His Smile Worth Billions

Chapter 3

“DO YOU EVEN CARE? I AM ALONE IN THIS HOUSE? WHO DO YOU THINK WILL COOK? YOU WANT ME TO STARVE TO DEATH!?”

“No, it’s not like—”

“SHUT UP! MY WIFE ADOPTED AND TOOK CARE OF YOU LIKE A MOTHER YET YOU CAN’T EVEN TAKE CARE OF THIS HOUSE SHE LEFT BEHIND!” He barked.

“AREN’T YOU ASHAMED FOR LIVING HERE ALL THESE YEARS FOR FREE. YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT!”

His voice was so loud, so thunderous, Emaya wanted to cover her ears but stood helplessly.

Here we go again, counting his kind favours he has never done for me.

She stayed quiet, enduring all of his harsh words.

When Emaya was 13,she was adopted by Mr and Mrs Martin from an orphanage.

Almost a year ago, Mrs Martin ended up dying due to lung cancer. Her death left Mr Martin in immense torment.

For as long as Emaya remembers, Mr Martin has always been rude to Emaya, always scolding her.

He didn’t want to adopt her in the first place but became weak in front of her beloved wife’s wish.

His scolding worsened after she died. He started drinking alcohol, taking out all his anger and devastation on Emaya.

Always reminding her, my wife adopted you out of mercy. She raised you like a mother, gave everything you needed without asking anything in return. You owe her a lot.

“WHY ARE YOU STILL STANDING HERE? GO PREPARE DINNER!” He ordered as he turned and walked away with heavy steps.

Emaya heaved a dejected sigh as she dragged her tired steps towards the kitchen. The need to rest has been growing in her bones.

She went upstairs into her room after serving him food. She didn’t eat much, feeling full after only a few bites.

She sat by her window, leaning her chin on her hands, placed on the window ledge as she gazed outside.

There was nothing but the darkness as there were only a few dim street lamps.

There weren’t many people living in the neighbourhood. Most of the houses were empty as no one moved in them yet.

She wanted to live in a more populated area but they had to find cheap residence as they couldn’t afford buying a better house.

Mr Martin stopped working after his wife’s death and started spending all his earnings on alcohol.

Emaya never asked Mr Martin to buy her anything, never relying on him and his money. She waited until she became capable of earning for herself.

Her expression became numb as she sank deeper in her thoughts.

Emaya is nothing like how she pretends to be at school. She’s a big eater, but couldn’t eat anything more than a few bites when she’s at home.

She is bright, bubbly and ambitious, even. Her beautiful smile would brighten up the room. But she’s the complete opposite when she’s alone at home.

Her home seems more like a hell.

She hates it, she hates how she is in reality. She hates her smile that everyone loves. She fakes it. She smiles like she’s at ease, that big wide grin that makes her so beautiful.

But in reality, Her beautiful smile is nothing but a mask she wears to hide her pain.

The ceaseless thoughts filled her eyes with tears, her vision going blurry. A deep emptiness filled his heart.

She gazed up to the dark sky. There weren’t any stars. The sky was completely covered with the thick dark clouds.

The moon, her only childhood friend, was hiding behind the clouds.

“There’s not even a bright moon to keep me accompanied, only dark clouds, of dark night, dark room with dark mind and a dark... ” She paused, letting out a melancholic sigh before continuing.

“A dark secret,” her voice broke away as his chest heaved. A drop of tear, she was holding in, finally rolled down her cheeks and her lower lip trembled.

“What if people who admire my smile finds out it’s totally fake, has always been fake,” she uttered.

“What if... What if they find out what’s hidden behind my smile,” a feeling of dread crept up from the pit of her stomach.

“No... No, I must hide- I have to hide the secret. I cannot let anyone find out. My life is already in turmoil. I can’t ruin it,” she tried hard to steady her breath and to calm the panic.

She sobbed into her hands and the tears dripped between her fingers. Her breathing was ragged, gasping.

But.

Would anyone ever notice the pain behind my smile? Can I really live like that forever?

She learned to hide her pain behind her smile that no one could notice. She always thought that life would be easier that way. To be kind to others, compliment them while in reality all she wanted to do was the opposite. But that would only make her life harder, which prevented her from doing so.

She’s there for everyone yet there’s no one for her.

“Would anyone try to light up my life? The way I do? Was I born just to make others happy?” she mumbled to herself in a hoarse voice.

“I guess. I just don’t deserve happiness,” she gave in, laying her head on the window ledge, crying it all out.

The sobs were stifled at first, then overcome by the wave of her emotions she broke down entirely, all her defences washed away in those salty tears.

A while passed. due to tiredness, the blood drained from her head, leaving her dizzy.

She got up, walking lazily toward her bed, hoping to get a few hours of rest before school but stopped midway as she saw her reflection in the mirror.

The image of her reflection came into her mind when she was entering the school.

