DEMI
"Demi! Demi!! Demi!!!"
The shrill sound of my aunt's voice cuts through my foggy brain and stirs me awake from a deep sleep. My eyes still closed, I hear her swing my door open and barge into my room with her daughter in tow. It's usually bad when they enter the small boxy room that is my escape hatch from their hateful glares and harsh words.
I have been living with my aunt ever since my parents died five years ago. They were unfortunately inside a faulty elevator in a mall that fell from the nineteenth floor and crashed. Aunt wasn't pleased to have an extra mouth to feed by accommodating me. She hated her sister, my mother. Jealous is more like the word. They had both wanted my father and my father chose my mum over my aunt. Long story. My aunt and her daughter, Kira, have been making my life a miserable one ever since I moved in with them.
"You're still in bed by ten in the morning, huh girl? Did you forget you're an orphan and a freeloader in my house? An adult who is yet to start contributing substantially to the expenses in this house?" My aunt snarls.
I sit up on my bed thinking how I have been submitting my pay checks from working at a book store to my aunt at the end of every month, for the last two years now. The light from the window is harsh so I squint my eyes. My head aches badly and my aunt's voice is only making it want to fall off my neck. Why do I feel this way?
"Where were you last night? Kira heard you come in by two this morning. Where the hell were you?"
"I told you she has started prostituting herself." Kira draws close and sniffs me.
"Eww. She reeks of alcohol and her breath stinks mum. She's clearly drunk."
"What's that?" Kira asks. In a flash, she snatches a paper crumpled by the foot of my bed. I continue to cradle my head in my hands when Kira shrieks. "NO WAY! NO F*CKING WAY." She rushes to show her mum what the paper says.
"A marriage certificate?"
"She got married mum, not just to ANYBODY." Kira stares at me. "TO ASH ROLLINS??? This can't be right. The Rollins brothers would never…Demi could never manage to be in the same room as one of them."
"What? The Rollins brothers? The quadruplet sons of the Rollins Empire?" My aunt snatches the paper and reads intently. "Is this real? No, it can't. Speak up Demi. What is the meaning of this? Who did you get married to last night at the Saint Lucy church? Which Ash Rollins signed this document with you?"
The Rollins brothers (Ashely, Asher, Ashton and Ashal all went by the short form, Ash Rollins whenever they were in public spaces to preserve their mystery. No one could really tell them apart by looking at them. Very few people have had the privilege to fraternize with them and I am not of that class so the Ash Rollins on the certificate must be a prank by a wannabe. Wait, marriage certificate? What marriage certificate?
Right now, all I can recall is walking into my boyfriend's apartment and finding him beneath two butt naked women. Iman even had the never to blame me for neglecting his needs and driving him to the edge with my decision to wait till marriage. Fresh hot tears moisten my eyes now. I had left there to my best friend's work place, a high-end club. She snuck me in. I don't recall much after.
"I…I don't remember."
Something sinister twinkles in my aunt's eyes. "Oh, you'll have to remember. I don't care if you make up a story." Smiling, she exits my room with the marriage certificate, dragging Kira with her. I dig around for my phone and flip through it. There's no clue in it. No pictures or sloppy drunk videos. How much did I drink last night? How did I end up with a marriage certificate? And to Ash Rollins? Nah, some random dude must have been playing a prank. There's no way one of the billionaire quads of the Rollins Empire, the richest family in the entire country would ever share the same air or space as me. Not possible.
Two hours later, I manage to take a homemade remedy for my hangover and freshen up. I am very late for work but I am hoping Mr. Rahl would be forgiving. I have never turned up late before. He would be more concerned than mad. Liam, one of our most loyal customers was also coming today to get his order of business books. I need to be there and ready when he arrives the store. Just as I grab the door knob, my aunt yells behind me.
"Where do you think you're going?
I spin towards her. "To the book store, for work."
Her smile gives me chills. "I don't think so." She's all dressed up. Kira too. "We're heading for the Rollins Mansion right now."
"What? W-Why?"
Kira pushes her phone screen in my face. "Because my clever mum has already posted your marriage certificate online. All the entertainment blogs are eating it up. There's a new article about your marriage every thirty seconds. Even Billion-Err has written about you."
