Four Brothers and a Bride

Chapter 93: Chapter 93

DEMI

Mrs. Amber Regan’s home is a quaint radiance along the highbrow area called Alpha district, a gated community of pricey homes affordable only to the extremely rich.

According to her, her husband’s parents who are wealthy folks gifted them the home. Amber and her husband live in the duplex with their daughter Katherine and get visited frequently by their son Maddox.

"Please, make yourself at home. My daughter is out with a friend. I would have loved to introduce you." Amber tells me. I smile back and recline on the sofa, my feet angled towards the fragrant heat from the fireplace.

"I’ll surely come around again. I can’t wait to meet her."

My eyes dart around, admiring her home. I have been so spoiled by the opulence of the mansion and literally every building owned by the Rollins family that I have forgotten what beauty simplicity can hold.

"You have a beautiful home, Amber." I repeat, mirroring the warm smile on her face.

"Thank you. I’m not much of a decorator but Kat loves it. She tries to redecorate this home every time my back is turned but I always end up putting things back the way they were, especially here in the living room. This place holds a lot of memories for me and I feel like redecorating will cause me to lose those memories."

"I can understand."

She smiles at me. "Your mother usually paid me a visit. She loved that very spot on the sofa you’re sitting on right now. You remind me so much of her with your quiet curiosity and understated charm."

"Thank you. That’s really good to hear." I drop my juice and sit up. "Tell me more about her. What was she like at work? I never knew that side of her."

Amber tosses her back and inhales. "Camille was a breath of fresh air. Before she joined my department, she also interned like you. She was a workaholic and constantly tried to prove herself as being worthy of a place at the HQ. She couldn’t be blamed. She was competing for the same spot with another formidable intern. Your mom spent long nights at HQ. She didn’t do it to get noticed by upper management unlike her competition. She was only trying to push herself to be excellent."

I blink away the tears forming in my eyes and continue to give her my rapt attention.

"She finally made it through her internship and was fortunately picked to join my department. We were very glad to welcome her. She and I grew close because of her impressive work ethic. You see, normally, new recruits lose their fire after they get hired. Your mother was different. She only got better, learnt the ropes faster than anyone I ever had to supervise. We grew to become friends."

"She makes me feel lazy as an intern right now." I chuckle. Amber nods sagely.

"Imagine how I felt. I felt bad going to the restaurant or the cafeteria for lunch because your mom had hers handy and worked while she ate in her office. She started winning titles like employee of the month, most punctual, most innovative and many others. She grew popular not just in our department but in the entire HQ because her enlarged portrait was put up almost everywhere to commemorate her awards."

"That must have been tough."

"Your mother shared the same sentiments. Despite being married, she started getting approached by some of our male colleagues. She handled herself with grace and politely declined the advances." Amber pauses to sip her juice. I have a feeling that the story is set for a dark turn and grab my glass as well. Mom’s life couldn’t have been all rosy if she died the way she did.

"What happened next?"

"One day, the chairman asked to see her. No, it’s not what you’re thinking. I also feared the same but when Camille returned, she told me he only called to personally commend her for her sterling performances in the HQ and to hint at an early promotion if she keeps up the good work."

"Amber, I really appreciate you telling me about my mom like this. I just want you to know that you don’t have to sugarcoat anything or hide anything from me. My mom’s dead. Her memories are all I have. Please, don’t hesitate to tell me everything you remember, how you remember it. I can handle it."

Amber exhales deeply. "Your mom made a few more trips to the chairman’s office and after some time, she grew wary of visiting him. She wouldn’t tell me anything but she made excuses not to go to his office. Later, she told me she was thinking of switching offices to the fashion company, particularly the Rollins mall. She loved clothes and accessories as you know and she felt she would excel there too. I was in support of her decision. However, her application for a transfer was constantly declined. She grew frustrated as she didn’t want to quit working at the HQ when a job at the Rollins Mall wasn’t guaranteed."

"I knew she loved fashion but I didn’t think she wanted to work in a mall."

"She didn’t. she just felt suffocated at the HQ in her small office and the pressure of work. The burnout finally got to her as she explained to me. Though the pay at the HQ was very high, she wanted to switch to the mall and have shifts so she would have more time to spend with you and your dad. It worried her that she was missing out on your childhood. She wanted to fix that by working under the Rollins Group with their good pay structure but in an environment that would allow her time for her family."

