Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 157: King Reflects

King

Teela had me arrested. I could kill her. No, I couldn’t. No, I wouldn’t. Not ever. But why did she have me arrested? What did Alec say to Teela to upset her so much?

Min wasn’t waiting for me at the police station. Neither was my attorney. Teela didn’t call. She was taking this joke too far. Didn’t she realize I could have her arrested?

"Mr. Heavenly, in here." The arresting officer settled him in an interrogation room.

"I want my attorney."

I knew better than to speak to the police without legal representation, especially when Teela was involved. I’d seen the type of cases she’d put together against Lettie and Daniel.

"You’re not under arrest yet, Mr. Heavenly. I know your reputation. I thought you would be more comfortable in here than in a holding cell while we investigate the confusion with your car registration."

"Regardless, I want to make a call."

"Yes, sir. Here." The officer handed over his cell phone. "Use this. I’ll be back shortly."

I stared at the phone. It was useless without a phone number. Today of all days, I’d left my phone I the car. I quit memorizing phone numbers years ago. My world was on my phone or accessible through Min.

I’d known Min since I was a kid. Not only couldn’t I remember his phone number, when we had reunited as teenagers, I hadn’t even recognized him as my childhood friend. It wasn’t until much later that I put together the scrawny Min from my childhood with the competent assistant Min at my side.

My therapist said I needed to spend more time putting myself in the shoes of others. I tried, but it was so exhausting. People didn’t always make sense to me, and I tended to work at a whole different level. Dumbing myself down to their level was a balancing act between being relatable and coming across as an idiot.

Sometimes, it worked. Mostly, I think I come across as an arrogant idiot. It wasn’t who I was.

None of this helped me come up with a phone number. It finally occurred to me that I could look up the phone number of the hospital and have a message passed on to Joshua. He would have the contact information for the family’s attorney.

Damn it, why couldn’t I remember Min’s phone number?

Just my luck, Josh wasn’t on duty at the hospital, so I moved on to calling Ben’s nightclub. I should have called him first since he was freshly married to Min.

By the time the cop remembered to check in on me, Ben and Min were on the way. I gave the phone back to the police officer and settled in for the wait, which meant I had too much time to think.

Why had Teela done this to me? She was obviously upset with me, but why? Because I’d assigned a protection detail to her? That was the right thing to do. Teela was my responsibility. I’d let her down so many times, and with each failure my desire to keep her safe escalated, especially when Daniel had slipped the detail and handed Teela over to Lettie. She could have died at Lettie’s hands.

It was all my fault. I’d let her down. It couldn’t happen again, even if that meant I had to take her away from Alec and keep her safe at the estate for the rest of her life.

Ben and Min showed up.

Ben said, "Hey, bro, what’s going on?"

"Teela had me arrested. Get me out of here."

"How did that happen?"

"She said I’m stalking her, and she did her computer witchcraft to fuck up the registration of my car."

"King, you are stalking her," Ben said.

"No, I’m not. I’m trying to protect her."

"Dude, have you tried to look at it from her perspective? You are her ex-husband. You have no ties to her anymore and yet you hired people to watch her twenty-four-seven. They are taking pictures of her and passing them to you, and you were crazy enough to send those to Alec with harassing messages that sounded like you were trying to take Teela away from him. Did you not think he would talk to Teela about it?"

"If he can’t take care of her, I can. Alec doesn’t deserve her."

"That isn’t your call, King. You had your shot with Teela. You blew it. She even gave you a second chance, and you blew that one too. Are you so arrogant that you think you—who have failed her repeatedly—really are qualified to take care of Teela? King, you are mental."

"Ben, you’re supposed to be on my side."

"I would be if anything you’re doing made sense. Unlike Min, if I’d known you were invading Teela’s privacy for so long, I would have stopped you myself. Teela has every right to be pissed off at you. At least tell me you’ve called off your dogs."

"Of course not! I’m doing this for her own good. I’ll never let her go. Her mother left her in my hands. She’s my responsibility."

Ben said to Min, "How long has he been like this?"

"It’s been a progressive thing."

"What can we do about it?"

"I don’t know."

I said, "Don’t talk about me like I’m not in the room. There’s nothing wrong with me."

"Yes, there is. Have you talked to your therapist about this?" Ben asked.

"About what? Teela? We talk about Teela all the time. Teela is the reason I entered therapy, to begin with."

"What has the therapist told you?"

I blinked through a quick recall of the many conversations I’d had with the therapist. How much should I share? Therapy was private, even from family. Besides, what did it matter? Ben and Min should be on my side. Ben was my brother. I’d saved him many times from Mom’s wrath. Min took my money to work for me. They should back my play.

Only Ben was usually a good sounding board. He was logical. He was a successful businessman in his own right. Granted, I had more power and authority, but that was because Mom passed her legacy to me, but Ben had grown his success from a seedling to a full-blown success on his own. He refused to take my help. Mom never offered him help because she saw him as worthless.

He also had a better handle on the human psyche than I did. For the most part, I was a business machine. I operated as a machine, and machines weren’t programmed to care about feelings. They pressed forward toward a goal with no compassion for others.

Was that the problem? Was I treating Teela as a goal without concern for her feelings? But feelings were arbitrary and not really important in the grand scheme of things. Weren’t they?

No one had ever cared about my feelings. I’d turned out alright.

"She’s told me I have reasons to be concerned."

Ben said, "I’m willing to bet she’s said more than that."

"Of course she has, but the rest isn’t your business."

"King, call and have the detail taken off Teela. If you want her to leave you in peace, stop spying on her."

"I can’t do that."

"Then don’t blame her for what she does not. Come on, Min, let’s go."

"No, don’t go. Get me out of here."

"Call your attorney."

"I can’t. I don’t have the number, and I left my phone in the car."

Min gave me his phone. "I quit."

"What? You can’t quit without giving me notice."

"I can and I have. Ben needs my help with the clubs, and your actions are growing increasingly irrational. I won’t stay in a codependent relationship with you while you destroy your reputation and personal relationships."

Ben and Min left me sitting there holding Min’s phone. I was stunned. Min was as reliable as the sun rising every day. Had Teela threatened him to make him quit? The woman was capable of doing a lot of damage to a lot of people. It was one of the reasons she needed my protection. People that powerful made enemies, and she was just a woman. She couldn’t possibly protect herself.

Only she tended to surround herself with reliable and skilled people, like Jake and his crew. Like Min when he wasn’t working with me. Even Alec had some skills, and Eugene was a monster of authority who could break bones from a distance.

I sat in the interrogation room and reviewed what Ben and Min had said. The loneliness of the situation reminded me of the reflection room. Slowly but surely, everyone in my life was leaving me. At this rate, I would truly be alone soon.

Unless I could talk Teela into coming back. If she came back one more time, I knew for sure I could keep her. I’d make her see she was better off with me.

I’d show the therapist that we were a good fit. I’d show her I could keep her at my side. And I’d show Min I wasn’t irrational. I was capable of seeing all the possibilities no matter what others thought.