Four Brothers and a Bride-Chapter 87

ASHAL

I thought I had it under control. Actually, I did. I am not a slave to my health condition as much as I would like to believe. Before the disaster strikes, I usually have an option; flee or fight. The wise thing to do is usually to flee, to leave from the environment or leave the person triggering my anger.

It’s usually easier to do with my family, especially my brothers. With strangers, I tend to ignore the smart choice of fleeing and skip straight to fighting.

I knew the consequences when I got into my car and went to find Maddie while seething with anger. I could have stopped myself instead of entertaining the delusion that I could have a talk with her and get her to admit her mistake.

Maddie is not built like most girls. She is very defensive, foul-mouthed, rude, bold, fearless most times, annoying and so much more. She is the type to defend her mistake not own up to them. I should have avoided her and let my brothers fix the mess she created in solidarity to her sister but I didn’t. I didn’t listen. I acted and almost maimed Olivia’s sister.

It’s been two weeks since Maddie was discharged from the hospital but I can’t get that day out of my head. How would I have forgiven myself for ruining the lives of the daughters of the Dunn family? How would I have layered my betrayal to Olivia with the maiming or even death of her sister all in one day?

The guilt has been eating away at me. I feel terrible. I feel like a monster and a cheat at the same time. That’s part of the reason why I can’t face Olivia. Her family has not mentioned anything about Maddie’s accident so Liv is only pissed at me for betraying her trust but when I look at her remorsefully, I am loathing myself for everything that transpired with Cree and Maddie.

"How is she?" I ask the doctor after he has examined Liv. "How is our baby?"

"Mother and child are both fine. You have to keep her away from anything that induces stress, both physical and emotional. This is a crucial stage of her pregnancy."

"I understand."

Olivia glances at me from her bed with dull eyes. I thank the doctor and have one of my security personnel see him off. When I edge close to her bed, Liv puts up a weak hand.

"Don’t."

"Olivia, please, I am sorry."

She shoves the blanket off her body and climbs down the bed to walk away from me and out of the room. She has been avoiding me like this ever since my pictures with Cree leaked. I haven’t been able to get through to her. My apologies, gifts, promises etc. no longer move her but I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. I messed up.

When I was the perfect husband, Olivia never wanted anything to do with me. She betrayed me by cheating. When she flipped and became the model wife, I lost my way and betrayed her trust. It just seems like we are in an endless cycle of fate where we keep missing each other and never truly align.

I find Liv nestled by the indoor pool, stroking her legs in the water. Her face looks placid but pain lies within her eyes.

"I did the press thing, told everyone that we are not married, neither have we even met. What else do you want, Mr. Ashal? Would you like my organs? Would that please you and your family?"

"Liv, don’t say that." I crouch next to her. "I swear on my life, I only kissed Cree. Nothing happened between us. I know that doesn’t exonerate me from being labeled as a cheater but I just thought I’d clarify. I was lost, Liv. I couldn’t reach you. I couldn’t find the Olivia Dunn I fell hopelessly in love with. You...changed."

Tears form in her eyes. "You made me do it."

"I know. I didn’t realize the amount of pressure you were under to prove yourself to me. I just...I’m so sorry Liv. I should have talked to you about how I was feeling instead of shutting you out and seeking comfort elsewhere."

Olivia shakes her head. "You’re so good at this. You know how to string up the right words to explain yourself but that’s all they’ll ever be; apologies and explanations. You never make good on your promises and frankly, I am starting to see that it’s a family trait. I can’t do this anymore Ashal. Let’s face it. We were never meant to be."

I wipe the tears rolling down her face. "Don’t say that, Liv. I know you and I have been through a lot to get to this point of understanding but I believe we can do it."

"I can’t do it." She whimpers with a hand on her stomach. "I don’t want to bring my child into a dysfunctional home." My fingers freeze on her hair. "If you truly cared, you’d set me free, Ashal. You’d divorce me." She grabs my hands. "We can co-parent. We will both be in our child’s life but not as a couple. That’s the only way this will work out for our innocent baby."

Flustered by her suggestion, I lurch to my feet and look away to hide the moistness in my eyes. Lily hovers by the door, a pale shadow in a white apron. I walk up to her.

"Make sure she eats and has her medicines on time." She nods firmly.

"Ashal" Olivia calls out before I can leave. I hesitate by the door. "Maddie. She leaked the story to Billion-Err and you know it." Her blurry eyes meet my face. "I did the best I could to salvage the situation. My family...Maddie...please spare them your family’s wrath. I am already sacrificing my life here. No one else has to suffer. Punish me instead."

Her broken voice and the pain in her eyes shatter something inside of me till my guilt looms like a tidal wave, hard for me to ignore. My eyes droop to the floor as I walk out.

