Divorced and Devoured: Wanted by my Ex-Husband and His Rival

7

Micheal

I sat in the back of the Maybach, the tinted windows shielding me from the world outside. The engine hummed quietly as I stared up at the towering glass high-rise, my eyes fixed on the top floor—the penthouse I had shared with my wife for the last five years.

The door of the car opened, pulling me from my thoughts, and Tom sat on the passenger seat. "Well?" I asked, my voice even.

Tom swallowed hard, turning back to face me. He pulled out the single stack of papers that had survived the trip. "She signed the divorce papers, sir. But... she refused the rest."

I frowned. "What do you mean, she refused?"

"Miss Miller tore up the transfer deeds," Tom stammered, flinching as he spoke. "The penthouse, the bar, the trust fund... she shredded all of it. She told me to tell you that she doesn't want your alms, and she doesn't want a single thing your hands have touched."

My jaw clenched so hard my teeth ached. Miss Miller. I didn't let a single emotion show on my face, but internally, the title grated against my nerves like broken glass. She was still Mrs. Smith until the judge slammed the gavel.

But the stubborn audacity of her actions infuriated me. What was she going to do without that money? She had never worked a day in her life. Did she plan to beg on the streets?

I squeezed my eyes shut, rubbing my temples. I had planned the destruction of her family, but I had never intended to leave her destitute. She couldn't be punished for her parents' original sins. Her sister Janet was already dead, and Edward was rotting in a cell exactly where he belonged.

Just thinking about Edward made my blood boil. The world thought he was a brilliant scientist, but I knew the sickening truth.

Edward had been my biological mother's most promising research scholar, working right alongside her in her lab, where she was a scientist. She mentored him, trusted him, and treated him like a son.

And in return, he was the one who orchestrated the theft of her life's work, handing it over to the Millers on a silver platter. I hated Edward with a violence that frightened even me.

But Jessica... Jessica was supposed to be safe. Angry, heartbroken, but safe.

"Shall we head back to the office, sir?" Tom asked quietly, interrupting my dark thoughts.

I opened my eyes and looked back up at the penthouse. "No. Cut the engine. We will wait for a while."

"Wait, sir?"

"You don't know her temper," I muttered, staring at the glass reflecting the afternoon sun. Jessica was impulsive, emotional, and explosive. She had just signed away her marriage (surprisingly calmly). I couldn't just leave her alone up there right now. I needed to know she was going to be okay before I walked away forever.

After that night, I did not know how she was going to react. I initially believed she had a vivid memory of what happened between us that night, that she knew it was me whom she slept with, but surprisingly, she did not. And, I did not correct her either.

There was a high chance that Jessica signed the papers under the influence because she cheated on me. She must be livid at herself, drowning in guilt. I should correct her…but then, things would get messier. Perhaps, it was better this way.

Ten minutes passed in suffocating silence. Then fifteen.

I rolled down my window to get some fresh air. The wind shifted, and a faint acrid smell drifted into the car.

Smoke.

My head snapped up. Through the tinted glass of the penthouse windows, fifty stories up, an unnatural orange glow was flickering and dancing against the glass.

"Tom," I said, my voice suddenly sharp and breathless. "Where is Ava? Or the housekeeper."

Tom looked back at me, confused. "Miss Ava wasn't there, sir. When I went inside, there was no one home. It was just Miss Miller."

"f**k!" I roared.

I kicked the car door open and sprinted toward the building. My mask of ice and indifference shattered into a million pieces. The coldness I had forced upon myself evaporated, instantly replaced by a blinding and terrifying panic.

Please, God, no. Please don't do anything stupid, Jess.

All the love I had desperately tried to suppress—the love I swore to myself was just an act—flooded my chest, tearing at my lungs as I broke down the lobby doors.

I bypassed security, shoved my override key into the private elevator, and hit the top floor. The ride up felt like an eternity.

When the elevator doors finally slid open, a wall of thick and black smoke hit me.

"Jessica!" I screamed, pulling my jacket up over my mouth.

The heat was unbearable. The curtains were gone, replaced by towering pillars of fire. The wallpaper was melting off the walls. I ran blindly through the living room, kicking through the burning wreckage of the life we had built.

"Jessie!"

I found her just outside the master bedroom. She was lying motionless on the floor.

"No, no, no," I choked out, dropping to my knees. The flames licked at my suit, scorching my skin, but I couldn't feel it. I scooped her up into my arms, pressing her face into my chest to shield her from the toxic air. She was so light, so fragile. "Stay with me, Jess. Please, baby, wake up. Open your eyes!"

I carried her through the inferno, the fire roaring like a monster trying to swallow us whole. I didn't stop running until I had her back in the elevator, the doors closing to seal the flames away.

I sank to the floor, holding her limp body against me, pressing my forehead against hers, praying to a God I hadn't spoken to since my parents died.

Please…be okay. God, please save her. I cannot lose her too…

____

Tom had driven the car like a madman, and the doctors rushed Jessica into an ICU, strapping an oxygen mask to her face before disappearing behind a set of double doors.

I stood in the hallway, my hands covered in soot, my suit charred and reeking of smoke.

"Sir," Tom whispered, stepping up beside me, holding a cup of water. "Are you alright?"

Before I could answer, the doors of the ER burst open. Ava sprinted into the waiting room, her eyes wild with panic. She looked around frantically until her gaze locked onto the reception desk, demanding to know where Jessica was.

I stepped back into the shadows of the corridor, pulling Tom with me.

"Listen to me very carefully, Tom," I commanded, my voice rough and raspy from the smoke.

"Yes, Mr. Smith?"

"When the police and the doctors ask, you know nothing. If Ava asks, you tell her that a building security guard dragged Jessica out of the fire. You tell them the guard brought her to the hospital."

Tom’s eyes widened in shock. "But sir... You saved her. You ran into the fire. And you’re hurt…your arm is burned…"

"I am the reason she started the fire," I said as I looked through the small glass window of the emergency doors, catching a glimpse of Jessica's pale hand resting on the hospital bed. “And, we cannot belong to each other anymore.”

My heart ached with a love I had no right to feel anymore.

If she knew I had saved her, it would only confuse her. It would only tether her to a man who had brought her nothing but pain.

As for my pain…Perhaps I deserved it for pushing her to take her own life.