Four Brothers and a Bride

Chapter 117: Chapter 117

ASHTON

I shove Ashley into his room and slam the door behind us.

"What exactly is your plan here, huh? On the one hand, you were trying to convince your wife to forgive your mistake and accept you still. On the other hand, you stood there like a statue and watched her being dragged away, screaming and crying, to be locked up in her room until she accepts your inhuman decision that only worsens her plight in all this? Are you nuts or something?"

"What would you have me do, Ashton?"

"STAND UP FOR HER! Jesus, Ashley, it’s not rocket science that Demi wants you to stand up for her! She literally mentioned the other day that she refrained from telling you about your baby because you stood still and watched father humiliate her. Your silence cost you the joy of learning you’re going to be a father because she misconstrued it like any woman in her shoes would and now, you also stood mute while father humiliated her again today. You didn’t stand up for your own wife even once. How in the world is she supposed to trust you with her heart or her life when you’re just a puppet of father’s?"

"I AM NOT...."

"DAMN RIGHT YOU ARE!" I leer at him, my chest heaving with breath. It fucking hurt to watch Demi being hauled away, to see the fear and helplessness in her eyes that had briefly wheeled towards my direction. I hate to have my hands tied given my past affiliations with her and my fiancée’s presence in the house right now. So, I am going to prod my stupid brother till he mans up and saves his wife from that distressful situation.

"You’re a spineless punk, Ashley and you have no clue how to get into a woman’s good graces without going through the hole between her legs." Ashley starts to fume now.

"Back off, Ashton. You don’t want to go there." I don’t budge when he tries to shove past me and leave the room. Instead, I yank him back and toss him roughly on his couch.

"Stay out of this Ashton!"

"Too late. I watched that disaster unfold outside. You went against Asher’s plan. You were supposed to coax Nicci to give the baby up for adoption. You went behind our backs and proposed a distasteful idea to her without batting an eyelid. You knew Demi wouldn’t like the idea so my guess is you did this for mother and she’s in on it too." His steamy gaze wavers at my theory.

"You are a selfish bastard, Ashley and now you’ve also confirmed you’re mother’s puppet too. Tell me, when was the last time you made a decision for yourself that wasn’t the product of outside influences? When, Ashley, did you do something that was all you and not someone else’s voice in your head?"

His eyes darken as he stares up at me. "Probably when I intentionally threw away a condom and inserted myself raw into Demi because she was drunk and horny for you!"

My fingers curl into a tight ball. He’s baiting me. I can’t let him distract me from the issue at hand.

"Oh, I heard about that. Your ego must have taken a big hit. Is that why you’re punishing her now by sucking it up to our parents?" I throw my head back and laugh. "If you consider locking her up a solution, then be prepared to lose all the women you’re romantically involved with in your life. You want to know how I guarantee my initials are carved in the hearts of every woman I give the time of day? For starters, you don’t force them to stay with you or like you. That’s pathetic."

Ashley leaps to his feet. "I don’t want any advice from you."

"No. You NEED it." His hesitation tells me he’s itching to learn something even though his demeanor masks his interest so well. "Start by listening to women for a change and by women, I mean those you want to win their hearts, not your mother! Demi is in despair over what has happened so far in her life. Forcing her to raise your ex’s child is not an act of love. She’ll hate you for it. And Nicola? Ripping her child out of her arms to give it to your unwilling wife will also make her hate you too. I’m just spelling out the future consequence of your decision. That child won’t be raised with love because Demi will remain bitter towards you and everything that reminds her of you. You’ll have a vengeful biological mother on your ass for the rest of your days."

I let that steam in his head for a bit.

"You should have stuck with Asher’s plan."

"I can’t have my child being raised by strangers somewhere in the world. You know how strong our genes are. I bet anyone who sees that child when he’s grown will be able to make the connection that he is fathered by one of us. Do you think Nicci or anyone who discovers the truth wouldn’t use that child as a weapon against this family? Giving the child away would have only delayed the inevitable, not solve the problem. Besides, there’s no guarantee that Demi will be willing to try to have another child with me so why should I throw mine away?"

"Then you should have said something to us and we would have come up with a better plan. You messed up big time and now our parents are taking the reins. You see what happens when father takes the reins? You look stupid because he doesn’t factor in your wishes. He’ll do whatever he wants to Demi and Nicola. Don’t forget what he already did to your unborn child. Can you really trust him to do right by you this time?"

hand over his face. "I don’t want Demi locked up but how can I keep her from leaving this house and running

by now, don’t you think? You have to

about father? He won’t let her out

can fan his ear. "Tell him that you want her out and if he refuses, let him know that you know the role he played in Demi’s attack and miscarriage. Trust me, he’ll cave once he

happen to Asher if

out of there, try to talk to her. See if the two of you can come up with a

ghost of a smile breaks out on his face. "Thank you, Ashton. I’ll go see

the door and we both exit the room. I watch him stride purposefully towards the stairs and descend it to see father in his study. Mother and my other brothers must all be cooped up in there as well, trying to rub their minds together

a sidelong glance at Demi’s door. I want to sneak in a few words of encouragement, to let her know that she’ll be fine. I can imagine her lying in a fetal

she must think of my family right now, of Ashley, of me! I hadn’t exactly stopped the men hauling her away. Does she understand the difficult position I am in which caused me to be more passive? I

mired in a frown, I can tell she isn’t too happy. She found me staring at Demi’s bedroom door. I don’t know how long she’s been standing there, watching me watch

"Something wrong?"

to get my

heading to your father’s study." She says, remaining still. She doesn’t appear to be leaving anytime soon so I shelve my plan to speak to Demi and walk

cheek. She leans on my palm, rubbing her face against it with a purr. It ends

family member wasn’t cooperating. You seem to forget I am also an heir of a conglomerate. I know all about this life and the tough decisions that have to be made behind closed doors to preserve the family’s reputation." She closes her hands over mine before staring at Demi’s

your father’s decision

Another baiting question.

unjustifiable as a difference of opinion. I believe there are better ways to handle the problem at hand

in a fashion that you deemed distasteful? Did you ever stop to question your paternity because of it? No

back to look at her. "You don’t have to sugarcoat the truth

what I

of Demi’s room. "Put yourself in her shoes. Imagine you learnt I was having a baby with a side chick right after losing your own unborn child and I expect you to play the role of a mother and raise my baby whether you like it

sacrifice I have to make to preserve my family’s reputation. I might still be mad at you within the four walls of this

me at this point. The last thing I want is a puppet

"You’ve changed."

that naïve. This is the sad truth. Uncomfortable decisions, sacrifices,

you were going to throw that in."

here, Ashton. Despite everything I see, I keep turning a

I stand by my guns no matter what. You know my truth. A part of me will always love that woman behind that door. I won’t deny it and though I will not cross my boundaries, I won’t turn a blind eye to any injustice being meted out to her. It’s not because it’s her in particular; I’ll do the same if it was some other

out with Ashley and Asher in tow. I am told Ashal

"What did I miss?"

things have panned out, I am glad

"Definitely." Asher concurs.

on his face, I can tell

off their reverie. "How long do you

her senses and agrees with our