Four Brothers and a Bride

Chapter 153: Chapter 153

ASHLEY

"What the hell are you saying, doctor? How did this happen?" My heart is thudding in my chest as I try to make

head and tail of what Nicci’s doctor is saying toright now. Tears cloud my eyes when he explains Nicci’s

sudden sickness and strange bleeding on the island. With shaky hands and a shakier voice, | ask him the hardest

question.

"And my baby?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Ashley. It was miscarried."

My vision blurs for a long minute and every other sound drawls to silence around me. | neither hear my phone

clatter to the floor or my brothers rushing forward to check on me. After a few violent shakes, | snap out of it.

"Ashley, what's wrong, man? You're tearing up." Ashal pullsinto a hug while Ashton grabs my phone and

redials the doctor's line. He listens quietly to him with a somber expression on his face. Asher descends from the

stairs and joins us.

"What's going on?"

"Nicci lost the baby." Ashton reveals to everyone. A fresh stab of pain lances through my heart. | never thought |

was already attached to my unborn baby, never thought its death would hitthis hard unlike my experience

with Demi’s. | guess the promise of a new life and new status as a father has been the one good thing about my

fucked existence lately.

"Calm down, Ash." Asher pats my shoulders. "Get a grip on yourself."

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" | snap at him. Suddenly, memories of his planned brutality towards mine and Demi’s

child fills my head. "You know nothing about how | feel." | scratch my head roughly while a sickening laugh spills

off my lips. "I wanted that baby! | needed...how could you understand? Huh? How could you ever understand,

Asher? You demand yours be aborted in two heartbeats because having a child would cramp your ambitious

goals. We're not the same. How could you possibly expectto just get over such a huge loss?"

"Whoa, Whoa, that’s enough." Ashton and Ashal circlewhile Asher stands stunned into silence by my sudden

harsh accusation. "Cool it, Ashley. We know you're hurting right now and we are deeply pained by it but there's

no need to be vindictive."

"Vindictive?" | ask Ashal. "Have you quickly forgotten who tipped father off about Demi’s pregnancy? | lost my

child because he craved to please father. Nicci's miscarriage was clearly an act of God but Demi’s? She could

have carried the baby to full term if certain people hadn't gotten involved." Pain wracks my soul as | recount

Demi’s attack. Tears blur my eyes. "Maybe, just maybe | would have found solace in that baby given the

eventual loss of Nicci’s. Why can’t anything go right for me?"

| sink to the floor and bury my head between my thighs.

"Why am | cursed?"

My brothers wrap their arms aroundand consolefor the next few hours.

ork

"Are you okay?"

| look up from the swimming pool as Asher enters with a bottle of wine and two glasses. He sits next towith

his feet dangling in the water.

"I've been better." | accept the glass he offers but set it aside when he attempts to poura drink. "I'm sorry

but I don’t want to numb the pain. | need to feel my child's loss. It's the last thing we can share."

Nodding, Asher puts away the drink.

"How's Nicci?"

"Delirious with pain and shock according to her doctor. She's under supervision." | sigh deeply. "Mother can’t find

out, not yet."

"Say no more."

"I'm sorry about earlier. | didn’t mean to..."

"You didn’t say anything that wasn’t true." He counters with a thin smile. His eyes drift over the pool, to the

grayness that lies just beyond the towering walls. "Yeah, I'm not ready to start a family. | did have Nessa

terminate more than two pregnancies. Shit, | even lost count. I'm horrible."

We laugh a bit.

"I'm sorry, Ashley. | never stopped to think that you might actually desire parenthood. | was too engrossed with

getting rid of Demi that | shelved your own feelings about her pregnancy. | just want you to know that | am not

that guy anymore. | won't go behind your back to tamper with life-changing decisions only you are supposed to

make."

"Thanks, Ash."

It feels good to reconcile. | believe he is capable of change even though it’s going to be a slow, tortuous process

for him. | am glad he is starting to see the light.

We crane our heads as Ashal comes jogging towards us.

"Hey, you guys need to see this!"

