Four Brothers and a Bride-Chapter 164

ASHTON

"Are you sure?"

"Yes sir. I ran a deep background check on Ms. Cree and discovered a specific timeframe when she volunteered at a home for the elderly two years ago. The records show that she was particularly fond of one of the patients there. His name is Patrick Sawyer."

Chills run down my back.

Patrick Sawyer? I mumble in my head. Who is he? Is he my biological father who’s rumored to be dead? If he isn’t, how is this man related to my family? What’s his relationship with Cree? Why did he tell her those secrets? Does father know about this man?

Speaking of the devil, I jolt in surprise when father pats my shoulder. Instinctively, my informant hangs up the call.

"What’s the problem, son? Why are you so jittery?"

Son? It’s been a while since he used that term.

"Want to have a meal with us?"

I glance at my brothers and mother who beam up at me. Is father seriously being kind to me because he believes I have gotten rid of Demi, his enemy? I shrug my shoulders.

"Sure, but we’ll wait till Ashal returns. Where is he by the way?"

"I can’t reach him." Asher replies. "His phone’s turned off. Maybe he went to blow off some steam. Come on, Ashton. We can have a drink with him later. Let’s all have a late lunch." He swings an arm over my shoulder and steers me towards the dining table. "Don’t turn this down. This is the first time the family is speaking about eating together since the lid on Josh’s paternity was blown open." We both glance behind to see Ashley pulling mother and father along. "Mother’s been avoiding it for a while but because of you, she’s willing to eat as a family today. Let’s just make it through this meal without hitches. It’ll be a win in my books."

We get to the dining room and our lunch is served. Naturally, everyone is awkward at first. Mother and father eat like birds while avoiding each other’s eyes. They literally have to be reminded, prodded or coaxed to take the next spoon after swallowing. Otherwise, they space out. Asher and Ashley steer the conversation but no matter how tact they try to be, there’s no escaping the elephant in the room.

I try not to stare at Demi’s chair. It seems like ages ago when she used to join us for a meal as a whole family. A lot has changed since then and frankly, I fear that things might never go back to that point again when we felt like a formidable unit.

"Where have you been staying?" Father asks me out of the blue. My brothers almost choke on their meals. Before I can reply, mother beats me to it.

"What do you care? Do you want to kick him out if it turns out he’s been staying at one of your properties? Well, never mind. I set my son up in one of MY properties. As long as I am still alive, my boys will not be treated like orphans, you hear me? You can snatch his inheritance and shove it up your bastard’s throat in the guise of reprimanding my son. We all know you’ve just been dying to weasel your biological son in here. Go right ahead but if you stomp on the future of any of MY sons just to satisfy Josh’s greedy wish, you’ll have me to contend with."

The tension in the room is beyond palpable.

"What nonsense, Barbara." Father sighs. "Why can’t you let go of the delusions in your head for one second to see the true intent behind my actions?"

"I’ve always seen everything very clearly, you know that. I’ve just been turning a blind eye to sustain the peace of my home. I refused to be bothered by Josh’s striking resemblance to you whenever I saw him at the HQ. I ignored your fatherly gestures towards him even when it bothered our children. I pretended not to understand the silent cues Josh and his mother kept flaunting in my face at every opportunity. I gave you enough chances to deal with that mess without blowing up our beautiful family but what did you do? You kept seeing Kristy secretly and inviting Josh to the mansion to test the patience of our sons."

"Mother, please..."

She flashes her palm at Asher to silence him.

"We are finally going to have this conversation, Brett."

"Oh, now? In front of them?" Father shakes his head.

"They already know everything, don’t they? They’re grown too so there’s no need to sugarcoat anything around them." She turns to each one of us. "I have grown to expect your father to keep things from me but it hurts to realize my sons have been doing the same too. You might think hiding things like Nicola’s miscarriage will protect my feelings but it won’t. It’ll only delay the hurt and coupled with the disappoint of keeping me in the dark, that’ll sting even more."

She stretches out a hand towards Ashley. "It’ll be fine. You’ll be a father one day. You’ll start a family with the right woman. All of this will eventually pass." Her eyes track back to father.

"I guess what I am essentially saying is that those days when everyone treats me like a fool who’s oblivious of what’s happening in her family are gone. I won’t sit back and watch you ruin everything we collectively built. I trusted you once and you failed me. I’m stepping out of the shadows to protect MY children and their rights even if you won’t."

"They’re MY children too, Barbs. Stop talking like they aren’t mine."

"Are they? You threw Ashton under the bus in a heartbeat all in the name of punishing him. You disinherited a child you raised for twenty-five years; a child who was instrumental to the wealth you’re enjoying today. You threw him out in the cold and stripped him of everything he is entitled to and you call that discipline? Wow. you just unlocked a whole new tier of bad parenting, Brett."

