The Billion Dollar Girl

(Chapter 23)

I shook my head, ignoring those thoughts. Right now, I was on a mission. I had to stop the penthouse burning down. I shifted my foot forwards, trying to keep my weight even. My movements were slow, until I inhaled a lungful of the gas that was floating through the open balcony doors.

Once I was in, a thought flitted through my mind. I’d just carried her over the threshold. In normal circumstances brides and grooms did that as soon as they came back from their honeymoon. But these weren’t normal circumstances. I’d blackmailed her, made her sign that contract and live with me. The threshold thing hadn’t happened after we came back from our honeymoon, because one, we hadn’t had a honeymoon. Two, if I’d did, she would’ve probably knocked me out. Three, this wasn’t a real marriage.

I almost wished it were normal. I would’ve wanted to do the normal stuff with Ella – feed some pigeons, watch some bad movies and go out to restaurants. It would’ve been nice.

I gently lay Ella on her bed, pulling the covers up, high enough to cover her torso. I gazed at her face for one last second, before turning around and breaking into a sprint.

Everything was surrounded by grey smoke. I choked, as I pulled out a fire extinguisher and made my way towards the place I thought the smoke was thickest. My eyes watering, I blasted the burning pan, cursing. Foam sprayed everywhere, coating the surfaces, but I saw that the fire had gone out. A few seconds later, most of the smoke surrounded the pan had diffused away and I was left blinking and surveying the damage.

White bubbles covered the kitchen, sliding down the walls and expanding on the counters. The smell of burning in the air was now only slightly tinged with the sharp sting of fire extinguisher foam. Coughing, I made my way to the stove and stared in horror at the black charcoal mess that was left in the pan.

Suddenly, I was struck by a thought.

Had she been hungry? Was that why she’d been making the stuff?

I ran my fingers through my messy hair, mentally cursing at myself. I was so self-absorbed. How did I not notice that my own wife was hungry? Now that I think about it, normal people eat dinner, right? I’d thought I’d seen her eat something every so often, but I’d never thought she actually needed to eat… I mean, I eat breakfast and lunch, but I’d never thought…

I hit my head with the back of my head, suddenly feeling incredibly guilty. I was such an inconsiderate idiot.

My eyes turned to unidentifiable mess in the saucepan. All of a sudden, I felt very noble and brave as I rolled up my sleeves and picked up a whisk.

***

Ͼ Ella Castillo Ͽ

I woke up with Eyelash’s huge cat eyes staring into mine. I yelped out if fright, blinked and suddenly Eyelash was gone. I sat up, bright sunlight spilling from the balcony doors and onto my face, causing me to squint. I saw a blond boy, grinning down at me.

“Ash!” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. My head pounded furiously and I looked blearily around for a clock. “What time is it?”

“Five AM,” Ash said brightly, grinning, his hands behind his back. I stared at him suspiciously.

“Oh, God. You’ve done something, haven’t you?”

“What?” he said, taken aback. Why would you think that?”

“The look on your face. Let me have it. Did you break something? Doodle some immature messages on my schoolwork? Prank call my parents?”

“None of those things,” he snapped. “I did a good thing!”