Four Brothers and a Bride

ou’d think my day got worse when | returned to the mansion and got kicked out but NO, that was my idea of a

blissful end to a shit show. Things couldn't have panned out better that night.

Despite my relief over my impending divorce, | wasn't prepared for the media hate. It’s nothing like I've

witnessed before. It's been ten times more hellish. | even had to stay at Amanda Regan’s place after some

displeased Ashley fans pelted eggs atand trailedtowards Anna’s home. | couldn’t bring myself to draw

the heat to her.

"Ignore them. Everything will blow over soon." Mrs. Regan assuredafter she tookin. Her kids were not

around and she was beyond ecstatic to have scompany. | managed to get a call across to Anna in case she

was worried about me.

When | overheard Asher’s drunken slur complaining about his fixed engagement to Michelle and how trapped he

felt, | figured | could help him out in exchange for a favor he couldn't refuse.

"What do you want?" Asher growls atwhile Anna pretends to fuss around her kitchen. | ignore his

condescending stare and cross my legs on the couch.

"| want you to make sure that nothing affects my divorce from your brother." | lean forward, matching the ire in

his eyes. "I want you, Asher, to expedite that process as soon as possible."

He scoffs at me. "Is that all? | would love nothing more than to have you permanently separated from my family,

as | am sure Ashley does too."

The part about Ashley is a lie if Ashley's incessant calls and apologetic texts are any indication but I cheerily

choose to gloss over the lie. Asher flicks a gaze towards Anna and his eyes steam. "Is there anything else you're

not tellingabout your best friend here? Any more surprises | should be aware of?"

"Don’t bring her into this." | caution him but true to form, he pretends like | don’t exist and remains focused on

Anna.

"Her secret boyfriend? The other reasons why she’s yearning for this divorce? Passing off her ideas as yours just

to getto owe her a favor? What else, Anna? Do | also have her to thank for you letting my drunk ass in that

night? Did you only do it because Demi asked you to?"

"Very typical, Asher. Go right ahead. Heap the blon her. Ignore your own faults and blthe rest of the

world for not pandering to your desires." | chuckle dryly. "It’s indeed true what they say; people who don’t love

themselves will always make you pay for loving them."

"Enough, Demi." Anna coos.

Asher finally let's Anna off and turns to me. "You better watch that mouth of yours if you don’t want to be

completely driven out of this country. Trust me, | only need to make one phone call."

"Don’t cat my friend like that." | warn him in a low voice. "You have no prerogative to accuse her of being

distrustful, not after everything you've done to her. How dare you demand honesty from her when you have tons

of dark secrets she’ll never know in this lifetime?"

Anna drops a dish with a clatter. "When you both are done bickering, show yourselves out." She storms past us

into her bedroom and slams the door shut. Asher leaves first and afterwards, | go in to thank Anna for putting up

with me.

"What are you going to do?" Anna asked with worry etched on her face. "You can’t stay hidden at Mrs. Regan’s

for too long."

"It’s Just until the divorce is finalized and tempers cool down."

"You trust him?"

"No but he’s Asher. He's the only one who yearns for this divorce more than | do. | trust his steadfast

commitment to blotout of the family tree." I sigh. "Till then, | sincerely hope Brett Rollins doesn’t cup

with new ways to make my life miserable just to make a point. He has already frozen all my accounts and left me

penniless. He's ensured | can’t walk out during the day too with his hired minions poised to disgracein

public. | just can’t wait for it all to be over."

"Why aren't you taking Ashton’s calls? He might be able to help."

"That might be true but his entire family knows he'll be trying to help me. If | accept his help or even

communicate with him, his father’s henchmen will traceall the way to Mrs. Regan’s doorstep. She will lose

her job and more for helping me. | don’t want any of that so | am just going to figure this out on my own."

Though she doesn’t say it, | know exactly what Anna is thinking; | am still skeptical about trusting Ashton. Yes, he

has gone out of his way to helpever since he unveiled my secret and | am beyond thankful for everything.

