Four Brothers and a Bride-Chapter 139

ASHLEY

How in the world did my family get to the point where the media gets wind of my brother’s engagement being called off BEFORE I do? I have a trillion questions for Ashton but I save them for later seeing as father has had him on the hot seat for close to three hours since I returned from work.

Ashton sits upright in the chair with a bland expression on his face while father yells, badgering him with questions. Mother is somewhere upstairs consoling Mila but too afraid to assure her that Ashton would change his mind. The rest of my brothers are with me in father’s study, taking turns to grill Ashton for his rash decision which could affect us in more ways than one.

"How could you just wake up and decide to break off your engagement with the daughter of the CEO of Spellman Group? Were you drunk or high? What made you think that’s a decision you can arbitrarily make?" Father thunders.

"The daughter of the CEO of Spellman Group?" Ashton reiterates with a smug expression, followed by a low chuckle that further infuriates father. "Why can’t it just be Mila? Don’t you get it? I warned you about commercializing my relationship. When you started shipping Mila and I together immediately after learning whose child she was, I warned you to give us time to grow on each other, organically. You refused. Instead, you kept sucking the life out of our fledging friendship by pushing too hard for us to be lovers and then a married couple. Somewhere along the line, you even foisted those dreams on Mila and she hasn’t been recognizable ever since. What you failed to remember is that I am not Asher who is wired to always do what pleases you. I’M DONE WITH THAT SHAM OF A RELATIONSHIP."

"Ashton!" Asher cautions him with a look.

"No, let him talk." Father stubs out his cigar and smiles crookedly at his second son. "You think you’re special, don’t you? You think your headstrongness makes you special? What you fail to realize is that I have enough obedient sons to survive on. I have three other faces just like yours to work with. I could easily make you disappear for an entire year and nobody outside this home would notice or care."

"Father."

His raised hand shuts me up. Uncomfortable with where this conversation is going, I trade glances with Ashal and Asher. Are they really going to let father say such things to Ashton? If father says things like that, half the time he’s already made the arrangements to make it happen.

"The point I am making, Ashton, is that I don’t consider YOU indispensable in this group. It’s awfully easy for any of your brothers to play you. They just have to be unnecessarily rude and act before they think."

"I highly doubt that. Your obedient sons can’t play me because I live unscripted. They would have to defy you in the face of serious consequences, not according to the script you handed down to them. "Ashton turns to wink at Asher. "Up for the challenge, little Brett?"

"STOP IT, ASHTON. THIS IS SERIOUS." Asher snaps at him. He clenches and unclenches his jaw. "How could you discuss with the press before your own family and even your fiancée? Do you know the implication of what you’ve done? You’ve publicly humiliated Mila and her family. The media is having a field day making assumptions of the reason why you dumped her. Her father is livid. All negotiations between their company and ours have been paused indefinitely, BECAUSE OF YOU."

"Why are you pretending to be slow, Asher? You know exactly what to do to remedy this situation. Mr. Hugh Spellman has always preferred you for his daughter anyway. Seize the opportunity and marry her in my stead. At least father won’t have to worry about you developing cold feet afterwards."

Father’s hand travels fast towards Ashton’s cheek but gets blocked midair.

"We don’t do that anymore, father." Ashton says before pushing father’s hand away to everyone’s shock. "You want to make me disappear? Try it? I dare you to act like you don’t have imperfections of your own that you shamelessly tasked your sons to hide from your wife and the world. You have no prerogative to speak to me about my duty to this family. I only broke off an engagement that could have made me miserable for the rest of my life. That was me protecting this family from the miserable version of Ashton which you all clearly remember, right?" He stares at every one of us and we clue in.

It’s true. He was a different person after the shopping mall accident. It was horrendous to watch him self-destruct slowly, every day.

"The Spellman family will survive. We also will. This wouldn’t be the first time we’re losing money on the stock market or losing face in society so dial down on the blame game, father, especially given your recent scandal." He throws his head back. "Anyone else have something to get off their chests? The floor is yours."