Inside, father is back from work but brought scompany along but my ears flare when | spot Josh among

them. What the fuck is he doing here? If his smug expression is any indication, father must have brought him

along. My eyes dart upstairs, hoping mother doesn’t cdown to see whatever it is father thinks he is doing.

"Father? What's going on?" Asher asks tentatively, his eyes raking the faces of the men and women. The sight of

the family lawyer makes my blood run cold. Father's face is stern.

"I wanted you all to be present when | tackled this matter once and for all. I've got too much going on to be

sidetracked by flimsy lies fed to my gullible son. You want to know the details of your adoption? These elderly

gentleman and lady over here work for the orphanage where your mother and | adopted you boys as babies.

They have records of all the meetings we had with your biological parents before signing the adoption papers.

There are photos too. Feel free to peruse the documents and ask as many questions as you require to satiate

your doubts."

He whips his head. "Ashton, why don’t you go first?"

Ashton grits his teeth, then walks forward to sample the files. Few minutes in, father turns to Asher.

"Won't you join him?"

It's a test. We can all see that. Though we desperately wanted to, Asher tacitly warns the rest of us not to join in.

Ashton flips through documents and cites disparities in the earlier adoption papers father gave him.

The elderly man answers his burning questions but every answer leaves Ashton less than satisfied. He never

looks at us once or tries to draw us into the conversation. He knows the risk he is taking and carefully avoids

drawing us into it.

"And my biological parents? Do you happen to know if they left any records of a next of kin, an emergency

contact, anything?"

The elderly woman who replies shakes her head. "They seemed to be going through a hard tfinancially and

made the hard decision to give you boys up for adoption. They didn’t leave enough details."

"Do you know how they died?"

"Why would she know that?" Father queries Ashton.

"It was a small town. I'm sure lots of people knew about things that happened to other people in the town."

"He's right." The woman tells father before turning back to Ashton. "Last | heard, they died in a fire that gutted

their home. It was tragic."

Ashton takes a good look at the photos, slips one featuring our biological parents into his pocket before returning

the files.

"Thank you. That clarifies things."

My breath hitches as father straightens his back.

"What has been clarified, Ashton?"

"The fact that my anonymous texter lied about the details of our adoption. You were right. I'm sorry that | ever

doubted you."

Father smiles wryly. "I bet you are. You only had to trustor at the very least, believeafter | answered all

your questions. However, | guess it was easier to brandas anything but a good father."

"Father, he has apologized." Asher cuts in. "I'll try to track the anonymous texter to uncover their identity..."

Father's raised hand shuts him up.

"| don’t care about that now. | fulfilled my end of the promise. | went out of my way to fly these busy people into

the country just to clear the doubts to my name. There are always consequences to actions and now, Ashton is

about to learn it the hard way."

"Please, father..." We all chant but he yells at us.

"One more word from you guys and | might be obliged to punish another brother along with Ashton." His burning

gaze returns to Ashton who stands still with his hands in his pocket. "Our lawyer already finished the paperwork.

| am officially disinheriting you from today henceforth. You are never to use the name, Rollins, ever again. From

this moment onwards, you lose every position, title, status and everything you've acquired through my name

and connections. Your nwill be expunged from my will. A public statement will be issued just as soon as we

deal with Billion-Err problem but within this family, no one is allowed to treat you any differently from an

outsider!"

His eyes scan our horrified faces. "He's still your brother so you retain the right to treat him as such but if you

dare to spend my money on him or do anything for him using the resources | have provided for you, without my

consent first sought and obtained, your accounts will be frozen indefinitely."

My heart tightens with grief. Ashton remains unfazed despite knowing the gravity of father’s declaration.

"This will kill mother!" Ashal barks.

"Your mother already knows about his doubts regarding your adoption. She was beyond devastated by it. |

already hinted at taking this decision. If she had any objections to it, she would have aired it at the tbut she

didn’t. She'll survive."

"How could you? Our family is already in shambles and you're cutting off a son just to prove a point?"

Josh steps up and glares at me. "Are you being serious right now, Ashley? My dad has treated you all far more

honorably than he ever has to me. Despite being his biological child, my identity has been hidden from the world

for years and because of that, | have been denied privileges that ought to accrue. Do you know how that made