Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 164: The Morning After

I stretched across the bed, reaching for Alec, but I was coming up empty. I cracked an eye open, confirming the bed was a vast wasteland of crumpled covers.

"Alec," I called out.

Nothing.

True to his word, Alec had left before I awoke.

I wanted to cry.

Later. It could wait until later. I had work to do, and the longer I took to do it, the more time I’d promised to spend with King. The more reason Alec would have to doubt me. The longer it would take for him to trust me. The longer it would take for us to find our happily ever after.

It’s strange how that works. One event leads to another, which leads to another. I wondered how many other chain reactions in my life had led to me waking up in this bed, naked, body aching in a good way, and starving.

I could really go for a waffle, fresh fruit, and maybe a couple of slices of bacon. Like magic, there was a knock at the door. I threw on a robe and answered the door. A hotel employee brought in a cart. A rose and a note card lay on top of the cart. The card read Sweets for my sweet. Under the cloche, a waffle and fruit awaited me. Instead of bacon, a thick slice of ham accompanied the waffle.

I was flexible. I could enjoy ham instead of bacon.

I texted Alec a quick thank you. This was a good way to start my day.

An hour later, I was at the office. My luck held out. There was no sign of King. I was tempted to reach out and make sure he was okay and off the drugs.

If King really needed help, Joshua should be able to help either directly or by referring King to a specialist. I hoped it didn’t come to that.

I headed straight for Stiff’s office while Wyla drove off to resign from her current job.

Good for me. I had an assistant and a new female friend. I needed both.

I plopped down in a chair without waiting for an invitation. "What will it cost me to hire you and CK for twenty-four hours?"

"Is this King related?" Stiff asked.

"I’m under a vow of confidentiality, but let’s say it isn’t."

"I see through you, Teela. This is all about King. What has he gotten you into now?"

"He didn’t get me into anything new."

"So it is old news."

"I never said it had anything to do with King."

Stiff sighed. "You didn’t have to. I know you too well, and he is your latest project. Until you’ve put him to right, nothing else will really matter."

"Regardless of what you think you know, I promised to keep this project’s source to myself, and you are ignoring my original question."

"Hm, I’m sure I’ll think of something later on for myself. CK will be your faithful minion for the rest of his life after you saved his brother. What is it you need?"

I filled him in on the medication debacle sans the patient’s name. "I need a chemical breakdown of these." I handed him a baggy with a couple of the pills inside. "And a specialist to tell us what those chemicals might treat, side effects, manufacturer, and anything else that a well-informed person should know before taking them. Oh, normal dosage. Definitely need to know that."

"Wouldn’t Alec be the best one to locate said analysis and specialist, considering his contacts in the medical field?"

"I don’t know if he’d be willing to help with this project."

"Because it is related to King? Alec is a bigger man than that, and he will do anything for you, kind of like CK and me. For that matter, Joshua is a doctor. He should be able to help."

"Dammit, Stiff. Stop making sense. Then, can you do a deep dive into this woman? I need to know everything you can find out about her." I handed him a business card for King’s therapist."

"Isn’t that the same woman you saw with King?"

"It is. Pure coincidence."

"Sure it is. You know you can be honest with me. I don’t talk to King unless I have to, so there is no way it will get back to him that I know his secrets. Well, this secret. I’m ass deep in on so many of the Heavenly secrets already."

"Stiff, please play along so I can say I kept my promise."

"Okay. I will, but Tee, I researched the good therapist way back then."

"Why?"

"Do you seriously think I’d let anyone mess with your head that I’ve not thoroughly vetted?"

"Stiff, you do realize that was also an invasion of my privacy. That doesn’t make you any better than King."

"I never said I was. Then again, I never used the information I’ve learned about you over the years to harass your boyfriend, not that it hasn’t occurred to me."

"I hate you sometimes, Stiff."

Stiff gave me his best viperous smile. "Back at you, Tee. But our overwhelming love for each other and years of devotion kind of cancels the hate out, don’t you think?"

"Most days," I grumbled.

"Would you like to know what I found out?"

"Generally, when I ask for a background check, I want to know the results. It seems to be the most constructive means to an end."

"Smart ass."

"Back at you."

"You are in a better mood today," Stiff said. "I take it you and Alec spent some quality time resolving your differences?"

"I wouldn’t say we resolved anything." That was true enough. Sex might feel great, but it seldom resolved anything but physical need.

Stiff chuckled. "Got it. Too busy to talk. Well, anyway, glad to see the playful Teela back."

"Thanks. What did you learn?"

"Nothing spectacular. Degree from a prestigious school. Stellar reputation. Remarkable client recommendations. Exactly what I would expect from anyone King would hire."

"Is there a but in there because I’m not hearing anything useful."

"But nothing. On the surface, she is an effective, ethical person who spends her time helping people feel better about themselves."

That was my impression of the woman, but that didn’t explain why her patient history for King didn’t mention the medication she was feeding him.

"Stiff, why would a therapist prescribe medication and not notate it in the patient history?"

"Is that what happened?"

"That’s a good question."

"I thought so."

"Let me dig deeper, Teela. Now I’m curious as well."

"In the meantime, I think I will make an appointment. I want to see what she says."

"Do you think that is a good idea?" Stiff asked.

"Probably not, but that has never stopped me before."

"I don’t like it when you put yourself out there."

"I know. Do you have a better idea?" 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Hell, I don’t know. I guess I could go. Maybe she could help me with my daddy issues."

"You aren’t tied to King. I’d have a better chance of learning something."

"Could you go with Alec? If you’re staying in a hotel, you’ve obviously got issues to work out."

"Who said I’m staying at a hotel?"

"Everyone knows it."

Dang, the office mill was good. How many people were stalking me? More importantly, what in the world did I do that was so interesting?

I shook my head in amazement. "People really don’t have enough to do."

Stiff said, "It doesn’t matter how much work they have. They’ll make time for gossip."

I didn’t get it. Maybe because I never had many friends, and those I did have were mostly guys who’d rather be gaming than gossiping.

Wyla messaged me.

Wyla: I’ve handed in my resignation. Boss has got my schedule covered. I can start working for you today.

Teela: Sounds good. Come back to the office. I’ll notify HR to expect you.

I called the therapist to schedule an appointment. Because she’d seen me before, Dr. Pacer fit me into a cancellation slot for the next day. I’d take Wyla with me, and if I needed to, I’d add Alec into the equation if being a part of a couple would somehow benefit me.

I had no idea how this would go down. Therapists were notoriously known for maintaining patient privacy. Just going in and discussing King wasn’t likely to gain me any knowledge. I needed a plan, but I had no idea where to start.

It made sense that the first few sessions wouldn’t go anywhere while Stiff went deep diving. Stiff was terrific at digging up secrets that no one knew. If anyone could find a productive in, it would be Stiff. In the meantime, King would happily enjoy the nightly dinner dates in the interim.

Right now, though, I needed to chat with human resources. I had no idea what the going salary was for an assistant who would be on call pretty much at any hour. I wanted to make sure Wyla received top pay and full benefits from the word go. I’d asked her to leave a job she enjoyed to babysit my ass. She deserved premium rewards, and when Wyla arrived, weighed down with snacks and drinks for the entire office, I had a feeling no one would disagree with my assessment of her worth.