Stealing Cinderella(54)
“Ella, I can’t even begin to thank you. I don’t know what to say.”
“I don’t want you to say anything.” I reach for a slice of bread and add it to my plate. “I just want to make sure the animals are taken care of. That’s all.”
“Well, thanks to you, they have food in their bellies,” she says. “And if things continue at this rate, I should be able to pay off the vet bills in a week.”
“That’s great news.” I sigh in relief. “You’ll be able to keep things going then?”
“If this continues, then yes,” she answers cautiously. “But I have to ask, Ella. What kind of job are you doing where you’re earning this much money every day?”
I break off a corner of the bread and crumble it between my fingers. I don’t want to lie to Olivia, but I can’t exactly tell her the truth either.
“I can’t say much about it. Only that I’m working for a wealthy man, who’s been very generous.”
There’s a pause on the other end of the line, and Olivia’s voice is filled with obvious concern when she speaks again. “Is it legal?”
“Yes.” I swallow.
“Are you keeping any money for yourself?” she asks.
“I really don’t need very much.”
“Ella,” she scolds. “You have to keep something for yourself.”
“The only thing I want is Alfred,” I tell her. “Please just take care of him for me until I can see him again.”
“He’s not going anywhere,” she assures me. “He misses you very much.”
“Thank you, Olivia. I should let you go. I have to call Charlotte too while I can.”
“Okay,” she agrees. “Check in as soon as you can. You know I worry about you.”
“I’ll be in touch.”
“Oh, Ella.” She stops me before I hang up. “Can you at least tell me the name of the ship you’re working on? Just in case I don’t hear from you, or if there’s an emergency?”
My eyes dart around the room, seeking out inspiration for a ship name when it hits me. “God of Thunder.”
“Huh,” she murmurs. “What an unusual name.”
“I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Okay, darling. Take care of yourself.”
After I hang up, I video call Charlotte and explain things all over again. But she’s not quite so easy to convince. She can smell a fishy story from a mile away, and she makes me promise to keep in touch with her weekly, no matter what. Guilt eats at me when she tells me how worried she’s been. But what’s even more concerning is that she went to the house to check on me, only to discover that Narcissa and the girls are gone.
They couldn’t possibly be out looking for me, could they?
I dismiss the idea as ridiculous, and as soon as I hang up with Charlotte, I try to call the manor. But true to Charlotte’s word, the phone just rings and goes to voicemail. It doesn’t make any sense, and the more I think about it, the more confused I get.
Narcissa doesn’t have any other family to speak of, so where would they go? It’s a question that disturbs me all the way through breakfast. But given that I don’t have any answers, I decide to put it aside for the time being and focus on what I need to do while I still have my phone.
Pulling up an incognito browser, I type Nerium Oleander into the search engine and wait for the results to pop up. After reading through the first few paragraphs, I conclude that it’s a flowering shrub, which only adds to my confusion. Why would Thorsen have this in a bottle? Is it some kind of a liquid concentrate? And what is he planning to do with it?
After searching through a few more articles, the answer sends a shiver down my spine. The oleander plant is known for its cardiotoxicity, and I suspect the concentration in that blue bottle is likely fatal. I don’t even know how to begin processing that information.
The first initial thought I have is that he must intend to use it on someone, but I quickly dismiss that as a crazy notion. Thorsen drugged me to bring me here, but there’s no way he would actually poison me. Or anyone else for that matter. But the alternative is something too dark to consider.
And then I recall that note in his calendar after he sends me home. Aokigahara Forest. When I first saw it, I thought he was going on a holiday. But what if it isn’t? What if it’s something so sinister, my mind can’t even admit the possibility?
“Thor?”
The phone in my hand clatters onto the table as I discover Calder standing in the entryway, and we both freeze.
“I was looking for Thor,” he says, his eyes darting away.
“He isn’t here.” I close out the browser on my phone and turn off the screen. “He said he had to go out this morning.”
Calder frowns. “There wasn’t anything on his schedule.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know where he went.”
We’re both quiet, and I think he’s just going to leave, which would probably be best. It’s more than awkward between us now, and from the awful look on his face, I’m guessing Thorsen still hasn’t spoken to him yet.
“You’re the girl from the ball in London,” he says finally. “Aren’t you?”
“Yes,” I admit.