CHAPTER FIVE: Bounded

Mia’s pov

Morning came quickly, almost too fast and it felt like the sun rose first on this part of the world. I freshened up, slid into a sundress and stepped out of the room.

“Good morning Mrs. Mysterio..” each staff member I walked past greeted, their heads hanging low.

For the first time in my life, I was respected. Even though the respect was still tied to Jonathan. The sweet smell of food grazed my nostrils and I found my way to the dining area.

Breakfast was already served and I pulled a chair out for myself. I didn’t bother to ask whether Jonathan would be joining because I knew if he wanted to, he would have been here before me.

So I served myself and ate alone… in silence. A part of me slowed down, maybe he’ll have a change of heart and come down for breakfast. But even after I spent almost an hour on scrambled egg and toast, he didn’t show up.

The meal was simple and yet sumptuous. I ate to my fill and left the dining area in silence. My phone buzzed again and the same unsaved number dropped another message.

“Don’t forget, 48 hours” the text read simply. I stared at it blankly, my face bland and expressionless. I hadn’t even gotten used to being married and Collins was already bombarding me with tasks like I was some newly launched killer robot.

The morning was slow and quiet. Nothing like the noisy mansion I was used to. No sound of Elena’s screeching voice barking orders at everyone, or my father throwing vases across the room because someone didn’t do their work well.

This place was different. Everyone moved in silence, maids talked in hushed tones. Even the birds in the sky seemed to know that there was a volume limit to their chirping.

I walked through the halls slowly, mastering every turn, every door, every corridor. Until I slid through the back and walked through the hallway on the right side. Jonathan’s side of the house.

He forbade me from coming here, but I have a mission and the earlier I get this done, the faster I leave this place.

I walked deeper into the hallway, mastering every door I walked past. Until something caught my attention… a flickering light above me. Surveillance cameras!

“Shit!”

I quickly turned around and strutted back to where I was coming from. I didn’t need Jonathan to notice I was lurking around and I certainly didn’t want to raise any suspicions.

When I got to my door, I pushed it open and slammed it shut behind me, leaning on it until I could steady my breath.

“For goodness' sake, how did I not think of surveillance cameras?” I whined as I tossed my phone on the bed and pulled my hair up.

I paced back and forth in my room, trying to convince myself that Jonathan won’t be checking those footages anytime soon and even if he does, I’ll just tell him I was curious and wanted to know what the entire mansion looked like.

My mind steadied and I picked my phone back up, adjusted my dress and left the room again. This time, I strolled out of the house and into the garden. The flowers caught my attention when I got closer and as I stood in front of the fountain, I noticed there were more flowers I was allergic to.

Jonathan knows I’m allergic to these flowers… actually he knows that Sophia is allergic to them so why does he have them in abundance? Was he trying to repel me if I ever wanted to pay him a visit?

A chortle escaped my lips and I shook my head as I walked away from them.

“Too bad you won’t see what’s coming..” I muttered and continued my stroll around the house. I noted some blind spots in my head and some corners that led to other rooms in the house.

The back was heavily guarded, but the corners of the house were left unprotected. In a normal setting, those were the best spots to infiltrate. But knowing who Jonathan is and the way he thinks, that’s the first place he’d check if something didn’t sit right with him.

I literally spent the entire day getting familiar with the guards on duty and mastering their off hours. I knew how many cameras were in the living room, in the corridors, in the hallways and in front of Jonathan’s room. But there was none by his study.

Minutes stretched into hours and my stomach grumbled for food. I walked back into the house for lunch but my shoulders grazed someone.

“I’m sorry..” I muttered but he didn’t look back. He just kept walking like I didn’t even exist. Something in me twisted.. for a moment, I felt pain I didn’t know still lived inside me.

Does this mean that the love he had for me wasn’t strong enough for him to recognize me underneath this mask? Was I so irrelevant to him?

Most importantly, why do I still feel something for him? I watched his back until he got into his car and drove off. Not a single word said to me, but his action was like adding salt to an injury my father had reopened.

I took a deep breath, swallowed my emotions and walked straight to my room. I didn’t even feel hungry anymore. Now that he wasn’t home, an idea crossed my mind. This might be my only chance to get into his study and see if there was anything useful I could get.

So I changed into a black dress and folded my hair into a bun. I grabbed my phone and walked stealthily through the hall, making little to no noise with my steps until I got to his study.

I wasted no time in front of the door and just pushed it open, sliding in through the little opening to avoid making any creaking noise.

The study was dark, the only source of light being the little crack in the ceiling. I turned my phone on and scanned through the room, the smell of burned cigarette and alcohol filled the air.

Since when does Jonathan smoke? I thought to myself as I stared at the stubs smoked halfway and dumped in the ashtray.

“This isn’t why I’m here..” I warned myself as I leaned over his desk and pulled compartments out. A few folders stared at me, unnamed. I flipped through the pages, all I could see were staff names, salaries paid and salaries owed.

I grunted in disappointment as I tossed the folder back into the drawer. I honestly didn’t expect things to be easy for me, so I kept looking until I saw his laptop laying on the sofa.

I picked it up and flipped it open, my hands rested on the keyboard as I tried to guess the password. I tried old codes… like our anniversary, his birthday, mine, a combination of the two..

Nothing worked. I sighed and closed my eyes to think of something else, but the sound of a car pulling over interrupted me.

I quickly put the laptop back where I saw it and darted out of the room, moving through the back until I came out to the left side of the house. But then something hit me…

Why was it so easy for me to open his study?