Asher's POV

How can I commemorate my demise in a thousand ways a stranger observing from the gleam in the sunrise could capture as the shadows of lust flee? How can I help someone blind perceive the light as it masquerades through the faint ivory curtains while the wind breathes within the bright room? How could they understand my compromise as my fingers tremble against the mahogany headboard? Would they judge me if they saw Gwendolyn's black bra placed neatly on the right side of the bed? Could their mind be entangled in the false remnants of our lovemaking as our passion commenced condensation even though we never made love?

The moment I submerged in the depths of the sixth-floor swimming pool; I reconciled with the whispers of my hollow heart. Afterward, I submitted to the gentle waves of my mind. Then Gwendolyn sashayed through the stillness of the poolside as I captured wild glimpses of Juliet cloaking in the simplest places around Goulding Manor. I had no idea Gwendolyn was approaching me as the water voyaged with my soul back in time, and Gwendolyn appeared in her daughter's bathing suit. It was two scores and a decade that laid between their ages, yet I couldn't seem to grasp Juliet being dead as her black bikini encased Gwendolyn's curves, and my mind flickered to her beautiful smile.

How could I catch my breath as her red high heel caressed my thigh, or watch as her face morphed into Juliet? I remember letting out an exhale as I pulled Gwendolyn into the water, concentrating on her deep shallow breaths. We were inches apart when it happened, and my first thought was how she was going to ruin me, yet I still had no control over the lasciviousness of my throbbing heart. Why would I when agony seeped into every major organ of my body and polluted the very air I inhaled into my lungs? My head was ricocheting as I blinked, and our lips intertwined for what felt like a century of scorn.

I wanted to stop, but I wasn't strong enough, yet I doubt I even cared in that obscure moment. Then something happened as I grabbed Gwendolyn by her hips and held her in the water while footsteps retreated from above. I gazed at the balcony with guilt fuming inside my soul as I captured Margo running in the direction of the elevator. She caught us, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it as my mind became agitated while disgrace washed over my face. Then I released Gwendolyn in the pool and fled from my transgressions. I watched the elevator shut behind me, and fell against the frigid metal, unraveling alone.

"I'm just having a hard time understanding how you left to quote face death by having sex with Gwendolyn," Andre says, reclining on the azure blue armchair.

"Wait a minute," Charlie smiles, masking a laugh. "You had actual sex with Gwendolyn Goulding?"

"Come on, Charlie," Andre says, exhaling. "Of course, he had sex with her, but what puzzles me is how it happened. I mean, how do construction workers lay cement on the foundation of an old, abandoned building. Oh, I forget they bulldoze it first, isn't that right, Asher?"

Andre beholds agitation in my eyes as a smile slowly forms on his face while animosity bleeds through his facade, masquerading in his lethal sense of humor. I never had sex with Gwendolyn even after she darted my door in the middle of the night, and her desperation echoed through the fifth floor. How she had discovered my whereabouts wasn't crucial as my mind dissolved in a cacophony of uncertainty. I guess curiosity had enamored me as I teetered to the door, pressing my ear firmly against the opposite side, praying her footsteps would finally depart. The only thing that separated our brief passion was Margo, at least until Gwendolyn slipped her lingerie underneath the cracks of the chamber door.

The thought of waking up sleeping next to the married woman of my enemy and mother of my first love left me aghast as I held her bra in my hand. What could I even say after Gwendolyn picked me up from her doorstep, saved me from the wrath of David, and paid off my apartment? Frank also uncovered Andre and Charlie scouring the city in hopes of meeting me before my last hour. Hell, it's the only reason Andre hasn't released his displeasure as his foot taps aggressively against the checkered tiles. Charlie, on the other hand, camouflages a smirk with his amusement as he makes eye contact with Andre.

"I told you guys a million times already," I say, glaring solely at Andre. "I never had sex with her."

"Whatever you say, bro," Andre agrees, exchanging a look with Charlie. "but while you were living here all alone with David's wife, my father arrested us."

