Chapter 1 – The Fire
930 Words
The first scream came before dawn.
Lena Hart jerked awake on the worn couch in the tiny apartment she shared with her grandmother. For a second, she thought she had dreamed it. Then another scream ripped through the quiet morning, followed by frantic shouting from outside.
"Fire! Somebody call the fire department!"
Lena was already on her feet.
She rushed to the window and froze.
Three houses down, flames clawed into the dark sky. Thick black smoke poured from the roof of the largest mansion in the neighborhood, turning the sunrise into a haze of orange and gray.
People gathered on the street, pointing and shouting, but no one dared go inside.
Without thinking, Lena grabbed a damp towel from the kitchen, wrapped it around her mouth, and ran.
"Lena!" her grandmother cried behind her. "Don't!"
She didn't stop.
As she reached the mansion, the heat slammed into her like a wall. Firefighters hadn't arrived yet. Neighbors stood helplessly behind the gate.
"There are people inside!" a woman sobbed.
"Does anyone know if they got out?" Lena shouted.
"I... I saw the owner run out," someone answered. "But his little girl... I don't know where she is."
A little girl?
Lena's heart lurched.
She looked toward the front door. Flames devoured the entrance, making it impossible to get through.
Then she heard it.
A faint cry.
"Help..."
It came from upstairs.
Everyone else hesitated.
Lena didn't.
She spotted an open side window where the flames hadn't yet spread. Ignoring the terrified warnings behind her, she climbed through.
The smoke was suffocating.
Every breath burned her lungs. She stayed low, crawling across the floor as burning debris crashed around her.
"Hello?" she called hoarsely. "Where are you?"
Another cry answered.
"I'm... here..."
Following the weak voice, Lena stumbled toward a bedroom at the end of the hallway.
The door was jammed.
She threw her shoulder against it once.
Twice.
On the third hit, it burst open.
Inside, a little girl with long brown curls huddled beneath a desk, crying as smoke filled the room.
"It's okay," Lena whispered, forcing a smile despite the panic clawing at her chest. "I'm here."
The child looked up with tear-filled blue eyes.
"I can't breathe..."
Lena hurried over, wrapped the damp towel around the girl's face, and lifted her into her arms.
"My name is Lena."
"S-Sophie..."
"We're getting out, Sophie."
A loud c***k echoed overhead.
The ceiling groaned.
Then part of it collapsed behind them.
Lena sprinted into the hallway, clutching Sophie tightly.
The stairs were gone.
Her stomach dropped.
"No..."
The fire had consumed the only safe exit.
Smoke thickened until she could barely see.
She searched desperately for another way.
A window.
At the end of the corridor.
She raced toward it, coughing violently.
Outside, the crowd gasped as they saw her appear with the little girl in her arms.
"They're up there!"
Someone pointed.
"They'll never make it!"
The flames surrounded the hallway.
The wooden floor creaked dangerously beneath Lena's feet.
She pushed open the window.
It was a long drop to the garden below.
Too far to jump while holding a child.
Then she heard sirens.
Firefighters.
"Ladder!" someone shouted.
"Hurry!"
The rescue ladder slowly rose toward the second floor, but the flames reached the hallway first.
Heat scorched Lena's skin.
Sophie buried her face against Lena's shoulder.
"I'm scared."
Lena tightened her hold.
"I won't let anything happen to you."
The floor suddenly cracked beneath them.
Lena stumbled.
For one terrifying second, she nearly lost her balance.
The ladder finally reached the window.
A firefighter climbed toward them.
"Hand me the child!"
Lena carefully passed Sophie into his arms.
Only after she saw the little girl safely on the ladder did Lena allow herself to breathe.
She started to climb after them.
Another explosion rocked the mansion.
The window frame shattered.
Lena slipped.
She screamed as the floor beneath her gave way.
Strong hands caught her just before she fell into the burning room.
The firefighter dragged her onto the ladder.
Moments later, they reached the ground.
The crowd erupted in applause and relieved cries.
Lena collapsed onto the grass, coughing uncontrollably.
Sophie broke free from the firefighter and ran straight back to Lena.
She wrapped her tiny arms around Lena's neck.
"You came back for me."
Lena hugged her tightly.
"Of course I did."
A shadow fell over them.
Lena looked up.
A tall man in a black suit stood only a few feet away, his face streaked with soot. Despite the chaos, his piercing gray eyes were cold, sharp, and unreadable.
Power radiated from him.
He looked first at Sophie.
Then at Lena.
Without warning, Sophie reached for the man.
"Daddy..."
The man lifted his daughter into his arms, holding her as though afraid to let go.
After a long silence, his gaze returned to Lena.
"You saved my daughter."
His voice was calm, but beneath it lay a storm of emotion.
Lena nodded weakly.
"I just... couldn't leave her."
The man stared at her for another moment.
"My name is Damien Ashford."
The name hit the crowd like thunder.
Whispers spread instantly.
"The billionaire CEO..."
"The Ashford Group..."
"That's Damien Ashford..."
Lena had heard the name before. Everyone had. He was known as the youngest billionaire in the country and the coldest.
Damien stepped closer.
"You've changed my daughter's life..."
He paused, his expression unreadable.
"...which means you've just changed yours."
Damien Ashford, the nation's most feared billionaire CEO, makes Lena an unexpected offer that will pull her into a world of wealth, secrets, and danger.
- Writer
