Four Brothers and a Bride-Chapter 143

ASHER

"What is that supposed to mean?" Father queries me when I bluntly refuse to be a part of fixing Ashley’s mess.

"It’s exactly what it sounds like, father. I’m done being your puppet. You never truly valued my hard work anyway. Despite how many times I tirelessly poured my soul into crushing company goals, you never made me feel like I was past the point of begging to be your successor. At every minor inconvenience, you dangled that dream in my face like a carrot. Conversely, Josh’s chances as a strong contender for the same seat never shook no matter what he did. I’m done being your pawn. You’re welcome to do your worst."

"ASHER!"

"DON’T ASHER ME!" I snap right back at him. "How dare you?" I ask, charging towards him. "How dare you continuously underestimate the man you created? You molded me into this subservient, slavishly obedient son and hammered it home that your love and trust could only be earned by more hard work. All my life, I’ve felt like I’m on a hamster’s wheel, constantly running but never truly meeting your standard. Look where it’s gotten me." I chuckle dryly. "While one brother selfishly dumped his fiancée without a thought and got away with it, my father’s reward to me for my obedience all these years was to serve me up on a platter to the Spellmans in order to achieve his selfish agenda. You have absolutely no regard for me or my feelings on the matter."

Father slams his right palm on his desk. "What rubbish feelings, Asher? Are you seriously uttering this nonsense? I thought you knew better!"

"I do and that’s why I know that you are a hypocrite!" I ignore the anger simmering in his eyes. "You dare to proselytize me on the cons of believing in and marrying for love but you’re happily married to the love of your life. How hypocritical of you!"

He scowls at me before mumbling. "No. Not hypocritical at all." He sinks back in his seat. "Get out then. Duncan and I will handle it. I don’t need you. You and your brothers have done enough damage."

Something about his demeanor makes me anxious. "What do you mean by ’not hypocritical at all’? I ask him. My eyes dim with understanding. "Are you trying to say mother isn’t your true love?"

"GET OUT, ASHER!"

Refusing to think about the import of his words, I storm out of there. How am I just realizing how much my family sucks? I feel like smashing something. I badly want to go to a rage room but the closest one is quite a distance from our mansion. Maybe I’ll have one set up on the second floor or the basement for moments like this.

Ashley is sulking in his room after Demi’s departure. Ashton, that piece of work, is upstairs too but I don’t want to run into him right now. However, I am more pissed at Ashal who is still in rehab.

It was his idea that I forge a new path. If he hadn’t gotten into my head using my post-surgery experience as an analogy, I would still be the Asher who didn’t balk at his duties. I wouldn’t be fighting with father for sure. I’d be ecstatic about my engagement to a woman of his choice.

Instead, I am feeling selfish and desiring to break a few rules myself. Now, I am struggling to enjoy being told what to do, especially who to marry. While I have been lording over my brothers this whole time, and forcing them to obey father’s commands like they’re issued by God, I was under the impression that I was better than them all. I had no idea how difficult it was to tread a different path. It’s the scariest thing I ever tried.

It would be easier to try to become father’s favorite son again but I just seem to have lost my rhythm forever. Now, I am stuck in between, unsure what path will both fulfil and liberate me.

Confused, I find my way to Anna’s house. I have no idea what I want to say to her but I am drawn to her for some reason. When she opens the door and finds me half drunk on her porch, she only emits a sigh. I barely finish reeling out a disoriented apology before she lets me in.

***

I feel refreshed as I walk into my office by eleven thirty the next morning. It’s my first time coming late in over five years and I think everyone realizes that, including Josh who stops by my office to annoy me as usual.

"I’m not sure if I should congratulate you on your engagement or sympathize for Ashley’s broken marriage." He pretends to think about it. "Well, congrats. You and Michelle seem like a match made on the financial times magazine."

In my head, I see myself breaking his nose and wiping off the smug grin on his face. My head steams as a billion snide remarks fill it to bursting. With a deep breath, I fend off the rage. It amazes me how much control I still wield over my temper especially around the office.

"Thanks, Josh." I reply calmly.

He looks surprised at my simple reply. Bickering with him right now would be futile. Frankly, I am still feeling depleted and discouraged after my exchange with father who is always looking for an opportunity to give the company to his favorite son. There’s no point in wasting my precious energy arguing with Josh over petty things. I’ll only get riled up when I remember only one of us will pay for the wasted time.

Josh squares his shoulder. "Not a problem. Anyway, I came to inform you that if you’re looking for Nessa, she’s moved to my wing now. She’s become my executive assistant with a juicy salary bump. She already made arrangements for her replacement. Mrs. Hernandez, a formidable secretary with a sterling twenty years experience would be resuming tomorrow."

I grit my teeth to rein the anger bubbling hot inside me. Nessa now works under Josh? How could she betray me like that? Even if I did threaten to fire her-which I was never going to do-but how could she accept an offer from Josh knowing exactly how I feel about him? I feel betrayed.

Everyone only thinks about themselves. Everyone around me shamelessly goes after what they consider the best for them. Why do I feel so guilty doing the same? Why am I second guessing my plan to inform the media that my engagement to Michelle is untrue? Why am I seriously contemplating the pros of going along with father’s plan and hoping against hope that he keeps his word this time? I feel foolish and weak for lacking the balls to rebel against father.

