Four Brothers and a Bride

"Stupid girl." | mutter through gritted teeth. "Is this your idea of makingindebted to you? You could have just

blackmailedor beggedfor money. Why the hell would you put your life on the line like that? | am the one

with a short life expectancy and billionaire parents. | am the one that fool wanted to hurt. What were you trying

to prove by getting in the way?"

| bury my hands in my hair and pull. | hate feeling like this. | don’t want anyone’s pity or favors. Anna shouldn't

have added to my trauma like this. How am | supposed to forget this night?

My phone continues to buzz in my pocket. To distract myself, | pick it up for the first tand realize it's Nessa.

She has called severally and sent a couple of nudes to my phone. | feel nothing but anger as | read her

desperate text messages. Angrily, | shove my phone back in my pocket and cover my face with my hands.

Do | call the boys? Won't father and mother get suspicious if they all left the house tonight? | have no freaking

idea what to do.

| don’t even know if Anna is going to make it. How am | going to handle it if doctor Ezra informsthat Anna

has passed? | don’t even know anything about her or her family besides the sob story she toldin the car

regarding her late father.

| definitely can’t call Demi. She'll freak out and because she knows | hate her and have been onto her, she might

accuseof intentionally trying to kill her friend and try to scratch my eyes out. It will be too tic and lord

knows | can’t deal with anymore tonight.

"What do | do?" | wonder with my hands on my head. The doors to the operation theatre swing open and doctor

Ezra steps out peeling gloves from his hand. A nurse behind him quickly accepts the gloves and retreats. | leap

to my feet, scared to death at the bland expression on his face.

"H-How is she?"

"We did our best. The blow to the head caused quite sinjury but nothing fatal. We'll have to wait for her to

wake up and see if there are any lingering consequences."

"She'll be fine?"

"All things being equal, she should be."

| stagger back to my seat and clutch the arm rests.

"Are you okay, Asher? Lettake a look at you."

| shove his hand away as he tries to check my eyes. "I'm fine. I'm just...exhausted."

"You should go hand rest."

"She doesn’t have anyone... mean, | don’t know any of her emergency contacts."

"I'll have someone call to inform you of her recovery progress. We'll look after her. You have nothing to be

worried about. Once she comes to, you can cback and see her." Doctor Ezra’s eyes narrow with precision.

"Is she someone close to you? A girlfriend maybe?"

"No. No. It’s nothing like that. It was an accident and | happened to see her get attacked."

"Have you informed the police?"

The police. Iman. No. | can’t involve the police. It will be a media blizzard. | can’t have my family be associated

with a criminal like Iman moments after we just concluded the general meeting of the company. Our stock prices

will dip. I have to handle this quietly. | don’t know why Iman would attackbut | intend to find out.

"I'll take care of it, doctor. Right now, | am just more interested in ensuring that the victim is out of the woods."

Doctor Ezra nods with understanding.

"Like | said, though the operation was successful, we can only tell that everything is alright when she comes

around. That's how tricky the brain is." He givesa look. "You should get cleaned up. There's blood all over

your face and body. If you don’t want to go hjust yet, try rinsing off in the bathroom."

"Doc?"

"You don’t have to ask. | know you don’t wanttelling your family about this incident. Givescredit,

Asher. | know you slightly better now. However, ensure you do what you must and inform the police before they

casking questions that | have no choice but to answer."

"Thank you."

| watch him leave, thankful for his understanding. Just then, the doors to the theatre open and Anna is wheeled

out, ready to be transferred to a hospital room. | already paid for VVIP treatment so | am certain she’ll be taken

to the special ward with better room facilities and privacy. A nurse comes over to askto sign spapers as

her guardian. After signing, she entrustswith Anna’s things.

After washing off the dried blood on my face and hands, | message Ashton. | can’t have all my brothers over here

just yet. | could easily have called any one of them but Ashton is top on my mind given our little bonding scene

lately. I'm certain he won't judgeand he just might helpwith handling Demi when the latter finds out

about her best friend eventually.

Ashton findsin Anna’s room when he rushes in. He takes one look at Anna’s comatose state and grits his

teeth. Then he edges close toon the sofa.

"What happened? How?" The blood on my clothes takes him aback. "Ash, are you hurt?"

"It's all her blood." | say to put his troubled mind at ease. He gives Anna another pained look.

"What happened? You only texted this address and room number."

