Four Brothers and a Bride

Slowly, he straightens and comes to crouch down in front of me. His eyes are red-rimmed. "Demi? He cradles my

head on his shoulder and holdstightly while | cry even harder. After a minute, he pulls back and cups my

cheeks. "Demi, there's nothing on the computer." He reaffirms when my teary eyes widen in disbelief. "There's

no such message. | double checked."

| surge to my feet, shaking my head in rebuttal. "Yes, there is. | saw it."

He stands with me. "I am not behind Billion-Err. | need you to trust me. | would never hurt you..." But | shove past

him to go check the computer myself. His messages are mostly office memos, meeting minutes, sunofficial

car deals in the works, a few personal emails from business associates and so on. There’s nothing remotely

resembling the message | just saw less than thirty minutes ago.

"Demi?" His voice is low and calm. His eyes are pleading. "I am not fooling you, okay? | have nothing to do with

the last article on Billion-Err, or the blog itself."

"You deleted it, didn’t you?" My question throws him off guard. "It was right here. | was s... standing right h-here

when the message cin. | know | saw it, Ashton so you must have deleted it just now."

"Demi, | didn’t delete anything. There's nothing there."

"No, you're lying to me."

"Demi, please calm down."

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" | snap at him when he tries to encroach my personal space. He's lying. The message was

right there. Gosh, how blind have | been? | tug at my hair with both hands. "I've been such a fool. All this time. |

thought | knew you. | thought your family was largely misunderstood but now | realize everyone was right. You all

are the same. The apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree."

"Please, don’t say that." His voice is laden with emotion.

But my mind continues whirling. Maybe | am not the one who's jinxed. | am not the one who's a bad omen for

the Rollins family. It has always been the other way around. | have known no peace ever since | inserted myself

into their lives. Things have been steadily nosediving and somehow, | managed to convince myself that it was all

my fault.

"Demi, please, look at me."

When I do, he has one arm extended, his eyes moist. "I'm sure there's a perfect explanation for what you saw

and how you feel but hearout. | promise | didn’t delete anything. I'll have someone take a look at it if you

want but for now, I'd really appreciate it if you take my hand as a sign of trust. Let's work through this, please?"

My eyes dip to his outstretched hand. "I'm not c...crazy. | know what | saw."

"Of course not. Just...take my hand baby, please?"

"STOP TREATINGLIKE A NUTCASE!" Accidentally, | knock down the nplaque on his desk and watch it

shatter to pieces. My voice is a mere whimper. "I'm s-sorry."

"It's okay."

"This is all too much to take in. | um... | need to go. I... need a break." A wilted expression coats his face instantly.

"I have a lot to figure out." | start for the door but he reaches forward and snags my wrist.

"Don’t leave, not like this. Okay, I'm sorry | didn’t tell you earlier but I did contact a blogger two weeks back but

only..." He latches onto my wrist even tighter as | try to back away in shock, "It was only to release an official

statement rebutting the earlier article that made you so devastated. | later declined because | wasn't sure you'd

wantto, plus, the media was only going to treat it as fodder for more damaging gossip against you."

His lips are moving but he lostat the part where he actually contacted a blogger. Somehow, | can distinguish

that from Liam's words. | can’t believe it was a mere blogger separate from Billion-Err.

"Letgo, Ashton. | don’t want to be here." But he refuses to budge, continues to explain himself. Angrily, |

yank my wrist free of his grip, yelling at the top of my voice to be left alone. | make it as far as the door, ignoring

the hum of his voice when suddenly, he yells back.

"YOU'RE SEEING THINGS THAT AREN'T THERE, CAMILLE. IT’S YOUR CONDITION TALKING. LISTEN TOFOR

GOODNESS’ SAKE!"

My fingers freeze over the door knob. Slowly, | turn towards him, body shaking. "What did you just say?"

ork

Ashton catches himself, then edges backwards with his hands palmed over his face.

"Ashton, did you just callby my mother’s name?" Of course, he did. | know | heard him and from his present

reaction, he acknowledges that too. "Answer me!"

He sinks into his chair and sighs heavily. "I'm sorry, Demi. That cout of nowhere."

"It certainly didn’t." I reply, plunking my purse on his desk. "What condition? What did you mean by that?" And

because he’s debating on clarifying or risking my anger, | lean forward. "Tellnow or I'll imagine the worst of

everything; you, your family and everything | have cto know."

He blinks in surprise. "There's no way this is a surprise for you. Lookin the eyes and tellyou never knew

about your mother’s delusions?"

| feel a sharp tear in my heart but keep a brave face. He rises but doesn’t close the distance between us.

"It was all over the police and medical reports after the accident at the mall. I'm sure your relatives can confirm

it. Your mother...Camille suffered a delusional disorder that sometimes affected what she saw or heard. It often

happened sporadically. My family gave a statement about it but typically, people branded us as liars and claimed

that piece of information was fabricated." His eyes are mellow. "I heard you disbelieved it too."

