THE BILLIONAIRE’S PERFECT MATE

The day Ivory died; Ellie had left her at home with Kevin. It was on a weekend and Ellie had gotten a call from her boss that her attention was needed urgently. She hurriedly left home that morning, leaving Ivory in Kevin’s care and promising to be back as soon as possible.

“Baby, mum needs to get to the office. Something urgent came up. In the meantime, stay with daddy and be a good girl. I won’t take long. I will make sure to come back as soon as possible” Ellie said to Ivory, who was munching her food happily.

“No problem, mummy. Don’t stay long as I will be waiting for you to come back. When you are coming mummy, can you get me Ice-cream and cake?” Ivory said innocently, with her mouth filled with food, which made Ellie laugh.

“I won’t take long princess and I will make sure to get you the Ice-cream and cake while on my way home. I love you and stay safe” Ellie said, giving Ivory a peck. “I love you too, mummy. Bye” Ivory said, smiling and waving at her mum and which gladdened Ellie’s

heart.

“Bye, princess” Ellie said, also waving at Ivory, while making her way out of the house. Some minutes after leaving the house, Kevin also got a call, which warranted him to also dash out. Ivory had already fallen asleep by the time he got the call. Hoping that

she wouldn’t wake up before he came back, he dashed out, locking her indoors and zooming off in his car.

Ellie had no idea that Ivory was left all alone in the house. She tried finishing the impromptu work assigned to her by her boss on time, so she could head home early. Luckily for her, she was done within three hours. After leaving her workplace, she branched

at the grocery store to get Ivory the Ice-cream and cake she had promised her. Holding the bag of Ice-cream and Cake, she hopped into the bus and headed straight home with joy of seeing her princess soon.

Upon getting to their street, she saw a crowd of people, gathered in front of their building. She saw the fire fighters’ vehicle, and an ambulance stationed in front of the building. She wondered what was going on, and moved close to where the people were.

“How could she and her husband have left their 6 years old daughter all alone?” a woman, who happened to be her neighbor who was standing in front of Ellie said, talking to her partner who was beside her. The two were oblivious of her presence. “I saw her mum

rushing out in the early hours of today. Some minutes later, I saw the husband zooming off in his car. I had thought he had taken her along with him, I never knew she was locked inside of their apartment. But why did they have to lock her indoors? She could

have tagged along with one of them. If they had taken her with them, she wouldn’t have lost her life. I don’t think her parents are yet aware of her death as her father was called but he never picked. I do not have the mum’s line. You know she just moved in

recently and we are not that close. I feel so sorry for them. What a loss!” the partner lamented with pity. Ellie wondered whom they were talking about and tried stretching her neck, to catch a glimpse of what was going on in front of her.

“What a loss indeed. Ivory was such a sweet and adorable girl. I am going to miss her. I hope her parents are able to bear the fortitude of her death” the woman said, feeling pity for them. It was at the mention of the name “Ivory”, that Ellie realized what

was going on.

“Excuse me, whose name did you just mention?” Ellie said from behind, startling the woman and her husband.

“You just scared the hell out of us!!!!!” the woman yelled, holding her chest.

“Ma’am, what did you just say? Who died? What did you say happened to Ivory?” Ellie asked, ignoring the woman’s earlier comment. She became unsettled and restless.

“Actually, when you were not around, your apartment caught fire” the woman said. “What? Caught fire? How did that happen? What about my husband and my daughter? Where are they?” Ellie asked, looking around and getting scared.

“Well, as for your husband, we do not know where he is. When your house caught fire, we contacted the fire fighters. They didn’t get here on time, and we never had an idea that Ivory was locked inside the house. We thought the apartment was empty as I had seen

your husband zooming off in his car just some minutes after you left. I thought Ivory had gone with him, which was why an alarm wasn’t raised about her being trapped inside the house. It was after the fire fighters came and the fire was quenched that we found

out she had been trapped inside the house all these while” the woman narrated, sorrowfully.

“So, what now happened to her? Where is she right now?” Ellie asked with a shaky voice, getting impatient and worried. There was a thought running through her mind, but she didn’t want to believe it. She kept waving the thought off, assuring herself that what

she was thinking wasn’t true. The woman couldn’t bring herself to tell her that her daughter was dead, as she too was a mother and knew how she would have felt. Seeing his wife wasn’t ready to talk, the husband decided to break the news to Ellie.

