Chapter 9
547 Words
The butler blurted out the address between frantic gasps. His words tumbled over each other in panic.
Before he could finish, Selena was already sprinting out the door.
She floored the accelerator. She blew through multiple red lights. Tires screeched as she skidded to a stop outside the cinema.
The square teemed with people. But not one of them was Austin.
Her heart pounded like a drum. It lodged in her throat as she screamed his name until her voice cracked. She charged blindly into the smoke-filled wreckage.
The flames had been extinguished. But acrid, charcoal-black smoke still billowed. Visibility was near zero.
Coughing violently, she groped through the haze. She shouted hoarsely.
"Austin!"
"Over here."
A weak response came from the corner. Stumbling toward it, she found him slumped against the wall. He was pale as a ghost under the dim emergency lights. His lifelong claustrophobia had knocked him out cold.
Gritting her teeth, she dragged him toward the exit. She missed a step. They pitched forward, tumbling down the stairs in a tangle of limbs.
She curled her body around his. She took the brutal impact. Bones jarred. Skin tore. She barely noticed. The moment they hit the landing, her shaking hands were already checking him over.
Miraculously, only his knees and ankles were scraped. Nothing serious.
Selena collapsed beside him. She gasped like a fish tossed ashore. Just then, firefighters arrived. Their jaws dropped at the sight of this slight woman who had single-handedly rescued a grown man.
As they moved to help her, she spotted Amanda standing behind them. A spark flashed in her eyes. Shoving the dazed woman toward Austin, she rasped, "He is all yours."
Before anyone could react, she limped away. She left a trail of smeared blood.
Amanda stepped into the role without missing a beat. She immediately directed the rescuers. From that moment on, she became Austin's constant shadow at the hospital.
When they returned home the next evening, his demeanor had shifted completely. In front of the stunned staff, he dropped the bombshell.
"From today onward, stop calling her Miss Vane. Address her as Mrs. Nash."
The staff exchanged confused looks. They were clueless about the sudden shift but too afraid to ask. The driver, bolder than the rest, piped up.
"Then what should we call the other one?"
Austin's gaze turned frosty. His voice was clipped as he bit out, "Call her Ms. Mariner."
Selena heard every word through the c***k in the door. Her chest ached. She could not pretend it did not sting. Yet part of her was relieved. Austin had found someone new. They would marry and fill a house with kids. Enough for a soccer team, even.
Another woman would give him all the things she could not.
And as for her, she would watch his happiness from afar. From a shadowed alley. A hospital bed. Or even a grave.
How perfect.
Her mouth twisted into a grin. Too wide. Too silent.
She should have been happy. So why were tears burning trails down her cheeks? Bitter on her tongue?
Rubbing her face, she turned away and flipped open her notebook. With a steady hand, she scrawled a few lines. Her notebook read:
Austin has a new wife now. Time to go.
- Writer