Sighing, I loll my head back on the sofa. "I dropped off father and mother and needed to pick up something from

work. On my way, | saw Anna. Earlier, our parents and | had lunch at the restaurant she works in. | felt | should

give her a lift. When we got to her street, she thanked me. | was just biding her goodbye when Iman showed up

out of the blue and tried to hitwith a club."

"Iman?" Ashton’s face switches from shock to surprise.

"Yes. | didn’t see him. | had my back to him as | was facing Anna. Anna screamed his nas he tried to hit me.

Next thing | knew, she pushedaway from the line of attack, making herself the victim." My eyes dart to the

sound of labored breathing coming from Anna on the bed. "I have no idea why she did that or why Iman tried to

kill me."

Ashton remains silent with a faraway look in his eyes.

"I'M GOING TO FINISH HIM OFF FOR REAL THIS TIME."

"What?"

He clenches and unclenches his fist, staring between Anna and I. "It’s all my fault. | did something stupid while |

was mad at father after my visit to the HQ."

| remember how furious he had looked that day. He barely even looked at me. "What did you do?"

"| went over to Iman’s place. | needed to hit something or...someone."

"Ashton!"

"It wasn’t just for Demi." He quickly clarifies. "That man has been nothing but trouble to our family. His house

was just along the way and | wasn’t thinking straight."

A tired sigh escapes my lips as | pinch the bridge of my nose. So, that’s what all those texts from Iman was

about. He thought | had sent my brother to deal with him? That fool. Why would he even think that? We have a

working arrangement going. | still consider him useful in getting rid of Demi. Why would he attack the hand that

feeds him?

On second thoughts, Iman’s fears are not entirely baseless. While dealing with him, | had casually insinuated

that | would send Ashton to finish him off if he dared to mess up. That was because | knew he feared Ashton, the

violent one. Of course, | never meant it. How was | supposed to know Iman would takeat my word or that

Ashton would randomly show up to his door to fuck him up? Shit.

"I'm sorry, Asher. | almost caused you your life." Ashton stares pitifully at Anna. "I owe her a debt of gratitude

too. None of you deserve this. It’s betweenand that moron."

"No, you'll stay out of this. I'll handle Iman myself."

"Like heck I will."

"ASHTON. | WASN'T ASKING." The fire in my tired eyes wouldn't dissuade my brother on a regular day but

because he is already laden with guilt over the part he played in this, he grudgingly concedes. My head is still

banging. "How's father? Did he ask about me?"

"Yeah. Ashley covered for you."

My shoulders sag in relief. | can’t let father get a whiff of this.

"Have you informed Demi?"

My eyes slash up at Ashton. "No and it will remain that way until Anna wakes up and is strong enough to tell the

story."

"Asher."

"Demi will only make a fuss. | am trying to keep this quiet, Ashton. If this gets out, our shareholders will

complain. Our stock prices will plummet. We can’t trust the media to tell the truth as it is, especially that Billion-

Err blog that’s out to make us socially bankrupt. | can’t involve Demi right now. Once Anna is out of the woods,

we'll tell Demi. That's final." Ashton clearly has his own opinion but I cut him off with a hard stare, "Final, Ash. |

need you to agree."

"Fine, | get it." He runs a hand through his hair and goes to check on Anna and the ECG. "What did the doctor

say? When will she pull through?"

"Couple of hours tops." | leap to my feet. "I need to shower and have dinner. Can you watch her till I'm back?"

Ashton’s face creases with worry. "I don’t know who else | can trust. The much | know about her family can’t

even fit in a tea spoon so you'll just have to help me."

"You're not contacting her family for the sreason why you’re not calling Demi?"

"Bingo."

"Let's just hope she pulls through in time." Something worrisflickers in his eyes. "If she dies Ash..."

"DON'T." | growl. How could he even... | rub my aching temples and inhale sharply. | can’t think of death right

now. It'll messup in more ways than one. "Don’t say that. She will be fine. Doctor Ezra assured me."

"I'm sorry. | didn’t mean to...I'll watch her. Go get srest."

"Thank you."

"Ash, here." Ashton shrugs off his jacket and passes it to me. "You don’t want anyone freaking out on seeing all

that blood."

| didn’t think about it. | peel mine off and wear his black leather jacket, then zip it all the way up.

"| guess Ashley will be the only one that will have a seizure with this fashion mayhem." We both laugh over my

suit and jacket combo. | thank Ash once more before leaving the hospital.