Her smiling and bright face overlapping her now, gloomy and dull face.

She walked closer to the mirror, wiping her tears that were blurring her vision. Her eyes become slightly red and swollen from crying, suddenly reminding her of the guy she saw this morning.

She immediately stopped and stared at her own reflection as it faded into the hooded boy’s image in her disoriented mind. Her slightly red, delicate eyes radiated despair, extremely similar to his dark phoenix eyes.

She kept staring into the mirror, mumbling.

“Are you also going through the pain?”

“Just like me?”

She extended her hand, trying to touch the boy’s image in reflection before his face disappeared, only to realize that the distressed person was herself in the mirror.

Her mind was going astray. She quickly brushed off her thoughts and threw herself in the bed, trying to relax her mind and sleep.

On the 2nd day, the school entrance was crowded with the students. The bell rang and everybody went into the building except Emaya.

She stood outside for a few minutes, taking a deep breath, preparing herself to enter by doing the same thing she always does.

Hiding her darkness behind her bright smile before walking in to join the others.

She had mastered her fake smile, right down to the wrinkles around her eyes, making it impossible for others to notice.

As she was heading to her classroom, she remembered she still didn't have her locker keys.

Emaya headed straight to the principal office. After getting her locker keys, she got out of the room, walking across the hallway lined with the countless lockers, trying to find hers, head down, eyes casting over her locker number. before suddenly coming to an abrupt stop.

She almost bumped into someone, dropping her keys. She gasped as she barely stopped herself from stumbling.

She bent down to pick up the keys when a tough looking, manly and veiny hand picked the keys up before she could.

She instantly looked up and was completely stunned when her eyes met with the same

.

.

.

Dark, Phoenix eyes.

Emaya’s pupils shrank. She felt as if in that split second, all the blood in her body drained away.

He's got the kind of intense gaze that could melt a person from the inside out.

The two stared at each other before he glanced at the keys and turned away without a word, walking nonchalantly while Emaya stood there, dumbfounded.

Did I just bumped into him again?

Thinking back on how close of a call it was, her heart was still racing.

Realizing he took away her keys, she immediately snapped out of her daze, running after him and managed to catch up with him.

She kept her mouth closed, following him quietly, observing the boy. Her eyes were fixed on his back, unblinking.

He was wearing the same black hoodie but his head wasn’t covered with the hood, revealing his inky black middle-parted, curtains hairstyle combined with the taper fade, making him appear even more attractive.

Jeez! Even his back is hella attractive.

Emaya noticed a heart-shaped lock bracelet he was wearing on his right hand in which he was holding her locker keys.

He kept walking with a casual demeanour before stopping as he threw back the keys, without looking behind and left.

Emaya almost tripped as she barely managed to catch the keys.

She raised her brows slightly, glancing in his direction and knitted her eyebrows.

At a loss for words, she lowered her eyes, staring blankly at the number on her keys.

As she turned her head slightly, she saw the same number on one of the lockers, right in front of her.

Emaya quickly turned back to thank him but the tall boy was gone within seconds, leaving her with unexplainable feelings.

Emaya had no time to think about it anymore. She rushed to her classroom that she was almost late for.

The Trio of monkeys started jumping as they saw her coming but the first thing Emaya did was to look for the boy.

I really wish he was my classmate.

She was slightly disappointed from the inside but still decorated a cheerful smile on her face as she walked towards the trio and sat down with them.

After greeting them she noticed Freyah wasn’t there either.

“Where’s Freyah?” Emaya asked.

“She's absent today,” Mina answered, looking around the class.

Hopefully she’s fine.

Emaya didn’t know why but she felt somewhat worried for her.

Miss Olivia came and began the lesson. Emaya found herself lost in thoughts, thinking about what happened earlier, looking outside the door as if the boy would come in.

She glanced at her watch, sighing impatiently, waiting for break time. She hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday and was starving to death.

Due to lack of sleep last night, she was dozing off during lecture when her eyes suddenly flew wide open as she saw the same guy, entering the class.

Chapter 5

HIS DEEP, HUSKY VOICE

Emaya almost choked on her saliva, gazing at his ivory skin that glinted under the bright, morning light as he leisurely walked toward the forever empty desk at the back corner, sitting slouched, without paying mind to anyone, unbothered by the teacher.

Her lips parted in surprise, seeing how Miss Olivia continued the lecture without saying anything to him for coming late. He walked in casually, as if his dad owns the school.

“Ryan, look! Here comes your groom,” Mina said, turning back to look at Ryan's surprised face, unaware of the girl sitting beside her is completely dumbstruck.

“Oh my god Ryan say something,” Sunny waved her chubby hands in front of his face.

“He's hypnotized by his groom's beauty,” Mina chuckled.

“Can you guys shut up?” Ryan snapped.

“Oop- He's alive. He's alive again,” Sunny laughed.

“Sunny, don't tease him anymore. He will throw hands,” Mina said, still laughing.