"It happened so fast like one minute I was with David overlooking the heights we've built. Then I blinked and suddenly everything went up in flames. The respect, the loyalty is gone, and hell, I even thought I could protect you guy's from it. The truth is we're no longer untouchable, and even though I'm in David's house, I can't shake this feeling that Gwendolyn is farther away from him than I am."

What can I possibly say when all my credibility flew into the wind the moment I let Juliet sink to the bottom of the ocean? How do I explain the hour David stood over me as he conquered my mind? I knew before the bullet was seconds from piercing my flesh while Andre bled on the floor. The only thing that still matters to me are my brothers, and when Elijah drew his gun with Andre in his grasp, I was as good as dead to David Goulding. Then it haunts me because I've seen what David is capable of, yet I'm left standing at the opposite end of his pistol.

"No, it's deeper than that," Andre emphasizes, straightening up in his seat. "I've been listening for a while now, and these last few weeks somethings been different. It's like everyone's silent, and the only static hissing for miles is us trying to survive."

"I should've realized it at the Scarlet Lounge when Elijah attacked Andre out in the open. It was like David wanted to make a statement. So if Elijah's with him, then David either has something on him, or Elijah knows something we don't. He's violent but he's not a killer. I could tell he didn't want to kill me." I say, thinking out loud, watching while Charlie exhales, profoundly breathing as he buries his face in his hands, analyzing the pain of our words.

Charlie has always been exceptional at reading situations born of detriment mostly because he had a thing for parables. I would often catch him in class, deducing the conundrums of one of his many comic books. It's funny; Juliet loved his perception more than his blind allegiance as it morphed the nature of their friendship. I used to wonder after them, jealous of something that could never materialize, not even when the storm clouds roll in and kindle the darkness. Then I look at Charlie detaching from a conversation I'm reminded of him in the company of Juliet as he releases the floodgates of his conscience.

"I just don't understand why David would risk going against his wife." Charlie insists as he paces the floor. "If he loves Gwen, then why would he move against her just to get to Asher, and if he thinks you're so dangerous, then why isn't he at home?"

"Who says he's not?" Andre acknowledges, posing a question as he strolls through the phone Lynn gave me. "Maybe where he lays his head isn't his only home. Bro, where did you get this phone exactly?"

"My loving sister gave it to me," I say, maintaining my composure. "after she convinced David not to pay my hospital bill, and personally hand-delivered my dissolution from the Goulding's. Oh, and I can't forget the number to Gabriella Donavan, Gwendolyn's school counselor, that moonlights as a caseworker. I would still be in the system if Gwendolyn hadn't acted against David's wishes."

"Who the hell gives their little brother a dissolution and a two-month hospital bill on the same day! Lynn is the devil personified," Andre says, criticizing her as he tosses the phone on the bed. "and how could she find David when his wife can't even speak to him. I bet wherever David's at he's somewhere playing house with your sister."

I glance at the clock as time unwinds, and dread settles in my stomach while the thought of Lynn with David provokes my heart. It troubled me how the azure would flash in Lynn's eyes when she was blossoming into a woman. Even as a child, I despised when she magnified in David's presence as she occupied, Withering Heights with an icy stare and a contrite heart. I've longed for the walls to cave in and surround us when Apryl fell from the sword of the projects. Then I fell in love with Juliet because she was similar to Lynn as she fled the stronghold of darkness and walked with resilience.

"Why would David intentionally go to Lynn's house? What if Gwendolyn finds out, and if you haven't noticed, this is a seven-story mansion. Why would David go to Lynn's hobble? Why wouldn't a millionaire return home after his daughter's death?" Charlie asks, thinking aloud as his fragile heart ponders the motive behind disloyalty in a marriage.

"I don't understand anything about these damn people," I say, grabbing the phone from the bed.

