Four Brothers and a Bride

Chapter 161: Chapter 161

DEMI

Someone twiddles with the door knob, startling me into dropping Brett’s phone. Quickly, I toss it under the sofa where he had sat while he was in here. Moments later, Mrs. Rollins pokes her head in. At the sight of me, she presses her eyes shut and expels a frustrated breath before making her way in.

"Great. I was wondering when you’ll show up." I blow some disheveled hair out of my face and roll my eyes as she shuffles towards me. "Are you also here to gloat or give me a third degree about Billion-Err..." I trail off, surprised when hunkers down and unties the bind around my legs.

She steps back. "Go on, leave."

Just like that? My eyes track to the door.

"He won’t stop you. Go right ahead." Then she turns to leave.

"Don’t you have questions for me?"

"Why?" She asks, turning. "Why do you want me to question you about anything?"

I shrug my shoulders. "At least I’d know where your head’s at and defend myself. You must also think I am evil and torpedoed your perfect family but that’s not true..."

"If I believed that for a second, Brett wouldn’t be the one you ought to be scared of." Her eyes are cold and soulless as she glares at me. "I know a bit about you now, Demi. I dare say that even when triggered, there’s only so much you can permit your conscience to allow. You’re not the brute who is trying to bring my family to its knees."

"Liam." I hum.

She smiles darkly. "To some extent, yes, but I have reasons to believe he isn’t working alone. Poor Liam. He was such a sweet young man growing up. Then he lost his precious mother, blamed us for it, took a few wrong turns and embraced this troubled life. Like you, his pain blinds him from the truth but he isn’t as wicked as he wants us to believe. He’s got to be working with someone else." Her eyes stray towards the ceiling. "There’s definitely someone else in the picture."

I hold my breath. She’s right. Skylar’s the one driving Liam. Her slender arms grip my shoulders, startling me again.

"You know who’s behind it all, aren’t you? You’re working with them so you must know more about the situation."

Ashal must not have mentioned our conversation to anyone. That’s how crazy he must think I am for not only claiming that he has a biological sister but that said sister is braying for their blood and destruction. Gently, I drop mother’s hands from my shoulders.

"I’m sorry but all I know is that Liam calls the shots. If he’s working with anyone else, I wouldn’t know." My eyes dip to the floor. "I quit helping him but I guess it’s too late now. He’s unwilling to take his foot off the gas until the Rollins empire burns to cinders."

Mother’s only reaction is to allow a ghost of a smile seep into her cheeks.

I refuse to share anything about Skylar, not before I speak to Ashton. I realize now that I have been playing this game the wrong way. Everyone seems to know just what I am capable of and so far, they haven’t been wrong.

There are boundaries to my heartlessness. There are lines I can’t cross and even when I attempt to, there’s only so much I permit myself to do. What if that all changed? What if I step out of character long enough to clean up my mess and save the man I love? Would anybody see it coming?

The door flings open and Brett storms in. He doesn’t look surprised to find his wife in the room or to find me untied and standing next to her.

I bet my father-in-law might catch wind of things a little faster than others. He holds up what I can only assume are fresh divorce papers different from the one Asher refused to accept from me after I allegedly breached our agreement the last time. I’m done signing these without Ashley and I tell him just that.

sign them first. I won’t

shredding the paper into two, twice. Before I can gasp, he lunges forward and

go of her!" Mother warns him. "Enough of

is my phone?" He barks

"Why would I know?"

after our little conversation, I couldn’t find the phone I had tucked into

retrieves the phone from under the sofa, he leers at me. "What the hell did you do? Install a spyware?

barks the questions. Although I didn’t have time to do anything significant on his phone, I am tempted to lie and watch him torture

and if I wanted, I could

and

find the words, mother replies in my

as day. She’s torn between seeking the very justice that brought her into this family and loving Ashton who’s directly linked to her parents’

my head. "You weren’t even there that night. You know what you know because that’s what they all told you, isn’t it?" She hesitates for a moment. I watch her eyes glaze over with worry at my insinuation before I continue. "Your family always keeps you in the dark about the things they’re afraid you can’t handle, like your husband’s affair and

this minute!" Brett threatens me coldly as

"And Nicola’s miscarriage."

she glances at her husband. "Nicci miscarried?

also not there the night my parents died but I have very reliable sources that have informed me of the hard truth of that night. For the longest time I struggled with the cold truth of Ashton’s involvement. I badly wanted to believe he was innocent and at some point, I did but thanks to father here, a witness on that awful

while mother stares blankly. I can tell from the horror on his face that he wasn’t expecting me to spin his trick like this. Though he doesn’t voice his thoughts, I

realize that Ashton did kill my parents’

whirls to face her husband

a wrecking ball, decimating things and people in his path without realizing it. That’s what father explained and I can’t help but agree.

you say to her, Brett? Did you throw our son under the bus with your

Barbara, how could you say that? Can’t you tell Demi is deliberately

talk down my throat for years. How would she know about it if you didn’t feed the same rubbish

could kill, I would be dead. I take a few steps back and thoroughly enjoy watching him vacate his high horse and plead with his wife. She

wrong, Demi. Ashton is nothing like he described. You’ve met the man. Do you really think he’s sick? He constantly strives to be a better man than his

I nod at that.

and Ashley’s divorce finalized today. I’m

divorce papers." Mother assures me. "And in return? You’d find out

I don’t know if I can trust mother and father with that information. If Skylar is truly the biological sister of the quads, there must be a story behind her deep hatred for

shoulders noncommittally. Mother doesn’t insist on a clear

words don’t mean much coming from me but I can only hope you find a place in your

then stops at the door when father lingers. "Got something more to say to

lies. "I’m right behind you, dear." He gives me one last

it felt so good to make a move no one expected from me, not even Brett Rollins himself. I guess

feels familiar anymore. The sheets have been changed to a barf color I’d never have approved. The drawers and closet are almost fully cleaned out. The floor feels cold. The walls that were humming with life and drama are now silent and bland. I tear my eyes away from the sofa Ashton has slept on and other corners

at the pit of my stomach that keeps telling me that I’d never truly know what transpired on the night