Still, I can’t lose my head over that. At the end of the day, he’s connected to my greatest pain and when we

eventually sit down to unpack everything, | don’t know if my feelings would change after that. I'm not sure if his

will either when | remain adamant about exacting my revenge on his awful family.

| know he feels guilty but his actions are chiefly spurred by that guilt. The real test will begin when his entire

family finds out abouttoo and he has to make a decision to stand with them to stopor stand byto

protectfrom them. That's the only t| am prepared to decide if he truly meant his word.

When the photos and videos of Ashton sporting his natural hair color comes out a week later, | stifle a shocked

moan. Once again, | can tell he made a hard decision to shieldfrom the storm.

It works like a charm. The media eases up on their ncalling and online threats to discuss the bad boy of the

Rollins” quad looking hotter than ever with dark curly hair.

| lose track of thanging at Anna’s place while reading all the comments, gasping as | replay the clips of him

feathering his hands through his hair in the coffee chops, and smiling sheepishly as I go through the pictures. He

looks so good, so different from his brothers | almost feel bad that he ever hid this from the world out of a

misplaced sense of shame.

| slide my phone into my pocket, pull my hoodie over my head and venture out of Anna’s house by nightfall. It's

my first tback at Anna’s place since | spoke to Asher days ago.

Mrs. Regan is great but she’s mostly at work and | feel weird being alone all day in her big, strange house. It's

easier, warmer and more familiar at Anna’s so | chose to risk visiting my best friend once again. Unfortunately,

Anna is working late today so we don’t get to meet.

Just as | turn the corner, strong arms grab me. A startled scream rips out of my throat but gets cut off a second

later when a hand clamps over my mouth. | kick and writhe against the stranger to free myself to no avail.

Dread fills my lungs. Is this Brett's or Asher’s doing? Is this how I'll die like a stray cat in a dark alley only to be

discovered the next morning? More scary thoughts cross my mind as | battle for my freedom.

"Shh, It's me."

That's all he had to say.

"Ashton?" | mumble against his palm before he frees me.

He tucks his hands in his pocket coyly and shootsa smile. "Hi."

ork

"I was worried sick..."

"I'm fine." | cut him off, uncomfortable with the emotion in his voice. "I can handle it."

"I know you can but it can’t hurt to accept help to make things easier for you."

"Easier?" | glance around the empty bar where we are seated in our disguises. "You can’t make things easier for

me, Ashton, even if you want to. Your family knows you'd be trying to help and all they have to do is tail you. For

all we know, your father could have been tipped off about my location by one of his lackeys who trailed you

here."

He winces at my brash tone. "Okay, I'm not dumb enough to let anyone tailsuccessfully. We are alone, |

assure you." He leans forward. "This iciness in your voice, you don’t really believe | took those pictures of you

and him or leaked them to Billion-Err, do you?" His voice is riddled with worry as he pinswith a deep look.

"I know you didn’t take or leak the photos, Ashton."

He nods, but doesn’t break eye contact. "You know who did. Trevor? I thought so too but he was only obeying

orders. Do you happen to know who could have ordered him?"

This time, | tilt back in my chair. "It was Ashley one hundred percent. He acted weird when | got back hthat

day and kept badgeringwith questions about my new lover. | thought you had told him all about it but later

found out you didn’t. What | don’t get is why he leaked them to Billion-Err with everything going on in the family

at the time."

Ashton barely has tto register his disappointment when | proceed. "You can’t protect me, Ashton. | know you

feel guilty about my parents but these interventions won't shieldfrom what's coming. Your family is bound to

find out about my mom sooner or later. They'll accuse me. Your father will bray for my blood out of paranoia.

What will you do then? Will you stand with your loved ones to extinguish a perceived threat as usual or would

you keep your word toand be my barricade?"

The light goes off in his eyes. "The fact that you still have to ask..." His voice falters. "What my family did six

years ago was reprehensible. We will never be able to atone for your loss. Personally, that night will never cease

to haunt my dreams."

My breath catches. "What do you mean by that?"

His eyes redden at the rims. "I'm so sorry, Demi. | shouldn't have reported your mom to my father. | was young

and foolish. | swear, | thought the worst that could happen was her getting arrested."