I cruise through the settings on the iPhone, evaluating every aspect and scenario where Lynn can hack into the system, using the cell phone as a homemade beckon to track my every movement. I wouldn't put it past her, especially not if David's lurking on the opposite side of the screen as he abducts a reflection of my face through the cold machine. I'd be wrong if I didn't capture Lynn in my perception, considering David fought with his age, but he could never harness the intricacies of technology at his fingertips. I want to believe Lynn wouldn't forsake me again, but lately, it's the only thing driving her closer to David. I awaken from my thoughts as the new phone vibrates, and ten digits appear across the glass, buzzing to life.

"Who is this?" I ask, standing up from the bed, glaring outside the window. "Look, I don't know who this is, but no one is supposed to have this number."

"Who do you think it is, Asher? Besides, I'm sure you read the number. Come on, just one guess." A voice seethes over the line. "I know right now you're probably wondering whether your first mistake was trusting David's whore. Oh, should I say the sister that slammed the door in your face, and left you stranded at my doorstep? Then I fed you, hell I even clothed you, and you repaid me by corrupting my only son. It's tragic, but the true irony is a parting gift only a fool thinks is tainted without stopping to think if the breach was already in the envelope. Maybe the phone was only a distraction and Gwendolyn's disobedience was the real pawn."

"You don't have the right to call Andre, your son, you selfish bastard." I bellow as they inch closer to me while fear quakes in Charles's silence and rage fumes in Andre's raised eyebrow. "Not when you beat the crap out of him whenever life didn't go your way."

"There you go losing your temper again and still not thinking. I'd expect this from Andre, but you were always the clever one. Maybe I was wrong, let's say Lynn didn't intentionally sell you out, but if it wasn't the iPhone 11 Pro, then maybe it was a forged document. If nothing changed and you still belong to one Goulding, then maybe the dissolution was fake. Then if that's a false document, then what if we already knew about Gwendolyn's caseworker. Maybe we knew you'd be stupid enough to follow David's home address, so we waited for you to come to Goulding Manor, and get comfortable. I just didn't think you'd kiss David's wife, and great job by the way." Elijah confesses over the speaker as Andre locks the door, turning off the lights while Charlie closes the blinds and pulls the ivory curtains shut.

The room eclipses in obscurity as the vintage aerial rug with dark blotches splattered aimlessly in the wool ensnares us at it's center. I watch as we mirror one another, standing under the crystal chandelier. The sunlight pierces through the fabric, emulating in jewels as we take shelter next to each other. Elijah slowly inhales, releasing an exhale as his shoes creak up the staircase and echo in the halls of Goulding Manor. I try to control my throbbing heart, but I lose my peace, glaring into the screen while I behold an alarm as it glistens to life.

12:00 PM - Orientation at Rosewood Academy.

"But don't worry, I'll do you a favor and take care of the sweet girl on the second floor. Let's see if she screams," Elijah whispers, as he disconnects the phone, and Andre races toward the door, while Charlie holds him back. Margo agitates every atom in my being, but she doesn't deserve to die because of me. I step between them as I mutter how we need to plan our next movement very carefully while darkness creeps into Goulding Manor.

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How did you like the chapter?

Tell me what you think about the opening paragraph? My best friend and nephew Rebellious_King apparently had a lot to say about Asher and Gwendolyn's kiss at the end of chapter 12. Does anyone feel like Gwen took advantage of Ashe now having read his point of view? Or does anyone think Asher knew one hundred percent what he was doing, and he's at fault for everything that happened? Lol, I'm one hundred percent bias since I actual like all my characters, and I know their motives behind doing their worst mistakes.

This chapter is overall calm and mostly a filler to move the plot forward except the last scene when Elijah calls Asher with some new information. Anyway, make sure to comment what your thoughts about this chapter were, and questions concerning this book in the comment section. Please remember to social distance guys and stay safe! P.S Don't forget the trailer to #ACK is in the section titled, Amidst Crimson Kisses. P.P.S The picture shown in the media box is a picture of Asher Maddox. P.P.P.S The next two chapters will be written in Asher's then in Margo's POV.

Thank you so much for reading
GOD bless you all ❤️