Four Brothers and a Bride

Chapter 25: Chapter 25

ASHTON

My brothers and I are all seated in the second living room. We all arrived the mansion barely twenty minutes ago after getting Demi's cryptic call. Mom called this meeting at Demi's behest. I am still stewing over Asher's stupid action so for that, he actively avoids my eyes. Ashely and Ashal were the last ones to pull up ten minutes ago. Ashal looks slightly drunk because of the big, patronizing smile on his face as he does a little hand signal at Demi. If he was sober, he would be wearing a forlorn expression and definitely wouldn't be trying to draw any attention to himself.

Demi doesn't reciprocate or mirror his smile. She's standing firmly in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips. Mother sits facing us, her expression flat and disappointed. I can already tell what this is about.

"I won't waste your time." Demi begins with a stern look. I haven't seen her this resolute and pissed. "I called mom here. I wanted her to be around when I issue this warning."

"Excuse me?" Asher snorts. "Warning?"

"Enough Ash, let her finish." Mom cautions him.

"I do not want any of you stepping into my room henceforth. You can consider it completely off limits." She continues, ignoring Asher's amused expression. "As you all know, I am unable to tell you apart. Some or all of you have repeatedly taken advantage of this fact to impersonate another brother in front of me. For this reason, I'm banning all of you from crossing the threshold of my room. Let's leave the madness outside."

"Are you really worried about our switcheroo or is there another reason you want to keep us out of your room?"

Demi glares at Asher. "I don't go to YOUR room so don't come into mine!" She replies. We are all wearing different outfits from work and for that reason, I am certain she can tell which brother is which right now. When her gaze falls on me, she gives me an icy look that hurts more than I care to admit. She must believe that I knew Asher was going to do that to her.

In my office earlier, she refused to leave until we continued our conversation from this morning. I did a poor job of hiding my shock at her accusations. My mind was reeling with thoughts about the nature of her conversation with Asher and the fine details of it. Demi instantly guessed that I had been impersonated. It made her very livid, which further worsened my curiosity.

Mom reiterates Demi's rule.

"I won't hear of this anymore. She is not some toy you all can mess with; she's officially the daughter-in-law of this family and deserves the respect she demands." Something about the ire in mother's eyes makes Asher swallow the retort on his tongue. Ashal is sobering up now as the light of cheer in his eyes has faded to despair. Ashley sits mute with a blank face.

Demi excuses herself. Mother moves to Ashal and cups his face in her hands while she probes him about his drinking. I leave for my room to stifle the urge to punch the smug grin on Asher's face. I'm not terribly surprised at how much of a dick he can be sometimes but right now, it's better to stay mad at him than the moronic alternative; vying for Demi's attention to clear my name. Why her validation is important right now eludes me. When the elevator opens to the first floor and I turn to head for my room, I find Demi keying in a passcode for her bedroom door. She spares me a glance, her eyes flat.

Everything I would like to say to her right now escapes my mind. Instead, I stand a few feet away from her, grinding my teeth in my jaw. She punches in the code hurriedly, suddenly uncomfortable. She can't possibly think I'll hurt her, can she? I wonder. The door doesn't budge as she keyed in the wrong code. Demi tries again, stealing a side glance at me. Now I am pissed at how uncomfortable she is being.

I take a step forward and she tenses.

"Stay back!" She yells with the five fingers of her left hand shot in my direction. You'd think she is about to shoot fire from them.

"Are you serious right now? It's me, Ashton."

"I don't care. Stay the hell away from me." She tries her code again, cusses when the door buzzes with a flash of red. Her eyes boggle as I close the distance between us and cage her between my arms.

"Breathe godammit. I don't bite." She reluctantly evens her breath. Then I turn her around so she's back facing her door. "My brothers will be here any second now. If you don't want them seeing us like this, you better remember that code, now!"

Demi inhales sharply and closes her eyes. When she keys in the code, the door flashes green and unlocks. She slips inside but doesn't shut it.

you ever think of coming in

I wanted to see you, you'll need more than a door to keep me out." I chuckle softly at the wilted look on her face before she slams

***

over an hour." Gris chimes as I step out of my car in the parking lot. My hair is wild right now as I forgot to run a comb through. Gris frantically digs into his bag and supplies me with a new hair brush. When I stare at him with a stunned look, he proceeds to try to run the brush through my

What makes you think that

just rolled out of bed and strolled to work like a typical nepo baby with no work ethic."

this client that we are trying so hard

Didn't you check it?" Gris' face crumples

suit stands with her back to me as she studies an antique painting on my wall. On the sofa, an elderly man and a sprightly young

his. Mr. Hugh is clearly disappointed by my tardiness and

He grunts. "You've kept us here a whole

your time any further. If you'll allow

my daughter." He jerks a thumb at the young woman who whirls to face us now. My

eyes after the first frosty glare I give her. Her father lunges to his feet, a huge bulky man with a protruding belly, and draws his

nods in

needed a

"So, you brought daddy."

out. Gosh, I didn't want to use the 'family status' card but I had no choice. Look, out of respect for my father, you're still standing here talking to me. You know

fact that she's right scrapes at my pride. I ball my fists. "I'm guessing this

dad would be pissed I

to pick a car of your choice. I'll have the documentation done and you'll be on your way. Have I

to my employees every week if I have to. Point is, you won't stop seeing this face until you

Gris returns.

going out." I don't wait to

a café downtown. Despite how much I swerve, she doesn't flinch. She sits comfortably with her legs crossed like a woman used to fast car rides. She twiddles with the seat belt and hums a tune softly as the car zips across town. I've never had a passenger princess that didn't hang on for dear life. Though I find it

and grab a

I blurt out coldly after our coffees are served. Mila sips hers,

is really a polar opposite

lances my

slouches with her hands folded again. "It was

"What?"

was curious to know why you prefer that old thing over all the fancy watches you can afford so I might have done a bit of research." Seeing my expression, she hurries to add, "Don't worry, nothing interesting came up. I just spent so much time staring at it that I can recognize it anywhere, especially given the

leather watch. "How did you find me as

about it and how they've left you lots of messages but you wouldn't reply unless they wanted to go out with Will." Mila sighs and sips her coffee again. "Aren't you going to drink that before it gets cold?" She asks me over the rim of her

grab the mug and sip. "Keep

the child of a famous billionaire. There's so much pressure to act right, do this and do that. Everyone has an opinion about your life. The expectations keep piling up the older you get. It's very exhausting. Hence, I wanted to go out and not get recognized for once. I wanted to eat a damn burger like normal people and slurp my coffee without judgment. With the constant demand to live, act and speak a certain way, I felt like I was losing myself so when I heard about you, I wasn't interested in meeting Mr. Fantasy. I wasn't seeking that thrill. I just wanted to hang out with someone as an ordinary girl and have fun, not as MILA SPELLMAN with