"Where are you?" Mother asks on the phone just as I get into my car. "We can’t be late for the function."

"I’m on my way."

One of father’s biggest business associates and close friends, Mr. Vincent Baker, is throwing a lavish wedding for his daughter and has invited our entire family to grace the event. Father has been stressing everyone out, demanding we be on our best behavior. Given the negative press we’ve recently received on my account, we are making more public appearances to give people less reasons to suspect us.

Thankfully, we all get to the wedding thirty minutes earlier. With the exception of Asher and I, the rest of my brothers have dates. I glance from my pew towards Ashley and Demi.

Demi is beautifully draped in a gold body sculpting dress. I can tell Ashley influenced her fashion choice. Behind them, Mila is helping Ashton with his tie. She seems to be the one who coordinated their outfits, like she has been doing since her stay with us.

She was meant to stay for a week but it’s been two weeks already. I am not complaining but I think Ashton misses his privacy. We all love Mila but she can be a leech most times. These past two weeks, I’ve barely seen much of Ashton since his girlfriend won’t let him take a piss alone.

Everyone rises as the bride starts to walk in, accompanied by her proud father. I remember her. Stacy Baker. Father had set up a blind date for me and Stacy months after I got with Olivia but I stood her up. I’m glad she found someone that makes her happy if the big smile on her face is any indication.

"Remorseful yet?" Father whispers to me. "She would have been walking to you a year ago if you had stuck to the plan."

I can tell he is fuming at missing out on a lifelong alliance with Mr. Vincent. Mother shushes him. We go through the rest of the church ceremony in silence.

At the reception, I hang by myself, sipping champagne while my brothers dance with their dates. Asher somehow managed to get Stacy’s younger sister to dance with him. She rocks to the music passionately, grinding on him. Father sidles up to me.

"See that? Asher is indeed the son after my heart. He always knows how to please me." His smile deepens as Asher and Emily Baker start kissing each other. "She’s clearly smitten by him."

"I can see that." I reply with a scowl before downing the rest of my drink. "You clearly have a lot to say to me so why don’t you just come out with it."

Father nudges me to a corner and hardens his face. "You assured me you had your situation with Olivia under the control. You told me you are in love with her and that’s why you wouldn’t let her go. Then I wake up to pictures of you kissing a strange woman, another nobody, and your secret marriage to Olivia trending on the news. Do you have any idea how much we lost in the business following your slip up?" He breathes heavily.

"Asher filled me in. I’m sorry."

"Sorry doesn’t cut it." He snaps at me with icy eyes. "I am sick and tired of you being a nutcase. You have used up all of my patience. I’m taking back control of that situation. I won’t let you drag this family down!"

"What do you mean by that?" The shock in my eyes fizzles away as I clench my fist and glower at him.

"She already denied any relationship with you publicly. This is your out, Ashal. That sham of a marriage has outlived its usefulness. She’s got no fire left in her and even if she tries to bark now, no one will listen to a word she says. I could easily make her out to be a loony, unless she poses more of a challenge and requires a more permanent solution."

"You’re not going to hurt a hair on Olivia’s head nor will I let you separate us."

"Oh, yeah? Remember who you are talking to boy."

"I know exactly who I am talking to and that’s why I haven’t slammed my fist into your face. Olivia is carrying my child. She suffers as much as a scratch and I’ll sink your empire to the ground faster than you can call Duncan."

Father is unfazed by my threat and we indulge in a staring contest that gets cut off by Ashton.

"Everything okay over here?"

We both turn to Ashton who stands with a drink in one hand and the other hand buried in his pocket. His firm eyes stay on father, a small warning in them.

"Yea. Everything’s fine." Father replies, patting my shoulder with a hand. He locks eyes with me. "I trust you’d do the right thing for our family." His eyes skirt briefly to Ashton before he walks away. I immediately reach for the glass in Ashton’s hand and gulp it.

"Hey, don’t let him get to you. Can he really shock you at this point?"

"He’s just such a crappy parent I want to hit him sometimes."

"I can guess what he pulled you away to discuss." With a loud hiss, Ashton shakes his head. "I can’t believe I am about to say this but for the first time in my life, I understand where father is coming from."

"What?"

"What are you doing, Ashal? Here you are defending Olivia as the love of your life after the whole disaster with Cree. CREE. What were you thinking going back to that woman? You do know that she could very well be Shay, right? Look, I am not a saint and I don’t judge you for wanting to explore again but not Cree, man."

"I know. I don’t know what I was thinking. She reminds me so much of the Olivia I fell in love with. I was so starved of that version of my wife that I went looking for her in other women when I should have just opened up and had a conversation with Liv. It was a mistake, Ash. I’m ending it."