"How do you do it?" I query Ashton the second he picks up my call.

"Do what?"

"Rebel against your family without an iota of regret? How do you make decisions that could drive a stake through the core of our business or family interest and still sleep well at night?"

He remains silent for a few seconds. "It’s easy when they’re enough people worrying about the business and family interest. It’s easier when my ostensibly selfish move is less about what I want and more about being a good human and doing the right thing at that moment even if it foils my family’s selfish plans." He inhales a deep breath. "Hey, Asher? Look man, I am deeply sorry that father made you take the fall for my breakup with Mila. I didn’t see that coming..."

"It’s fine, Ashton. This whole thing has been a huge eye opener for me, and has taught me a few hard truths about myself and my life. I hate that I had to find out this way but I am glad I do now."

"What are you going to do about Michelle?"

"Never mind. Talk later."

I end the call and run a hand over my hair. Tough is relative. I might not be Ashton kind of tough but I have my own unique charm. While Ashton will get out of a sticky situation forced on him courtesy of our father, by taking rash decisions, my methods are a little more subtle and thought through. That’s something Anna made me realize last night at her place. I am not as hopeless as I think. I just have to get out of my own head and use my own signature move to free myself from the marriage burden.

"Why is this wedding happening in the first place? Is it all to finalize a deal between two companies?" Anna quizzed while she cradled my head on her thighs.

"Kind of. My father wants both families to become one and marriage seems like a good way of making that happen."

"Why does he want Spellman Group? Would his feelings remain the same if their reputation is smeared or if Rollins Group gets leaps and bounds ahead of Spellman on the financial scene?"

"I...doubt that." I sat up because I knew where she was going with this.

"Asher, if you openly rebel against your father, it will be counterproductive for you unlike Ashton. So, do you. Wriggle out of this situation the way only Asher can; by showing your father he can have what he wants without marrying you off..." I kissed her before she could finish.

A small smile plays on my lips now as I head towards father’s office during lunch. Unsurprisingly, Josh is there, trying to coax father into going to lunch with him but father is in a sour mood.

"Father?"

They both look up, surprised at my sudden entry.

"Asher?" Father replies.

"I’d like a word." I slant my head as a cue that Josh excuses us. Reluctantly, he takes shambling steps out of the room.

"This is a surprise." Father begins but I cut right to the chase and dump a stack of files on his desk. His eyebrows furrows. "What is this?"

"That’s the hidden financial records of Spellman Group. I did a deep dive and they’re in huge debt spanning billions of dollars, father."

"What?"

"That’s not all. Remember we got the report that the code behind the Billion-Err blog fits that of Spellman tech? I’ve been thinking how everything’s connected. Here’s a conglomerate struggling to stay afloat in business and keep up with their biggest competition; us. Suddenly, there springs up a nasty blog that’s devoted to dragging our image through the mud and each time Billion-Err takes a swing at us, guess which company’s stock prices spike? Guess which company’s sales jump? Suddenly, we want to take down this blog but Spellman won’t help unless our families are bonded through marriage? My guess is that they’re behind Billion-Err or they’re strongly backing whoever is in order to take us down. If they take down Billion-Err without a marriage bond with our family, they’ll sink."

Father slips on his medicated glasses, slumps on his chair and begins to peruse the documents.

"Asher, these are very serious accusations...."

"I know that but we can’t ignore what’s staring at us in the face. Why won’t they let us pay to hire their tech team even when we are offering double their rates? Why do they insist I have to marry Michelle first? Hugh has had his eyes on our company and me for the longest time. He clearly told me to marry Mila and even offered to make me CEO of Spellman afterwards. He tried to get me to inherit their debts. What do you think will happen to Rollins Group if I leave? My brothers can’t handle more than their subsidiaries and you know I’ll be better at succeeding you than josh ever will. Rollins group will suffer setbacks and Spellman will take over."

Father’s eyes narrow to slits. "Hugh tried to bribe you with the CEO position at Spellman Group?" He yanks off his glasses. "Son of a bitch."

"I know we need more hard evidence but until we are a hundred percent certain that their motives are good, we can’t form an alliance with them. I hope you think about that."

I turn around and leave while father calls Hugh Spellman. An hour before the close of work, Hugh graces the news, debunking the rumor that his cousin, Michelle, is betrothed to me.

"...I think it’s ridiculous. My daughter’s engagement to Ashton was mutually called off. No one is in a haste to wed the other kids of the families involved. I’m not saying we wouldn’t be open to the idea in future but I feel like the timing couldn’t be more imperfect right now...especially with Ashley Rollins’ ongoing divorce."

A smile creases my lips as I pull up at Anna’s place to celebrate with her. The minute she opens the door, I grab her face and give it a smattering of kisses, leaving her blushing red.

"You’re a genius, you know that? The engagement is off. I am a free bird again and I have you to thank for it." I plant another kiss, a longer one on her cute lips.

"Asher, wait." She pulls away to my surprise. "I have to tell you something."

"Ok? What is it?"

"It wasn’t exactly my idea. You shouldn’t be thanking me."

"I am a bit confused. Whose idea was it then?" She moves away from the door and behind her, I see Demi standing with hands folded across her chest.

"It was mine," Demi replies firmly. "And now, I believe you owe me a favor in return, Asher Rollins."

I grit my teeth in anger and clench my fists. "What do you want from me?"