"What-are you saying?" I quiver, grabbing her phone. Indeed, there's an article about my marriage on Billion-Err, a very popular blog in Danvarr that's notorious for uncovering wrongs done by wealthy families/businesses and calling them out for it. I don't mind other small blogs running the story but not Billion-Err. Now, the whole of Danvarr knows my face. How am I supposed to live under the radar after this?
Dread fills me to bursting seeing the crappy photo Kira added of me.
"But I am not married! I-I caught my boyfriend, Iman, cheating on me yesterday, okay? I was livid and had a drink for the first time. I must have had too much to drink. The fake marriage thing must have been a drunken idea and clearly, the rando I was drinking with was playing a prank by signing his name as Ash Rollins. How could anyone buy this crap?"
"Everyone knows its hogwash but who wouldn't jump on a train to make some money off the Rollins family?" Kira shoots back, snagging her phone from my hands. "They have too much of it as it is. Mum is going to put her skills as a thespian to work today. The Rollins will be prepared to pay us handsomely to bury this story. It's such a good plan."
"But…billion-err already carried it. How can this ever be buried now? I-I can't…"
"Shut up!" My aunt scolds me. "It's the least you can do to pay me back for putting up with you. You better play your part. The paparazzi must be headed to the mansion." She pushes me out of the door and we come face to face with cameras flashing in our faces.
"Why are they here?" I ask with a hand over my face.
"I might have included our home address." Kira is already posing for the cameras. My aunt nudges us into her minivan saying we've got bigger fish to fry. I try to beg her to change her mind. The Rollins family can't easily be messed with but my pleas fall on deaf ears. Kira whips out her phone and starts vlogging the whole thing, sticking my worried face in when it pleases her. They plan to make me take the heat for all of this. Aunt is going to tell the family that I am certain one of their sons had married me last night while we were intoxicated and I am to affirm this.
If the family happens to rebut my claim, aunt would switch roles and scold me for trying to sully the reputation of the family. All in all, she hopes to make a grand appearance in the famous, palatial Rollins mansion with Kira recording everything. She also plans to leave with a good financial settlement.
My fingers are cold and shaky as the security detail stops us in front of the Rollins mansion. I shut my eyes and try to recall the events of last night after leaving Iman's apartment. I try calling my bestie, Anna but her line doesn't go through. I wish she was here with me. Surprisingly, the gates swing open and aunt drives through. I was hoping we would be turned away but apparently, the Rollins want to see what this is all about.
"Aunt please, I can't do it."
Aunt turns off the ignition in front of the mansion. Our battered minivan is an eyesore given the flashy, expensive cars sprawled all over the driveway.
"You have no choice." Aunt replied. "Whatever you do, you better make sure we leave here with a huge settlement of at least ten million dollars or you'll be back sleeping on the street. That's less than their sons' pocket money"
Our phones are temporarily withheld. Metal detectors are waved all around our bodies before we are escorted inside by men draped in sleek black suits and dark glasses. It feels like walking into a presidential house. While my aunt and Kira keep gawking, I trail slowly behind, pacing my breath.
We are ushered into a lavish living area with antique upholstery. We sink into the plush sofas while we wait for our hosts. Domestic staff members in white and black uniforms enter to serve us wine in tall glasses along with a tray filled with hors d'oeuvres. While my aunt and Kira stuff their faces, I put down my glass and rake the living space with my eyes to distract myself from the pounding in my chest.
This won't take long. I will swiftly apologize and take the blame for my poor decision last night. I can't let this family blacklist us. It won't be good. Aunt might put me out but not forever. I will stay with Anna for a few weeks while aunt's anger cools down.
The Rollins emerge in all their splendor, like a painting by a renowned artist. The men are all formally dressed in suits, standing regally with hands tucked in front of them. Mrs. Rollins is a vision of understated elegance in her primly cut knee-length gown. I shift my gaze to the four brothers. No publication has ever done justice to their breathtaking looks. Their blue eyes, long curly hair and hypnotic gazes all hit me at once, as daunting as a fist through glass.
"Demi Branson?" Mr. Brett Rollins, the father calls to us. My aunt and Kira must have gestured to me as all eyes descend on me. I am rather focused on the sons, not because they all look exactly the same but because seeing them up close has triggered a slice of my memory from last night.
I definitely recall drinking whiskey with one of these men, in the dimly lit VVIP section of Anna's club. My marriage certificate is not a lie after all and one of these blue-eyed brothers knows it.