"My guess is that never happened because she never had time for me till she died."

even absent when I got my period for the first time. It was so difficult having

fine for a bit until one of the quads started getting death threats

the office? Wait, the quads all

to head other subsidiaries. Ah, it was a difficult time. Most of them were difficult to work with. One in particular, he was known as the crazy one for a reason. The chairman put him under your mom’s supervision and he got her into trouble all the time. He snuck whiskey to work

fresh. I never knew the quads once worked at the HQ. That’s certainly something I should look into more. It would hold answers to a lot of

"You mentioned death threats?"

quads was getting death threats for murdering the chairman’s former bodyguard who passed on when the boys were very young. I wasn’t surprised that someone would stoop so low to attack the young boys in that fashion because a lot of people tend to be jealous of the golden boys. I felt really bad for them. The one being attacked suffered major PTSD. It was difficult watching him react to the threats like a bloody knife on his desk in the office

Ashley, I think.

"Was the culprit found?"

the office. He was the first son of the murdered bodyguard. His name

What happened

her to let it go but she was adamant, claiming that she had a gut feeling that Samuel was innocent. That’s when she started making secret plans and phone calls to

curl tightly around my glass. Amber eyes

"Are you okay?"

but it turns out that mom and I

difference is my motive for doing it. Mom’s reason was more honorable but if I have learnt anything about the Rollins’ family, they’re anything but honorable. Hence, chills run down my spine

Please go

convinced. "You said you could handle

"I can. Carry on."

drink one more time. "Your mom called and spoke to journalists. Back then, we didn’t have blogs like Billion-Err where one can anonymously leak information. Your mom also made the mistake of using the company WiFi and her computer to conduct research about Tobias Woodley. I begged her to stop but she refused to stand and do nothing. The chairman allowed his son, the one being attacked, to transfer to the fashion subsidiary. He began working at the mall as the manager of the mall and soon found his rhythm again. Everything seemed to have calmed down until the news about Ashley and Samuel Woodley aired. The whole of Danvarr started taking Samuel’s side and giving Rollins group hell for unjustly arresting the poor man. The company stocks crashed badly. Ashley went into a spiral once more,

"He did?"

hellish. Everyone was on edge. There were massive staff cuts, threats against the whistleblower and rewards for anyone who had

"And my mom?"

research was flagged. I think he had one of his father’s men tail her and got pictures of her speaking with reporters and Samuel’s siblings. He was very disappointed in her and felt betrayed.

had written fondly about Ashton and then there were bits in her journal where she described him as irrational, hot-tempered and other bad words.

to chronicle one’s experiences in a journal. Her entries were mostly terse. However, she mentioned the

empty all her thoughts in one book, especially anything to do with what she had done at work so she leaves no clues in case someone found her journal. She tried to write as little as possible, enough to help her to personally recall details of the events but to a stranger, the info would seem harmless. She

point." With a small smile,

and biting the finger that fed her. She tried to defend herself but he only grew madder and stormed away. Your mom was very scared. I think that was on your birthday because she planned to go shopping at the departmental store for your present. After the fallout with Ashton, she grew scared. I hid under my desk the whole time so I

sip of my vodka and wince. "That’s

"You’ll need it."

to the sofa and Amber

your mom to go ahead with her shopping as planned, trusting that Ashton will calm down and reason

"How his father is?"

closed when she got there but she begged for a chance to get you a gift. As an employee of the HQ, they let her in. She called me later that she had gotten lost in there and the mall had been closed. Your father had been calling her nonstop and she wanted to start going home. I told her to give me a few minutes while I tried to call some contacts on my phone. She later called to tell me

be drunk enough for the rest of the story which I know

family came to the mall that night. This was after she had spoken to Ashley about leaving and he directed her to an alternate exit. Brett Rollins ordered your mom to come to him in Ashley’s office and she knew Ashton had ratted her out. She tried to escape but when she got to the exit, it had been locked. She was on the phone with me, scared shitless." Amber sighs. "It got worse when she saw Samuel Woodley come out of hiding in the store and head for Ashley’s office

"When what?"

floor. He broke his neck on

I close a hand

you all this because I feel like I owe you the truth as far as I know. Don’t be stupid and try to do anything about parts of this story that hurt you.

I reply

I wasn’t physically present but I could have misheard or misunderstood things. I am still alive because I didn’t insist that I knew exactly what had transpired that

make mistakes and learn from them. I am not here to reopen old wounds. I just need to find closure to the death of my parents. It might

explain that what happened to Samuel was self-defense. They were prepared to forgive her for leaking information to the press but your mom was too scared to listen to everything the chairman was telling