Four Brothers and a Bride

Chapter 194: Chapter 194

ASHLEY

"What?" I snap, lunging to my feet. My eyes sizzle with anger. "What do you mean you’re hiring a manager to oversee MY company? You can’t do that!"

"I can, Ashley, and I will." Father replies bluntly as his eyes dart around my work space. I hadn’t expected him to show up suddenly in the middle of the day or to come to such a rash decision just when I am starting to see glimpses of a clothing line I might be inspired to create. My sketchpad has gone through a couple of torn pages before I finally drew something akin to a vision of the new line.

"Sales are not slow on your end; they’re practically inexistent now. We’re out of stock for most of the highly sought-after designs at the walk-in stores. The customer support of this company’s website is a mad house. There’s an egregious number of complaints yet no one has deigned to give appropriate replies." He leers at me with a clenched jaw. "Every single time a woman breaks your heart, you let your emotions affect a billion-dollar company I built from the ground up with my sweat. That ends now. I need someone who knows how to keep his feelings in check and run a business professionally."

"Father!"

"Someone who knows not to mix business with pleasure, especially at the work place!" His eyes flash angrily as it stays on me. I dip mine, aware that he is referring to the scene where he walked in on me smashing my third assistant in the last two weeks.

Somehow, I become reluctant to work with them after we have sex.

"You might be my son but you clearly lack what it takes to run a company long term without making stupid decisions because of women."

"I’m sorry, okay? I was dealing with stuff but it’s over now. I’ve got the clarity I wanted. I’m good now."

"I DON’T CARE, Ash. I’ve heard that line countless times and given you countless opportunities but you always fail me. And you know what’s funny? Ashal has been through much worse than you in the last few years yet his company still does very well at the end of each quarter. You see, you have no justifiable excuse for your incompetence."

My eyes darken at the harsh comparison. "Really? Now, it’s Ashal and not Asher?" I chuckle dryly. "For the longest time, you loathed Ashal because of his illness. You never gave him a breathing space, always blaming him for his condition and indirectly referring to him as a monster. Even when he outperformed Asher, you continually recognized Asher globally as your right-hand man. Now, you suddenly want to unlock a new level of being a pathetic father by using Ashal to shame me?"

I shake my head in disbelief. "You have no idea the battles my brothers and I face on a daily basis but more importantly, you have no right to tell us how to respond or react to our battles. YES, I am not Asher, Ashton or Ashal but telling me that Ashal’s been through worse than me is BULLSHIT! Yeah, he suffered through a medical condition he never asked for and because of that, his love life was always hard. But everyone excused most of his incompetence." Tears sting my eyes. "I was sexually assaulted as a child by your best friend. I’ll always wonder if you truly never knew about it..."

"Ashley!"

fucked me up for life. Things like that have lifetime consequences, father, but somehow everyone expects me to suck it up and move on. You all think it should be easy for me to pretend that it never happened. You hold me to even higher standards than those who never have to go about their day questioning their manhood while haunted by nightmares from their childhood trauma. I know Ashal has been through a great deal but at least he didn’t lose his

even exist. If Ashal can still be in shock and feeling the pain of losing loved ones even though it was

will never know the truth

to. Yet, you wonder why I struggle to form a connection with one woman?" I scoff at him. "Like things can’t get any bleaker for me, you want to take the only thing that keeps me sane?" I can’t believe how unfazed he is despite how difficult it is for me to be vulnerable with him. "Go right ahead, Brett Rolins. Your company

off my chair, I toss it over

walk

fire in his eyes. "You’ll ask your goons to restrain me? You’ll disown me for sport and dangle my inheritance like a carrot while making me grovel at your feet begging for it? Or, you’ll hand it all over to your real son to show me my place?

have no idea. Though

tremble. This is my limit. I’m not sure I can take the pain, the betrayal and the overwhelming disappointments anymore. I pull out of the VIP garage and zoom off before anyone

***

black and raining heavily outside. For the last three hours, I’ve been staring at glass of

a disturbing number of missed calls. I’ve been feeling numb and empty for the last few hours, gaping at the empty bar

through my head in the last few hours. I can’t seem to escape the crippling fear that I am nothing

I would be nothing. Without my brothers filling my life with equal parts drama and intrigue, Danvarr wouldn’t find me particularly

begins. Is my past largely to blame for my woeful existence or is that just a lie I’ve let myself

chest. Bust as soon as my fingers wrap around

glass down and smacks his lips. Where the fuck

wanted to drink it,

effrontery but as hard as I try, I can’t seem to muster the strength to challenge his action. So, instead of smashing his face in, I get on my feet and turn

"It’s Demi, isn’t it?"

smile tugs at the corners of his lip. "The diamond encrusted knuckle rings are a fashion trend your brothers refuse to buy into so they’re kind of a tell for you, Ashley Rollins." His face is devoid of the roguish