"Mother, that’s enough. Please."

"No, Ashton. I know you couldn’t care less but these things have to be said. Your father isn’t doing you any favors by giving you an inheritance. Unlike the other billionaire families in this country with heirs that didn’t work for their inheritance, you boys built this so-called empire. Right from infancy, you garnered the attention we’re enjoying today. You brought the fame into this household and you’ve been working your bones off since you turned sixteen. I won’t let anyone make you feel undeserving of whatever you have today, not even your father."

Father sighs and wipes his face with a handkerchief. "I’m sorry if that’s how you feel. I’m sorry boys. I honestly thought there was no other way to get it through Ashton’s thick skull how wrong he was to doubt my love for you all. He stubbornly kept upsetting my plans because of his obsession with..." He trails off at mother’s burning look. "I’m sorry."

"This charade is over as of this moment. My son is coming back home and you’re going to reinstate him. You have enough resources to settle Kristy’s son. Don’t you ever take what belongs to my boys to throw into the lap of your son, you hear me?"

"I do, Barbara. I do."

Asher smiles. "Well, that went better than I hoped."

"Always here for you, baby." Mother replies, smiling when Asher kisses her knuckles. Before I can wallow in the euphoria of this moment, my phone buzzes with a message. Not just my phone, but everyone’s phone at the table. I reach for mine but Ashley stops us.

"Can we just have our meal like a regular family without ruining this moment with distractions?"

"He’s right." Asher concurs to my surprise. "This right here has been a rare sight for weeks. Let’s not ruin it." He slides his phone to the far end of the table. "Go on." He eggs me on.

I watch father and Ashley follow suit.

"Can I just call Ashal one more time? It’s not fair that he’s missing this beautiful moment."

Although I want my brother here more than anything, I’m also eager to see what else my informant has uncovered. This is the wrong time to be away from my phone. Maybe Kayla’s the one trying to reach me with info on my sister or maybe Demi needs my help with something. It could be anyone and right now, it’s hard to ignore my messages.

"Fine. Call him."

Like I suspected, it’s from Demi. Duncan appears and whispers into father’s ear.

"What’s the matter?" Mother asks.

Father takes one look at Ashley. "Demi informed the media about your divorce. It’s in the news."

Ashley shrugs. "Don’t care. It was bound to come out soon anyway."

Everyone smiles at his cheerfulness but the humor drains from my face when I stare at Demi’s message and the video of Ashal battered and bruised. I snap up to my feet, knocking down my chair accidentally. Everyone is shocked at my action.

"Ashton, what’s wrong?" Asher asks taking one look at my face. Hard as I try, I can’t fool them with a calm expression, especially my brothers. Asher jumps from his seat and rushes towards me.

"Give it to me." He snatches my phone before I can stop him, then his eyes go cold.

"What’s happening? Can someone say something?" Mother quips worriedly.

"Oh God." Ashley moans with terror in his eyes. He already picked up his phone and went through his message thinking it was another media storm from Billion-Err uncovering another family secret. My heart plummets to my stomach when I realize Demi had the heart to forward the same message to the rest of my family.

Mother screams in fright at the sight of Ashal. Father reaches to hold her, frown lines etched across his face as he glares at me.

"How could she? I let her go. I begged her to spare my children. How could she do this to Ashal?" Mother continues to cry and unknowingly leans into father for support. Asher is already muttering to a cluster of the guards. They’re probably trying to find Ashal’s location. Ashley joins father to calm mother down.

I’m still reeling from the shock of Demi’s betrayal. This can’t be real. There’s no way Demi could do that to my brother! I’ve got to be dreaming or something. However, each time I refresh my phone, the video from Demi is still there and Ashal looking almost lifeless causes a fresh tear in my heart.

It makes no sense. I am the one who hurt her parents. If she needed to make anyone pay, she could have chosen me. I wouldn’t have put up a fight. Why Ashal? He’s been nothing but kind to her from day one. Why him and not me or Ashley or even Asher whom she loathes? My chest tightens with pain. Will she really kill my brother?

My eyes darken. Has Asher been right about Demi all along? I’m not even going to allow myself entertain the logical questions in my head like why Demi didn’t bother to show herself in the video if she truly meant to gloat or how her absence could mean someone else might have used her phone to send the message. I’m only going to believe that for Demi’s phone to have been used, she’s very much connected to the damage.

I try Demi’s line and show no surprise when it’s switched off. Again, I wonder why. Is she not confident enough to face me after the stunt she just pulled?

Mother continues to wail. I join Asher and father to go look for my brother but before we can step out of the house, my phone starts ringing. Everyone snaps their necks in my direction. I stare at my phone before looking up at their curious eyes.

"Demi’s calling me."