Ashton nods at me. One of our security men plows through the crowd in the reception hall to get to us. He bows.

"Yes, Cyril?"

"We’ve got a lead on Shay. We found the accomplice leaking the new phone lines."

***

When I walk into my office the following Monday, I am still a bit shocked at the discovery. Oliver is one of my favorite servants in the mansion and much too innocent looking to be a back stabber. Well, according to what he explained, he didn’t have any malicious intent when he passed along our phone numbers to complete strangers a for a hefty sum online. According to him, he always altered one figure or two for every rando he sold to until he met a girl online and started chatting nonstop with her. She only agreed not to block him if he passed along the real phone numbers of his young bosses.

I am not surprised Oliver fell for that. I read their chats. The lady knows her way with words. She even gave him several nicknames such as boo thang, stud muffin, Mr. Big D, Hunk and even Tony Stark. If Oliver wasn’t already drooling for this woman he was only allowed to jerk off to under his blanket at night, he would have realized that she didn’t think his wire thin body and small statue as his profile picture showed fit any of those descriptions.

I know how heady it can be when a woman strokes a man’s ego like that. For men like Oliver, it’s ten times harder for them not to take the bait especially when a hot chick they never dreamt they could get starts giving them the attention and nicknames. Oliver indicated that his favorite was Mi Rey which translates as my king in Spanish. Shay only had to call him this and his head will swoon so much he would damn the consequences and do whatever she asked.

Elyon pokes his head in.

"Yes?"

"Um, that girl you said not to let into your office is still waiting at the downstairs. She’s been there for three hours, won’t leave."

A frown creases my forehead.

"I could have security show her out."

"No. Thank you Elyon. Send her in."

I sigh tiredly when Maddie walks through my door.

"You can’t keep coming here."

"You refused to see me. I need to talk to you."

Hesitantly, I usher her to a seat. "If you are here to talk about Olivia..."

"My dad wants to get me married off."

That was the last thing I expected her to say. Her eyes cloud over with tears.

"What?"

She sniffles. "He can’t afford my school fees and he is too mad at me to stand living with me so he spoke to one of his friends and they’re going to have me wed his friend’s son." Maddie has never looked more disgusted and scared. "I’m not here to ask you to revoke the punishments on my family. I brought that on them, on myself. I just need you to help me dissuade my dad from forcing me into this marriage. I can’t do it. I’ll run away if I could but mom won’t survive losing Liv and I. Please Mr. Ashal, help me."

What the hell is Mr. Dunn thinking? Is this the best solution? I clench my fist.

"I’ll talk to him. You have nothing to worry about." Her eyes flicker with hope.

"Thank you."

I am not surprised she doesn’t feel the need to further apologize for the Billion-Err post. She still believes she did the right thing. That’s just Maddie. She lurches to her feet.

"I’ll leave now."

"Maddie." I call when she gets to the door. She turns to me. "You’re not leaving school. I’ll reinstate your family on the initial allowance and you can keep your scholarship." Her hands trembles by the door. I can tell she’s fighting back her tears. "Don’t thank me. I’m doing it for Olivia. I don’t want her to suffer anymore."

Maddie nods and leaves quietly.

I follow through with my promise and go to visit Cree after work. Her new apartment has been decorated to her taste. Since the Billion-Err incident, she has been on a paid leave and recently just resumed work. As expected, she’s delighted to see me and throws her arms around my neck.

"I was afraid you weren’t going to make it." I stare into her eyes and wonder how the light in them will go off when I tell her why I am actually here. She drags me across the room to the dining table where a little feast has been spread. "I am not sure what your favorite food is so I ordered a bunch of stuff. Hopefully, they’ll taste as good as the food you’re used to."

When she notices my awkward silence, she moves in and kisses me. Gently, I nudge her away.

"We can skip to the main course."

"Please Cree, I came to talk."

Her face falls. "I don’t want to talk." She insists, rubbing on me. I move away from her. Why wouldn’t she even ask me about my rumored marriage even if the air has been cleared? She never brought it up once. It seems weird.

"What’s wrong, Ash? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, you didn’t. You’re amazing and I haven’t felt so thrilled by anyone in so long. I just...I can’t do this, not right now. I hope you can understand."

"I don’t. Are you breaking up with me?"

"Yeah, precisely."

She throws her head back and laughs.

"What’s so funny?"

"Oh Mi Rey, you’ll have to date me first before you can break up with me. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Nice try though." She dips her pinkie into a sauce and laps it up with her tongue in a sexually arousing way. My head fails to register her seductive techniques. All I can think of is the name she just called me.

She just called me Mi Rey, just like Shay calls Oliver.!