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?
***
The first thing I think of after leaving Liam’s home is meeting Ashton. Hence, I divert to the hospital and only recall the tension between Skylar and I when I get within a few feet of her hospital room. Cree rises to greet me.
"You’re here?"
"Yeah. Asher invited me."
"What for?"
"The short reason is to get Skylar to open up about her father and grandfather." She shrugs her shoulders lazily. "And you?"
I blink twice. "I need to make amends for my actions towards her. Long story."
"Ok. I’m supposed to go inside in a minute."
"Could you give me a minute in there? I’ll be quick."
"Oh. Okay."
When 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 go in.
***
Skylar looks uncomfortable at the sight of Cree.
"Hi Skylar." Cree says to her. "Glad to see you in one piece."
"Cree." Skylar hums with a straight face. She turns to her brothers. "I see there’s no need for an introduction. Why is she here?"
Cree preempts Asher and replies. "I have some news...about your grandfather." At this point, the color on Skylar’s face drains. "He’s been moved from the old age home and I was wondering if you had any idea who could have done that."
"Why would I?"
"Well, for starters, you don’t seem alarmed about his 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 visited grandpops at the old age home and you once threatened to have him moved too. That’s why I think you must know something about it."
Asher ranges in front of Cree, cutting off the icy glare Skylar is giving her. "Grandfather...that means our biological grandfather too, right?" When Skylar’s eyes drop to her 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, please. We need answers."
Skylar presses her eyes shut and massages her temple. "He’s fine." Her eyes find Cree’s. "Grandpops is fine, ok?"
"Did you move him?" Cree presses to Skylar’s irritation. "Where?"
"That’s none of your business."
"Skylar, tell me..." I tug on Cree’s wrist, cutting her off. With a nod of understanding, she reins in her emotions.
Skylar turns to her brothers. "Look, I know we have a lot to discuss and I intend to answer 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 up on me like this."
"No, 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 and wanted to ask you about it"
"Yes, and as for Demi, no one invited her here." Ashley throws in, sounding provoked. He scowls at me. "In case you didn’t get the memo, meetings with our sister are private, unless you’re specifically invited."
"I just wanted to apologize..."
"You still should have asked instead of springing up on us like that. Sky certainly doesn’t appreciate your presence and if you weren’t only thinking about yourself, you’d have taken that into consideration."
"Please Ashley, give it a rest. She already apologized to Skylar. Can we move past this blame game? 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 his brother with ire. Asher orders everyone to calm down and slants me a hot glare my way, blaming me for the tension between his brothers.
"I’m sorry." I apologize to everyone. "I didn’t mean to cause any strife..."
"You always say that and yet you still show up in places where your presence won’t be well received by everyone." Asher grits his teeth. "You really should be more sensitive to these situations, Demi."
Though I can tell he has more to say to me, he holds back his tongue. Embarrassed enough, I turn to leave only to feel strong hands close over my wrist and herd me through the door. The cologne gives him away.
Outside, I forcibly wrench my wrist away from Ashley’s grip.
"Let go of me. I was already leaving."
He leers at me in a way I’ve never seen before. "How difficult is it to stay the fuck away from my family? You had a chance to be a part of it and all I remember you doing was desperately trying to get away from that commitment. Now that you’re free, why do you keep clinging to us like you can’t exist without breathing the same air as us every two days."
"Trust me, if I ever felt the need to cling to your family, you’re the last person that would inspire that desire."
Our fiery eyes lock and hold. From the corner of my eye, I am silently grateful that Ashton didn’t come running after me but trusts me to handle myself around my ex-husband. I know Ashley has his suspicions and maybe we finally get to have the hard conversation about my relationship with Ashton.
I can tell from his recent behavior that he knows more than he is letting on. He must have seen me and Ashton kissing at the hospital the last time we were here. My mind goes wild. Could it be him? The one who was watching me from outside Ashton’s bathroom today? The one who bought Billion-Err?
When I try to dismiss him, Liam’s voice comes ringing through; anyone whom I think is less likely to do it has a higher chance of being the culprit than those who I easily suspect.
Doesn’t that include Ashton too?
Ashley shakes his head at me. "Don’t worry, Demi. I know exactly which Rollins brother your heart flutters for. The real question is, do you?" He gives me a lopsided green. "FYI, I DO ENJOY CREEPY SOMETIMES."
My heart plummets to my stomach as he stalks off with a bounce in his step. Seconds later, Ashton comes out of Skylar’s room to check on me.
"What’s wrong? What did he say? Demi, are you okay?"
I take a moment to center myself as my vision returns. My numb fingers absently grip his shoulders. "This m...morning. Gris. Did you later give him the...uh...the keys for the office?"
"What keys? What are you talking about?"
Dread fills me to bursting. Ashton never forgot his keys this morning. He never returned. It was Ashley who had been watching me from the shower. It was Ashley wearing a black, curly wig who I kissed this morning! Oh fuck!