Warden
1059 Words
Irene Jones POV
“Ma’am, where are you leaving?” Albert asked as soon as I reached the main gate, still in yesterday’s clothes, hair untouched, skin tight with sleeplessness.
I was glad Theodore had left the room last night. I had even thought of helping with his wheelchair, but he hadn’t needed it. Not from me.
I hadn’t slept. Not even a blink. That was why I was leaving first thing in the morning, before the entire family crawled out and climbed onto my spine again. My apartment was probably empty by now. Theodore’s people had been hauling things out, and I didn’t even know where my own belongings were anymore.
Could deal with that mess later. Boxes, missing clothes, lost things. All manageable. What couldn’t be dealt with was the family drama. Not again. Not this early.
And now Albert had caught me before I could slip away and think. He stood in front of me like a wall, polite and immovable.
“Nothing much,” I replied, forcing a smile that stretched my face in all the wrong places. I couldn’t stay here without my makeup, without my things, without the armor that kept my cracks invisible.
Fear coiled tight in my chest. What if they had already searched my stuff? Found things I never wanted exposed? The only comfort I clung to was the hope that they wouldn’t look too closely. Makeup was a basic need for a woman. Maybe they wouldn’t dig deeper than that.
“You need anything, Mrs. Myers? If it’s nothing much, then what are you doing here, Ma’am?” His tone stayed polite, but the headache bloomed anyway.
“Your boss left you here to keep an eye on me?” The exhaustion leaked straight into my voice.
He shook his head. “No, Ma’am. I was coming inside for work, but I saw you here. That’s why I asked. If it offended you, I am really sorry.”
I was offended. Deeply. But it wasn’t his fault. He was doing his job, and my anger had nowhere useful to land. I swallowed it back. “No need to apologize. I’m going to university. My studies are falling behind.”
That part was true. After checking my apartment, the plan was university. I had taken days off for Misha’s wedding. From university. From the store. From my online work. And somehow, I was the one who ended up married.
I couldn’t afford to stop. No one was paying my fees or my bills. I wasn’t on a scholarship. Life didn’t pause just because mine had derailed.
“Ma’am, you have to inform the young master,” his tone gentle. “I don’t think you can leave like this. And this place is new for you. It would be bad if you got lost.”
I almost laughed.
I needed to learn how to mold words the way Albert did. If I didn’t know better, I would have believed he was genuinely worried about me wandering off and losing my way.
But I knew better.
This wasn’t concern. It was permission wrapped in politeness. A neat little excuse hiding the real truth.
He didn’t want me leaving without informing Theodore. Or rather, without his approval.
I let out a slow breath through my nose, fingers curling tighter around the strap of my bag.
“I’ll inform him,” I muttered, already knowing I wouldn’t.
Albert hesitated, just for a fraction of a second. “I can inform him for you, Ma’am,” he offered.
My jaw tightened. 'Of course you can.'
“That won’t be necessary.” The words stayed even, polite, controlled—the way I had learned to keep them. Cracks invited questions. Questions invited control. “I’ll handle it.”
“But you don’t have his number, Mrs. Myers, and the young master will be really mad if I let you go without his knowledge,” he pointed out, the concern edging closer to insistence.
My eyes rolled before I could stop them. “See, Albert, I know he’s your boss or whatever, but neither is he my boss, nor do you have the right to stop me in any scenario.”
The words came out sharper than intended, but I didn’t soften them. Couldn’t afford to. Softness here would be mistaken for weakness.
His lips parted, then pressed together again. A quiet conflict flickered across his face, duty wrestling with common sense. “Ma’am, I’m just trying to—”
“Do your job?” I cut in, lifting my chin. “You already are. But my life doesn’t pause because Theodore decides to play warden.”
Silence stretched between us. The gate loomed ahead, freedom so close it almost hurt to breathe.
Albert stepped aside at last, slow and reluctant, as if the ground itself resisted him. “Please don’t put me in a difficult position.”
I didn’t answer. I walked past him, the gravel crunching under my shoes, loud in the early morning stillness. My hands were shaking now, anger and adrenaline tangling in my veins, but I kept moving.
Because stopping meant giving him time to call Theodore.
And I wasn’t ready to face that storm yet.
I reached the main gate and tried to open it. It didn’t budge. The massive metal doors stood tall and sealed, cold beneath my palms.
“Open the door,” I snapped, the sound sharp as it cut through the quiet, aimed at the two guards stationed outside. They didn’t even look my way as my hand struck the metal again, the clang echoing back at me.
Fuck.
Why did this feel like a jail? First Albert, now this gate, and these guards acting deaf and blind, as if I didn’t exist at all.
“Did you hear me?” My voice rose despite myself, frustration crawling up my throat. “Open it.”
One of them finally shifted his weight, eyes still forward. “We can’t open them like this.”
“What do you mean? I’m the wife of your young master—why can’t you open it for me?” Wife burned on my tongue, but it was all I could use in the moment to benefit myself.
“The door needs a Myers family fingerprint or face scan to be opened.”
- Writer
