His Wet Nurse

Resentment (30)

Growing up as a Newman, he'd been forced to learn proper etiquette. The chivalrous things required of a gentleman, and how to look like one. Theodore had hated such tedious lessons but had to sit through them until the end or face the callous punishment from his father.

It still sent cold ripples down his spine whenever he thought of how harshly his ever-so-kind father treated him behind closed doors. Theo for one day never felt like the man loved him, he'd shipped him off at one point, made him work in a farmyard, and sent him away to France then to Russia finally. He didn't understand why the man didn't want him home in America, he'd wanted to stay close to his mother at least but looking back now, he understood why the man did what he did.

He had enemies everywhere, and the only way to protect him from them was to take him far away. As Theo sat in his office, he pondered how effective it would seem if he sent his son and his wet nurse away. Far away that no ears would hear of it. Not even his cousin Madame. He's had enough of betrayals that he feared each passing day might bring new problems. Now the organization where fighting within itself, a rumor that there was agitation within the group where some were demanding to split away and form alliances with whoever bided higher and the rest like himself stood with the notion to protect the legacies of their forefathers.

Theo had managed to sustain his mind-splitting headaches to a much lesser degree when he learned of the situation within the organization, he had an avalanche of problems to handle. The multiple attempts at his family, the troubles of a spy within, and now the organization. He may look fine on the surface, but he's days away from crashing down from exhaustion. A good sleep was never his forte, but even the bad sleep was hard to come by. Whenever he snapped his eyes shut he'd see Jema's teary face, begging him to help find the killers of her husband.

How could he tell her she already found them? that they were right in front of her, serving under their roof and trusting in them to protect her? What a laughable irony. If only things were different, if only she wasn't so dedicated to his son, Theo would've found ways to throw her out before she dug too deep.

He sat up on his office chair, his face scrunched up at the discovery of how worried he was about the situation. Why should he beat himself up for something so trivial and in the past?
If he didn't tell her she'd never find out. Out of mind they say was out of sight, so it was just a matter of time before she let go of all thoughts of revenge.

Theo returned to reading up on the progress of the investigation that his PI had forwarded to him when a knock came at the door. Madame Evana stepped in looking all formal and calm.

"Master,"

"Madame, what brings you all the way here? Is something wrong back home?" His thoughts flew over the worst scenarios until Madame offered an assuring smile.

"No, everything is perfect. I had to meet you here because of the delicate nature of the situation. Here," she extended a file at him. "That's a full report on every staff at the mansion. Ranging from their background history, previous places of work, reviews from their coworkers, mental health evaluation, and others. I've cross-checked every one of them and..."
She paused, sending a narrow look at him to know if she should continue.

"And what did you discover?"

"Well, except for Fiona who recently submitted her resignation letter the rest have clean sheets. But..."

Theo huffed and shut the file. "Do you need me to send in an interpreter? Because you seem to lose your voice at some point."

"Apologies sir, but unlike the rest, Jemaa has a questionable mental health report and a questionable background as well."

"Why's that?" He snatched another file from her hand and read the headings that stated it was a report from a licensed mental health counselor. His brows furrowed as he read further, unsure of what to make of it. "These reports were dated months back before her employment. Why pulling it up now?"

"It wasn't a diagnosis, merely a hint that further traumatic events might spiral her out of control. I'm scared that she's not fit to take care of baby Sam. She's been good to him, yeah, and he loves her but that isn't enough sir. She might just be a ticking time bomb, putting on a facade. In the past, she's acted out some of these expectations, impulsive behavior, emotional bluntness, and lack of motivation to duty as well. We can't keep a blind eye to all these because you didn't find her in the act."

"What do you mean by finding her in the act?"

"Isn't there a chance that she might be involved with the attacks on her? Maybe it's a front to make you trust her and have her way into the family sir. And until she came along, these sorts of things didn't happen to us, we never got attacked by anyone for any reason. I've been experiencing this foreboding feeling ever since she got back, it's snatched at the back of my neck all day and I can't seem to wear it off. I don't know sir, I may be paranoid over nothing_"

"You are," he stated clearly. "Like you stated clearly, it's not a diagnosis. If my knowledge of crimes goes thus far I don't believe Jema is our suspect as you would have her be. She wouldn't risk being shot at, being mangled alone in an empty house within a forest to get at me__"

"—That's what she wants you to believe!" Madame Evana cut in, losing her cool. She never lost her cool and it was all because of her. "She's from a questionable background!"

Theodore's eyes darkened. "And so are you!" He barked, standing up to tower above her huge frame. "Shouldn't it be your mistake if she's from such background? You brought her into my home and my life without thoroughly checking her health records and background! A while back you had no idea of her ugly past now you stand here to tell me what is and isn't?..." Theo crossed the room to the window, casting a shadow behind him. He was tall, almost reaching the frames of the curtains. "I should've let you go back then," he whispered.

Madame Evana opened her mouth to respond but couldn't, her anxiety had risen to a greater degree since after Jema's return. But nothing beat the feeling of being disregarded by her cousin, being reprimanded like a teenager over and over again. He didn't heed her words like he did in the past.

"Find out about the employee who resigned. She might be our lead." He said with finality, he gave her a look that told her they were done and she should never speak of it again.
She tipped a bow and was on her way before she'd speak out of tongue. Her chest rang with multitudes of emotions. She'd brought that farm girl to the city, gave her a job when she had nothing and no one, set her on the path of light, now she was what stood between her and her years of hard work.

If Theodore wasn't going to pull Jemaa off his employee list then Madame was going to devise a means to get it done. Who knew that timid girls like Jema were more vicious than city girls? She'd avoided giving that position to any woman from the city because she was afraid they'd outsmart her, waggle their tongues, and preach equity and rights, but Jemaa hadn't played that way. Rather she'd slowly and intensely dug her filthy fangs into Theodore's head that he rooted for her without logic.
It was maddening to think of.
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Sometimes I really do understand Madame Evans's fight yeah?