The Billion Dollar Girl

(Chapter 24)

ῼ Ash Castillo ῼ

The technician examined the fire alarm, trying his best to ignore the plates and plates of failed dishes I'd tried to make for Ella. The maid would have a hard job clearing it up. I'm glad Ella liked the eggs, though.

"So have you pinpointed the problem? Why didn't the alarm work?"

"Well, uh, I..." He shifted, trying not to brush against the precariously balanced plate of burnt cheese. Then he frowned, leaning into the plastic, his forehead creased. "The wire's been snipped."

"What?"

"That's right. The wire's been cut. I'm glad you called me on this. It could've been very dangerous. I will get a replacement up here, as soon as possible. I don't know why, but I think someone broke the fire alarm on purpose."

"Wait," I said, stopping him. I lowered my voice, not wanting to worry Ella, who was in the other room. "Someone purposely cut it?"

"It looks...possible."

I frowned. "Do you think they were hoping to harm me?"

"Maybe. It's not exactly a foolproof plan, though, is it? Unless they messed around with some other wiring in the kitchen, then there would be very little chance of a fire actually starting, and destroying anything."

"No, of course, you're right," I muttered, frowning to myself. It had to be some kind of mistake. But I couldn't stop worrying about it. What if the fire had spread?

"Do you want me to check all the wiring in the kitchen and call you if I find something?" he said, kindly. I smiled back at him, deciding that I would call his company and ask for his pay rise. I really don't know why I was so nice to people nowadays. A month ago, this man could've been starving on the street and I would not have cared. Ella was a bad influence on me.

"Thanks," I replied, rubbing my tired eyes.

"Ash? Oh."

I turned around and saw Ella, with nothing but a dressing gown on, her wet hair cascading around her shoulders, droplets of water splashing onto the wooden floor. Her cheeks flushed at the sight of the technician.

"This is my wife," I addressed the man. He was too busy staring at Ella, his eyes wide as he took her in. I grit my teeth. He was so not getting the pay rise.

"Hi," Ella said distractedly to the technician, before turning to me. "I just wanted to say that the hot water's out, so you'll have to deal with cold water, or just shower at school or something."

"What?" I snapped, very aware of her nakedness. "There's no hot water?"

"Isn't that what I just said?" she snapped back, looking affronted. "I'll see you later. I'm getting dressed now."

She turned, and walked away.

"Feisty," the technician chuckled. "My wife's like that as well."

I glared at him pointedly, until he looked away, pretending to be preoccupied with his work. Ignoring him, I stalked into Ella's bedroom after her. She turned around, in the middle of drying her hair.

I grabbed her wrist and the blow-dryer tumbled to the floor.

"Ash!" she protested, pushing me away.

"What are you wearing?" I hissed. "How can you dress so indecently? Look how high it's cut!"

She stared down at the dressing gown, confused. "It's below the knee."

"So what?" I snapped. She was looking at my face in a really distracting way. Her rosy lips were parted, her innocent eyes wide open in confusion, the smell of her shampoo intoxicating. A drop of moisture from her still-wet hair trickled down into her chest, meeting the fabric of the dressing gown. I felt my cheeks burn red. I turned away. "Get changed!"