My chest tightens with pain. Is he really about to spill it all? | burrow my hands under the table and contemplate

flipping on my phone recorder but my hands won't stop shaking.

"Tell me." I urge him. "Tellwithout mincing words what truly happened that night, | beg of you."

He dabs his wet eyes and recounts pretty much everything Mrs. Regan already told me, including the bit about

Samuel Woodley’s attack on Ashley, until he got to the part where he found my parents and tried to convince

them to trust him. My fingers turn to ice. My throat clogs while he struggles to find the courage to tellthe

undiluted truth.

"l...uh, I found them. At that point | was convinced my father wasn't truly just trying to talk to Camille. | feared

he wanted to do more, to hurt her." He actively avoids my eyes. "lI was regretting my poor decision of ratting her

out to my family so when | stumbled on them first, | thought | could help them escape." His breath is shaky, his

voice low and raw with emotion. "I begged your mom to trustonce. There was an elevator down the hall that

led to a back exit as far as | remembered. My brothers were hot on their heels, catching up to us so | begged

Camille not to use the stairwell which led to a dead end."

His face contorts with pain as tears spill from his eyes. "At the very last moment, she chose to trust me. | swear |

had no idea the elevator was faulty. It wasn’t taped. Ashley worked there; | didn’t. | didn’t know, Demi."

Tears are streaming down my face as well now.

"I didn’t know." He repeats with a broken voice. "I pressed the damn button and she dashed in with your father in

tow. The doors slid shut about ten seconds before Asher and Ashal caught up with me. | was confident your

mother had escaped when | heard the screech of metal and the ghastly drop." He breaks off, wheezing and

whimpering.

Chills curl up my arms as my fertile imagination tortureswith gory representations of what my parents must

have gone through in their final moments in that enclosed space.

"My family thought | had intentionally led them to their death until they realized it was accidental. | was in too

much shock to process anything. They altered the story to the media to protectand the company for their

negligence in failing to tape off the faulty elevator." He slowly meets my eyes now. "| killed them. It was all me,

Demi. That's the gospel truth. This isn’ttrying to cover for my family. | am your culprit."

| stagger to my feet but he grabs my wrist before | can rush outside and puke behind a hedge.

"Letgo. Please." | croak out in tears.

| have always suspected that he played a key role in what happened so why does the truth still feel damaging? |

thought | was prepared to handle it.

He bobs his head and let's go of my hand. However, | remain standing, transfixed at the image of him. I still can’t

believe it. This changes everything. It can never be the sagain.

"You have every right to hate me..."

"Shut up! Shut up!!! Just shut up!!!" | want to strangle him in the red haze of rage but my hands won't move.

Somewhere inside me, a logical voice remindsit was an accident, and continues to remindthat his death

won't change a thing or makefeel any better. So, | drop back on my seat and cry next to him for a few

minutes.

Once the pain eases up, our teary eyes meet. | dry my eyes and nose. We continue to sit in silence for a few

more minutes.

"Please, say something." His shand pain are undeniable.

"| hate you so much right now and | can’t help it." | wipe off a single tear that tries to run down my cheek. "I hate

your family even more." He nods his head.

"I don’t think I will ever be okay with everything being swept under the rug, from my parents to Tobias and

Samuel Woodley...all the victims | probably don’t know of" | inhale deeply. "I'm sorry but justice has to be served.

That's the only way for the affected families to find closure." | gaze at him as the implication of my words hang in

the air.

"I am prepared to take responsibility for my actions."

We say nothing more as his phone rings.

"Take it." | insist so we can have a little break from the awkwardness and pain simmering between us. | turn

away and dry my eyes even more.

Ashton answers and remains unusually silent while Asher blows hot on the other end of the line. The shock that

ripples through Ashton’s face scares me. His eyes widen with shock, makingtremble with fear. The call ends.

"What is it? Why is Asher furious? What did he say to you?"

Ashton takes a second to unfreeze his tongue. "Asher just found the research | did on his computer which helped