I take a deep breath and try to distract myself from Trevor’s report. According to him, Ashton had demanded to know Demi’s location and gone to see her at Rahl’s bookstore where he found her in a lip lock with another dude.

Frankly, I don’t know what upsets me more; the fact that Ashton might have called off his engagement a little too soon after I declared that my wife and I were done trying to be a real couple or Demi’s ongoing clandestine affair with the strange guy I’ve spotted her with a long while back.

Did Ashton dump Mila to have a chance with her? Did he go to see her to declare his single status? Is he acting out because he was shocked to realize Demi already got herself another man and his sacrifice was all in vain? How exactly is Demi taking the news of her lover being back in the dating market?

I know I should be the last person to feel some type of way about their personal lives or make it about me but I can’t help myself. Maybe the truth will set me free.

"Why now?" I ask Ashton. He inclines his head with an air of surprise at my sudden question.

"What?"

"Why did you choose to call off your engagement at this crucial time knowing the heat from the media on this family hasn’t completely gone away. Why the hurry?"

I am not sure if Ashton can tell that my question is stemming from some other concern far removed from the danger posed to the family business. He shoots me a smile.

"There was no hurry or plan to it. I’ve been tolerating my relationship for far too long to please everyone and yesterday, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I didn’t want to run it by anyone because I knew you all would be opposed to the idea so I put it out there first to make sure no one gets in the way to stop it from happening. Does that answer your question?"

We lock eyes. Not really, Ashton. I don’t know if I believe you.

After we leave father to brood, Asher pulls Ashton into the elevator and shoves him up against the wall when the doors slide close.

"Tell me it’s not what I am thinking. You didn’t do this to fuck up the Spellman deal, did you?"

Ashton arches his brow. "Why the fuck would I care about Billion-Err? Is it so hard for you all to believe that I did this for my peace of mind?" He wrenches Asher’s fingers off his shirt and smoothens it down. "Well, now that it’s just us, I might as well tell the whole truth. There was a bit of a plan to escaping Mila’s clutches. I timed it this soon to distract father from Ashal’s family issues. Father won’t spare him if he comes to know about the divorce and Olivia’s disappearance. At least I have the spunk to fight back. I am prepared for the heat."

Ashal sniffles. "I knew it all along." He hugs Ashton and thanks him. Asher and I now feel stupid for attacking Ashton. When the elevator doors open to the first floor, Mila is standing in front of it. We all disperse to our different destinations, leaving the ex-couple to deal with their shit.

I head to Demi’s room because I am curious to know how she’s faring with everything going on. I have no idea why I am expecting her to be easier to read than Ashton. If both of them are back to nursing feelings for each other, maybe I will be able to tell after speaking with my wife.

Shortly after I ring her doorbell for the second time, the door swings open with Demi cussing.

"MILA, I SWEAR TO GOD..." She pauses at the sight of me and grits her teeth. "It’s you."

"Hey." I reply coyly. Has Mila already been over to accuse her of being responsible for Ashton’s change of heart? I silently wonder why Mila would be so convinced.

"Look Ashley, I really don’t have the energy to defend myself to anyone, not you, mother or Mila. So, if you’re here like the others to talk about your brother’s sudden decision, I had no clue about it and I have NOTHING to do with it."

"I’m sorry if anyone’s been badgering you or accusing you for another man’s decision. However, I am not here to talk about that."

"Then what brings you by?"

I draw in a sharp breath. "I’m here to talk about our divorce."

***

I might have told a white lie about being uninterested in questioning her regarding Ashton’s sudden decision. However, nothing prepared me for the glimmer of hope that shone in her eyes when I mentioned our divorce. It was almost as though her face glowed with happiness as she let me into her room. With a heavy heart, I stride inside and take a seat.

Was I such a terrible husband that my wife is thrilled at the prospect of leaving me forever? I guess my pregnant side chick makes the answer obvious. Still, it will always sting to realize Demi never harbored any romantic feelings for me despite the fact that I look exactly like the man she’s crazy about.

