"Because he’s got nothing to gain by doing so. He can blackmail her to do his bidding but your family can’t. They’ll resort to brute force to make her compliant at this point and right now, they blame her for the pit they’re sliding into." She steps up to me. "Find her, Ashton. She’s not your enemy. She’s just hurt and broken. None of this is her fault. She doesn’t deserve to be treated this way after everything she’s been through at the hands of your family." She sniffles. "I’ve got a bad feeling in my stomach that she isn’t in a good state. Please do something or I am speaking to the media about this."

Father and Asher must know something.

I simply pat Anna’s shoulder before rushing off.

I call Asher immediately I get behind the wheel. freewёbnoνel.com

"WHERE THE HECK IS HE KEEPING HER IN THAT MANSION??? YOU BETTER START TALKING BEFORE I GET THERE."

He sighs. "Ashley’s in custody, Ashton. Do you even check the news? Billion-Err released details of Tobias’ death. There’s a witness that stepped forward to give evidence on the matter. It’s Levon, man. The guy fucking works for Ashley. They’re best buds but he’s been collecting evidence of Ashley’s guilt." Asher’s voice falters. "Has any of it ever been real? The people around us seem to have been planted by the same fucking woman you’re running around pining for! You want your sister-in-law that badly? Get over here. She’s chilling in a room on the second floor of the mansion, making subtle threats while watching us go down. I’m going to get MY brother before he spirals into depression again, not that you care!"

He hangs up.

I screech to a halt off the side of the road. I knew everything was about to go wrong but why does it feel like the worst is yet to come?