My brain starts to spin. My mother had delusions? Slowly, it starts to register. Snippets of my life with a mostly

absent mother, my father making excuses for her when she behaved weirdly towards me. He called it the stress

from work. Other times, he said mom was sick. Those episodes flash in my memory, clearer now.

| blink away the tears threatening to fall. "My mom wasn’t...she couldn.t..."

"It’s okay. She was a lot of beautiful things, Demi. Hold onto that." Ashton urges me.

But then a thought crosses my mind. When | stare up at him, | know for a fact he immediately understands the

question in my eyes.

"That night at the mall..."

He keeps a straight face.

"She didn’t...she couldn't have..." Still, his face betrays nothing. "SHE SAW SAMUEL WOODLEY GET THROWN OFF

THE SECOND FLOOR!" | finally blurt out the uncomfortable truth he hasn’t brought up since he confessed to me.

He’s never mentioned Samuel Woodley being present that night and | always wondered why.

"My mother saw him fall to his death and that’s why she was haunted like an animal, wasn’t it? To silence her

permanently. Lookin the eye and tellit isn’t true!"

Ashton is temporarily taken aback by my words. "Where did you get that from?"

"Doesn't matter. Answer the question."

He rakes his fingers through his hair.

"Isn't that why you left that detail out when you opened up toabout that fateful night?"

"NO!" He counters sharply. "I left that part out because | didn’t want you to get hurt. Demi...please, let's drop

this now. Trust me, you don’t want to know."

| grab my purse. "Forget it. I'm done listening to your half-truths. | won't let you swayanymore. My mom

wasn't delusional and she saw what she saw. You can wriggle out of this one by making up such BS about my

mom."

| can’t listen to him. He's got a way with words and a charm I still struggle to resist. If | do, he'll successfully

create a sliver of doubt and puncture holes in the truth I've cto embrace all my life. That's all it will take to

topple my sanity.

Though he continues to call me, | slip out of his office without glancing back.

ork

My mother was not delusional. She

p 2

can't be. And that night at the mall?

Was Ashton trying to insinuate that

5 p

what she saw oredr wasn t true?

That the sole reason for the life | led

up to this point could be one big

q a ,

misunderstanding? Hell no! I'd chew

a jean jacket before | believe that. It

sure will be easier to swallow. The

content is on novelenglish.net! Read

the latest chapter there!

On my way home, | take a long route to clear my head, trying and failing to blank out my conversation with

Ashton and all the ugly truths it revealed. My phone continues to buzz with his calls. What more does he have to

say? Royally pissed, | cut the call and dial my uncle instead.

"Demi, how are you dear?" But all he gets are sniffles. "Are you crying? What's wrong?"

| hate that Ashton gotall curious. "Uncle Marcel, did my mother suffer delusions? | need you to be honest

with me."

A long pause. "Where did you get that from?"

"Is that a yes or no, uncle?" | reply impatiently. My heart is already thumping wildly in my chest. Please, let it not

be true. If he confirms what Ashton said, what will | make of that? Could my worst fear be true?

His quietness scares me. "Please, just answer the question. Did she have a medically diagnosed case of

delusional disorder before her death?"

"Yes, dear. She did." The phone almost slips from my fingers but I rein my emotions.

"And that night at the mall? Do you think she might have had a delusional episode?"

"Demi, we can't discuss this over the phone...."

"Just answer me, please. | need to know NOW."

He expels a deep breath. "She had an episode, ok? And it made her escalate the situation but the Rollins family

were willing to keep that off the press...."

"How exactly??" Another deafening silence. "How did she escalate things that night?" | repeat, temporarily

ignoring the fact that a lot of secrets have been kept from me. When he continues to hesitate, | threaten to end

the call and never speak to him again.

I"

She...she felt threatened or rather

she thought she was and

accidentally knocked a guy off the

second floor, Demi. She had been

trying to stop him esee ©

Ro the Rollins } mily. They got

into a scuffle, he threatened to hurt

q 3 ,

your mother if she didn't get out of

. )

his way. When she wouldn't budge,

he took a swing at her. Hurt and

paranoid, she shoved hard at him. He

lost his balance and fell off the

railing. One of the boys and his father

: )

saw the whole thing and that's when

your mother fled, scared of being

" :

captured.” The content is on

novelenglish.net! Read the latest

chapter there!

"No!" | shriek in denial. "That's not true. Mom would never...I'm sure Brett and his family lied to you. There's no

such evidence..."

"Demi, your mother’s fingerprints were the only one on the deceased's body that night. | had it checked by a guy

| trust and | was just as dumbfounded by the result."

| shudder as shock waves ripple across my body.

I" PN)

When one of the Rollins’ boys

mistakenly led your parents into the

faulty elevator that caused their

)

deaths, Brett agreed to bury Samuel's

murder at their mall in exchange for