"So, how has work been as an assistant manager?" I ask to break the ice.

"Repetitive. No one’s letting me do any real work so far because of my so-called pregnancy."

"Ah, sorry." Uncomfortable with her deep stare, I uncross my legs and lean forward to get down to business. "It’s a few months to our divorce. I was just curious to know what your plans are afterward. I fear your association with my family might have soured your relationship with your family relatives so what are your post marriage accommodation plans? Work?"

She shrugs her shoulders lazily. "When was my relationship with aunt Elizabeth and Kira not sour?" She chuckles. "Anyway, I think I’ll crash with Anna in the meantime and resume work at Mr. Rahl’s."

Mr. Rahl’s bookstore where she constantly meets up with her lover? Does that mean she plans to continue the affair?

"Mr. Rahl’s bookstore?" I ask with a hint of worry. "Are you certain you can make a decent living there? I hear business is very slow for bookstores nowadays."

"Yeah, it kind of is but I have a few ideas to draw customers in. Anyway, that’s my realistic and only option since no one else will want to work with me after the divorce. Your father will make sure of it to punish me. I am fairly certain he will fuck a lot of things up for me afterwards. If I am unable to cope in Danvarr, I just might leave to start afresh in a new country. I hope it doesn’t come to that. I am attached to some special people and places here. It would be hard to start all over again in a new place."

"I’ll do what I can to get him to lay off your back." Impatient, I throw in the bait. "And love? Marriage? Any plans for that in the nearest future?"

Her small smile fades now. She peers at me with an unclear expression on her face.

"Hey, all work and no play, right? C’mon, don’t tell me I’ve wrecked you emotionally and ruined you for every other man out there."

"Absolutely...NOT." She replies confidently. "I plan to fall in love again, get married properly and start my own family when the time is right. That’s just not top on my priority for now."

Is she seriously not going to bring up her secret man? I wonder.

"I understand. You don’t have to feel uncomfortable talking about that. I am the husband who’s having a baby with his ex. You are well within your right to find love and date whomever you like."

"I see Ashton already told you."

"What?"

"You’re right. Ours is a contract marriage after all. For a long time, I kept ignoring my feelings because I was striving to be the best wife. Now that we’re wrapping things up around here, I decided it shouldn’t hurt to give myself a chance at happiness again. You don’t have to worry. I’ll be very discreet."

Hearing those words hurt my pride more than I care to admit. Contract marriages suck. I leap to my feet, unable to withstand the silent torment raging inside me over my wife’s excitement in moving to the next Chapter of her life, with a new man. The fact that she fails to mention his name plunges me into another sickening despair; was she referring to the stranger or my brother?

"I wish you all the best, Demi Branson." She lets me hug her briefly.

"Good luck with Nicci."

With a small nod, I let myself out of her room feeling worse than I did when I went in. Why did I expect her to deny or try to hide her affair? Why does it sting that she threw it in my faces the way I have been throwing Nicci in hers? Our marriage was always a sham. We were never a real couple so why am I feeling hurt? I shake off the feeling and shuffle to my room.

Later that night, Trevor calls me up while I am staring at the photos he took of Demi kissing her dark-haired lover in the bookstore.

"Did you find anything on him?"

"His records are suspiciously clean. He lives like a hermit in an expensive apartment and has little to no friends. There isn’t much information out there for a grown man like him so my guess is that he put in a lot of work into hiding his identity."

"Are you telling me that you found nothing at all?"

"I dug back a few years and managed to find something interesting. I’ll send it to you now. You can fixate on this info while I continue digging."

My phone beeps after he ends the call. The photo I find sends shock waves down my spine. It’s an old picture of Demi’s boyfriend and Mila Spellman, probably an old post on social media. She has her arms wrapped around him affectionately as he celebrates his birthday. The caption beneath is even more shocking.

Happy birthday to the best brother ever?

Mila has a brother???