Four Brothers and a Bride

Chapter 187: Chapter 187

DEMI

For five seconds after Liam drops the bombshell, my entire body goes numb. Inhaling, I collect myself and shake my head at him. It is to be expected. Liam is a pathological liar. He’s fooled me once before so it will be foolish of me not to take everything he says with a grain of salt. Besides, he has every reason to lie to me. He’s still pissed at me for foiling his revenge plans. I’m sure he’ll do and say anything to puncture the bliss in my life right now.

"Don’t you ever call or text my phone again, you hear me Liam? This is the end of the road for us." Grabbing my things, I leap to my feet, ready to leave.

"My buyer went through great lengths to try to hide his identity and even as a tech wiz, I broke out a sweat trying to uncover it. It was both pleasure and pain." He rises to meet me. "That look on your face is the reason why I didn’t want to do this over the phone. It’s priceless." He laughs a little. "Seeing it up close makes your betrayal hurt less. So, how does it feel to know that a member of the family you cherish is irredeemable and plans to use your brainchild to wreak more havoc on others?"

"You’re lying." I snarl at him. "I know you are."

"Yes, there’s a good chance that some parts of my information are fabricated and there’s also an equal chance that I am telling you the truth right now, Demi. The best part about all this? You’ll never know for sure until it’s too late." He smiles wickedly as he circles me. "I warned you that sparing this family would be a mistake. Now, you’ll shoulder the blame for every evil they perpetrate from now on. I hope you can endure having that on your conscience."

"Even if someone did buy Billion-Err off of you, what prove do you have that they want to use it in the way you imagine? That blog in the wrong hands almost ruined the Rollins family. Why would they not instantly want to discontinue it rather than use it?"

Liam chuckles some more. "Seriously, you can’t be that daft. The real question is why would they simply destroy it when they can weaponize it? You love to ignore the fact that your former in-laws love to be in control, and Billion-Err gives them a good dose of control over the masses. Social power almost brought them to their knees and now, the same is going to set them back on their pedestal. Oh, according to my buyer, the blog’s content will have a new focus."

"What new focus?"

"I guess you’ll have to wait for their first post to find out." This time, his laughter sickens me. When he tries to caress my flushed cheeks, I turn my face away. "Oh, Demi, that’s not even the worst part. The worst part is that whomever you’re suspecting in the Rollins family right now to have likely bought the blog off me is wrong and whoever you’ve ruled out as innocent is likely my buyer. EVERYONE must be a suspect or you’ll never find the new owner, got it?" He pats my cheek.

I do a good job of masking the shock zinging inside me. Yes, Liam is making some things up but there’s a nagging fear in the pit of my stomach that’s telling me not to disregard everything he’s telling me right now.

"Is that all or do you have something more you’d like to add?"

He pretends to think about it. "Actually, I do." He leans forward to whisper to me. "Watch your back, Demi. You’ve got more foes than friends now, and they’re all around you even if you can’t tell. In fact, I wager that I am the least foe you should be worried about. I dare say that I am nicer than most of the acclaimed friends you think you have for letting you in on this secret. My buyer asked for discretion but I couldn’t keep it from you. Be careful. You’re being watched."

Chills run down my spine at the last bit as I recall the shower scene earlier. Wordlessly, I walk away from there. My heart is pounding in my chest. Is it really true? Did someone from the Rollins family really buy the rights to the Billion-Err blog? But why? If they had good intentions for doing that, they would have informed the rest of the family. And if the family was informed, Ashton would have shared that with me. Who could it be and what plans do they have for the blog?

***

is meeting Ashton. Hence, I divert to the hospital and only recall the

"You’re here?"

"Yeah. Asher invited me."

"What for?"

to open up about her father and grandfather." She shrugs her shoulders lazily.

make amends for my actions towards

supposed to go

minute in there?

"Oh. Okay."

I edge close to the door, I listen to the quads talking to Skylar. When they mention that someone wants to see her, I take that as Cree’s cue and

***

at the sight

to her. "Glad to see you

her brothers. "I see there’s no need for an introduction. Why

grandfather." At this point, the color on Skylar’s face drains. "He’s been moved from

"Why would I?"

disappearance. That tells me that you must have known about it before now. Secondly, the admin mentioned that it was ordered by a family member. You’re the only biological family member who

hands, Asher raises her chin to face him again. "Come on, Sky, please. Don’t leave us hanging. Why are you holding back? Cree just said our grandfather could be missing and you’re not affirming or rebutting it. There’s definitely more to your silence. Tell us,

and massages her temple. "He’s fine." Her eyes find Cree’s. "Grandpops is fine,

move him?" Cree

of your

her off. With a nod

all your questions eventually but couldn’t it wait till I left this damn hospital? You didn’t have to resort to inviting them here to gang

no, that’s not what this is." Ashal hastens to pull her close. "No one is ganging up on you. It just seemed urgent since Cree was worried that our grandfather’s whereabouts

here." Ashley throws in, sounding provoked. He scowls at me. "In case you didn’t get the memo, meetings

just wanted

like that. Sky certainly doesn’t appreciate your presence and if you

It’s beyond stale at this point" Ashton’s annoyance shimmers on his face as clear as a sheen of sweat. At this moment, I see something dark flit across Ashley’s face as he regards

to everyone. "I didn’t mean