It's already late and | am too tired to drive so | quickly call one of our drivers to ctakehome. | don’t

realize how exhausted | am until the driver nudgesawake after we get home. | don’t even recall dozing off on

the way.

| take the elevator straight to the first floor and make a beeline for my room. My blood-stained shirt is already

starting to itch uncomfortably so | start to pull down the zipper of the jacket as | edge close to my door. Small

footsteps trailing behindget my attention. | crane my neck to find Demi.

"Ashton?"

Oh, for heaven's sake, not now!

"Ashton, I..."

"IT'S ASHER." | state flatly, turning to her with a cold gaze. "Not every brother who wears a black leather jacket is

Ashton, missy." | can’t even feel bad at the shocked embarrassment on her face as she backtracks.

"I'm sorry. | thought..." Her eyes dip from my face to my chest and dilate in horror. Immediately, | zip up my

jacket. "Was that blood? Are you hurt?"

"Do | look hurt to you? It was a stupid club fight. Red wine. Mind your business, okay?" | swerve towards my door.

Then, | figured | might as well get it out of my chest.

"By the way, what is it you want from Ashton, Demi? Why are you constantly sneaking in and out of his room?

Are you trying to get him in trouble?"

When her eyes flash in shock, | continue with more steam. "You're married to Ashley. If you're desperate for

saction, go to him. Why do you keep leading everyone to suspect Ashton is having an affair with you? Are

you trying to discredit him? Is this your new scheme? To cause a rift between brothers?"

"lI don’t..."

"STAY AWAY FROM ASHTON." | warn her in a dangerously low voice. "You and him can never happen."

Her face brightens suddenly. "Ashton and | are just friends, just like | am with Ashal and Ashley. If he wantsto

stay away from him, he can tellhimself. You are not his spokesperson."

"I am his brother!"

"He's an adult! Even his father can’t always make the decisions for him."

| chuckle at her over confidence. "Then you really don’t know much about father or Ashton. I'm warning you

Demi Branson. If you create any rift between my brothers because of your actions, | won't spare you." | wag a

finger in her face for emphasis."

"You should get that blood cleaned up, sir." She says and walks away. At this point, | wouldn't mind this blood

being hers. Gosh, she drivescrazy.

After | have a proper shower and order for my dinner to be brought up to my room, | immediately call Ashton to

check on him and Anna. Thankfully, everything sounds fine though Anna isn’t awake yet.

"| spoke with doctor Ezra. He has assigned a nurse to stay with Anna all night. You can cback hnow."

"Okay. I'll be there soon."

Nessa's call comes through just as | hang up. Sighing, | take her call.

"What is it?"

She sniffles in the background. Has she been crying? "You stoodup again. You promised you would make it

up to me."

"Nessa, | don’t have tfor this right now."

"| didn’t want any of this but you insisted you wouldn't givethe job if | didn’t give into you. Now | can’t get

you out of my head. | need you, Asher. Why didn’t you ctotonight? Is there someone else? Just tell me."

"Of course, there are others. Did you think we were exclusive? When did | ever tell you we were?"

"Don’t be so mean. | didn’t plan to fall in love with you. It just happened." She cries harder now.

| fist my blanket in my free hand and squeeze in anger. "I was unavoidably detained tonight, okay? | meant to be

there but it just didn’t work. I'll see you later."

"But..."

"Nessa, don’t botheragain unless it's work related."

| hang up on her as she starts crying. It's always the sthing with her. | made it clear from the start that what

we are having is merely a fling. | don’t know why she allowed herself develop feelings for me. | don’t love her. |

can’t. She can fuck whomever she wants for all | care as long as she satisfieswhen | want her to. | reward her

handsomely for ALL her services so why would she want to guilt tripby acting like | am using her?

My phone rings again after | chuck it to the side. | grab it angrily and answer the call.

"Nessa, you're really pissingoff right now..."

"She's awake." Ashton echoes.

My mind goes blank for a second. "What?"

"Anna. She just cto."

Relief floods throughas | exhale deeply. Anna is awake. She made it. She'll be fine and | don’t have to live

with the guilt of causing the untimely demise of an innocent woman. | switch my phone from my right hand to

the left because of the slight tremor in the former.

"I'm on my way."

| abandon everything else, get dressed and rush out of my room. When the elevator door opens to the living

room, father is standing by the grand staircase, a cup of coffee in his hands. He must have just cfrom his

study. Fuck.

He stares hard at me.

"Asher?"

I don’t think much about it. "It’s Ashley, father. I've got a little emergency. I'll be back in a jiffy." Jiffy, that's

something Ashley would say.

"Where's Asher? You said he was working a bit late. His car is in the driveway but he hasn't cdown to see