“I am sorry to say this, but she had already lost her life before she was brought out. The medical team was called on, but they couldn’t do anything on their arrival as she was already dead” the man announced, burying his face. Ellie already had a hunch of

what had happened to her daughter even before the man said it, but she just wanted a confirmation. After hearing the man’s statement, she shook her head and burst into laughter. This act of hers got the couple surprised and they wondered if she was okay. They

both looked at each other, trying to decipher what was wrong with her.

“Mrs. Smith, are you fine?” the woman asked, looking at her in the face but she didn’t stop laughing weirdly.

“Are you joking? How can my daughter be dead?” Ellie yelled, when she finally stopped laughing. She faced the couple with a fierce and serious look on her face, which made them scared. This yelling of hers caught the attention of the rest of the crowd. Their

eyes were fixed on her and their gazes were filled with pity which Ellie could see.

“That’s her mother. Seems like she is aware of her daughter’s death” a woman murmured, which got to Ellie’s hearing. Hearing this, Ellie’s hands dropped, and the reality became drawn on her. She looked in the direction of where the ambulance was parked and

made her way towards it, with the crowd making way for her to walk through. As she slowly took each step towards the ambulance, she kept on shaking her head and kept on murmuring the word “NO” repeatedly, trying to reassure herself that her daughter was alive,

hale and hearty. Upon getting close to where the ambulance was parked, she saw a stretcher beside it. On it was a body, covered with a white cloth. Seeing this, she halted in her steps, unable to take any steps further as she feared the truth that was right

in front of her. Upon sighting her, one of the medical team members walked up to Ellie.

“Miss, are you a guardian to the deceased?” the man questioned. Ellie didn’t respond and her gaze was fixed on the dead body that was laid on the stretcher.

“She is her mother” one of the spectators said.

“Oh, I apologize for the question. We have been trying to get in touch with your husband, but he wouldn’t pick. We were just about moving her body to the morgue before you came. Now that you are here, you can go along with us. Accept my condolence, Ma’am” the

medical team member said to Ellie with sympathy, bowing his head.

“You must be mistaken, that can’t be my daughter lying lifeless over there. I saw her a few hours ago. I bid her goodbye while promising her to be back soon. She promised to wait for me, while smiling at me. So, how can you she be dead when she hasn’t fulfilled

the promise she made to me?” she questioned and at this moment, tears were already rolling down her eyes. Although she was in denial, she knew her daughter was no longer alive.

“I know it’s hard to believe this, but she is truly gone. If you do not mind, you can identify her body” the man advised. The man led her to where the stretcher was, while Ellie slowly trailed behind him. On getting there, the man lifted the cloth, revealing

Ivory’s half burnt face. Seeing this, Ellie’s hands and legs began to shake. The bag of Ice-cream she was holding dropped on the floor. Right in front of her was her daughter, the one she had bid goodbye to some hours ago. The one who promised to wait for

her to come back; the one who requested for her to get Ice-cream and cake on her way back home. Ellie moved close to where her body was laid and held her hand.

“Ivory, I know you are playing a prank on me right now. You are quite good at that but right now, I am tired and all I want is to lay on the bed with you resting on my chest. So, stand up and let’s go inside. See, I bought the Ice-cream and the Cake you requested

for. Get up and let’s go in so you can munch if off” Ellie said, picking up the bag she had dropped earlier, squeezing it into Ivory’s hand but which eventually slipped away from her hand. Seeing this, Ellie bent to pick up the bag, with a heavy heart.

“Are you angry with me because I went out? I am sorry, I won’t ever leave you all alone again. So, get up and let’s go in. We can watch your favorite cartoon together as you have always wanted. I will do whatsoever you want me to do. So, just get up and let’s

go in. You are scaring me, Ivory. Please get up. Mom is back now” Ellie said, weeping. The crowd felt pity for her as they watched her. She looked distraught and scared.

“Ma’am, I am sorry to say this, but she won’t be able to get up” the medical team member said with sorrow.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

“And why is that? Is it because she is angry with me?” Ellie said, with anguish and pain in her voice, turning to face the man.

“No, it’s not because she is angry with you but because she is dead” the man announced.

“She is dead? She is dead?” Ellie muttered repeatedly, turning back to look at Ivory’s body, lying lifeless on the stretcher. She looked at her for quite a while, without uttering a word. When the reality of the matter set in, Ellie slumped and lost consciousness. The last words she heard were those of the medical team members, trying to jerk her back to life.