Savage
1073 Words
Irene Jones POV
His words shocked me all over again, as if being trapped in his lap wasn’t hard enough. “You’re the unruly one, not me. The shoe fits you, Cinderella.” I kept my head down, trying to stay still while his thighs pressed against my stomach and his hand rested on my back.
“If that’s what you think, I’m all about agreeing with my wife,” he said, his tone casual.
But what stunned me more was how easily he kept calling me that. Wife. The word did something I refused to admit—stirred a sense of belonging I didn’t want to crave, especially not for a man who was such a bastard.
“What is happening here?” Sammy bellowed.
I didn't even notice when we'd reached the living room.
I tried to look at her clearly while dangling in her grandson’s lap. She stared at us like she’d seen a ghost.
Couldn’t blame her. The position wasn’t decent. Not my fault her grandson was the one who’d pulled this s**t.
“Nothing. Just bringing my wife to breakfast.” He flaunted it shamelessly, like it was something to be proud of.
How good it would feel to punch him once. Right in the face he refused to show.
More reason for him to keep hiding the damn thing.
“That is not what I’m asking, Theodore. And you, girl—get down.” Sammy’s order came without even using my name, as if she hadn’t already gathered my full information the moment she found out I was the replacement wife.
One thing about rich people—they made sure even the air they breathed was something they controlled. By now, this whole family knew as much about me as they could dig up.
“She likes it here. Don’t mind us,” Theodore replied, and my stomach twisted tighter.
This family really carried no shame.
If Cyril was a pervert, then Theodore was dominating and shameless. I closed my eyes, wishing the floor would swallow me whole.
What sins had I committed to go from a toxic family to an insane one? Couldn’t even count either as family.
“Girl, you better come down. Didn’t your parents teach you how to respect elders or people’s presence in general?”
It burned. Her words seared through me, because my mother had never cared to teach me anything. I couldn’t expect much from my stepfather either—they’d poured all their energy into Misha.
What hurt most was that she blamed me instead of the person who actually deserved it—Theodore. Of course she wouldn’t say anything to him. He was her grandson.
Opening my eyes, I whispered, “I’m sorry,” hiding how much her remark had gutted me.
I wriggled harder now, desperate to escape at any cost. If I hadn’t been trying before, I was now.
“Shameless,” she muttered, her face twisting in disgust as she looked at me, then walked away.
Tears pricked my eyes. Since yesterday, nothing had gone right. Everything kept spiraling worse with every passing second. The life I’d always wanted to run from—I’d been dropped right back into it. It felt like I was reliving my childhood all over again.
“Can you let me go now? I agree to have breakfast with everyone. You’ve gotten me insulted enough,” I stated, refusing to beg.
“No problem.” Theodore removed his hand from my back, and with my stomach churning and a dull ache spreading through my knee, I climbed down from his lap, doing my best to avoid touching him any further.
Albert stood there like he hadn’t just witnessed this entire circus.
I straightened my clothes and smoothed my hair. “Where’s the table?”
“Follow my lead.”
Without another word, he started rolling his wheelchair forward while Albert and I followed behind.
“At last you both came. I thought it would take you an eternity,” Lilith mocked, her tone dripping with sarcasm as she looked at me with the same dissatisfaction she’d worn yesterday—the look that showed exactly how unhappy she was to have me as her daughter-in-law.
“Sit, Irene,” Jamey said politely.
He was the only person who’d spoken to me like I was human. Since yesterday, he hadn’t thrown a single below-the-belt comment at me. Somehow, that basic decency felt precious. At least someone wasn’t making me feel like trash.
“Thanks,” I said, managing a small smile as I sat in the chair beside an empty space. Theodore rolled into it, and I realized it was his spot—no chair needed because of the wheelchair.
Better to be beside him. Even though he didn’t help in any way, it was still better than sitting beside his family.
“So what was the commotion outside? I heard something happened,” Xinac asked as the servants began serving food to everyone.
I went still. One thing I knew for certain—he already knew what had happened. He was only asking for the sake of it.
“My wife was just having morning tantrums.” Theodore cut a piece of bread and ate it while I stared at the food on my plate, nausea twisting through me at the answer he dared to give.
“You really are a savage, just like your looks. No noble bone in you. First I see you in a shameless position in my grandson’s lap, and now I’m hearing about your tantrums in front of the guards outside?” Sammy sneered, taking a sip of water.
“What?” Lilith sounded thoroughly shocked. “This girl can’t be my daughter-in-law. How dare she? What will the guards and people working in this house think about us?”
Such a fuss they were making in front of their servants, as if it would save their reputation in any way. The gossip would only grow louder.
Were they doing this to insult me? I didn’t care about servants or not—they were just people like me.
The only shame I’d felt was about the lap thing, and not because maids were present. It was because the situation had been every type of humiliation.
But all that shame should have been directed at Theodore, not me.
“She is still learning. Give her some grace.”
- Writer
