Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 171: The Fish Zane

"I’ll check the fish and give you a few minutes to think about it," Alec said. "Consider it carefully, but no pressure. If you aren’t ready, I’ll ask you again and again and again—as many times as it takes."

I nodded. "Go take care of your fish. He’s waiting."

Alec sat on the edge of the bed to pull on a pair of pants. The muscles in his back flexed and receded. Alec’s tiger seemed alive with the motion.

What would the tiger do? The tiger would take what he wanted—fight for it if necessary. And I wanted Alec. It was ridiculous to be fighting against him instead of with him.

I rushed to the closet. Now that I’d made a decision, I was eager to be on the way. Blush-colored blouse, cream skirt, nude pumps with gold trim. Matching lingerie set. I took my haul to the bathroom for a quick shower.

Alec had packed my toiletries and makeup and brought them to me for my stay in the hotel. You couldn’t tell from looking around the bathroom. A duplicate set awaited me here.

I was shampooing my hair when Alec joined me. His fingers were magic against my scalp. I could have stayed in the shower with him for days if things like life didn’t get in the way.

"You’ve decided?" Alec asked.

"I did."

"And?"

"How soon can you be dressed and ready to go?"

"Quicker than you."

"Try me."

We finished quickly and dressed. Fortunately, we owned two hairdryers, so we were evenly matched to win. Yes, I had makeup to put on, but Alec shaved and had a whole skincare routine that was somehow more complicated than mine. It was worth it, though.

On the way to the door, we paused long enough to introduce me to the fish officially.

"We still need to pick out a name. Any ideas?" Alec asked.

"Hm, Zane."

"Why Zane? He looks like a Zane."

Alec smiled. "Alright, our firstborn shall hence be named Zane. May he live long and prosper."

"Here, here."

We were in the car before I stopped Alec. "Wait."

"What’s up?"

"We forgot the tacos. Did you order them?"

Alec chuckled. "I did. I was so excited that I forgot."

"I don’t want tacos now."

"Me either," Alec said. "I know. I’ll call the doorman to stop the delivery. He can enjoy the tacos for us."

"Deal."

Ale made the call before we continued our journey.

"You know," I said. "I must be serious about marrying you if I’m willing to give up tacos and milk tea."

"It is a true sacrifice. I’ll make it up to you after the ceremony."

"Do you think they would let Father DiMarco perform the ceremony, I mean, if he’s available? It is spur of the moment."

"Check. If he is available, I’ll make it happen."

I made the call.

"Father DiMarco, are you free by chance?"

"For you, Teela, always, how can I help?"

"Alec and I are on the way to a wedding chapel. I was hoping you could meet us there and perform the ceremony. I know it’s last minute, but it would mean a lot to me. You are the closest thing I have to a father figure, and I always pictured you at our wedding."

"You don’t want to hold the wedding here? This is your home and your church."

"We will have a formal wedding for family and friends later. Right now is for us. We don’t even have a marriage certificate. This chapel is authorized to make the marriage legal onsite. One stop shopping, you might say."

"One-stop shopping infers you can pick up a groom or bride there as well."

"Oh, wouldn’t that be convenient? I could pick up a replacement if Alec backs out at the last moment."

Alec glanced over from his call to the chapel. "No one is replacing me. Is he available?"

I nodded.

Father DiMarco said. "I’ll be out the door in ten minutes. Don’t start without me."

"Should we invite anyone else?" Alec asked. "Dad and Estelle will be upset. My mom and Angie."

"We could, but if we invite them, I’d have to invite Stiff, Jake, and CK. The next thing you know, the whole reason for a formal ceremony is gone because all of our important people will be at our quicky wedding."

"True, but Angie can kick our ass."

"So can Jake. Maybe he will protect us from Angie."

"It would be interesting to see them on the mat against each other."

"I miss the mat. When can we start our daily workouts again?"

"Tomorrow. I’ve kept our timeslot booked. As much as possible, I keep up the schedule."

The chapel was everything you would expect from a fairytale chapel. It was a white building surrounded by a flower garden. Vines grew on trestles to each side of the picture windows. The walkway from the parking lot to the building was made of faded white, gray, and cream stones. A trickle of orchestra music wove from the chapel and down the garden path. The sweet scent of the flowers set the mood for romance.

I was so glad I’d dressed a little more upscale than jeans and a sweatshirt. Alec was dressed in dove-gray slacks that flowed along his long legs with every step. His hair was down, and his white silk shirt was unbuttoned at the color—a hint of his tattoos was visible through the lightweight fabric.

The rings. I didn’t think about the rings. The last I’d seen them, they were in the bureau in our bedroom. Dammit. Alec and Father DiMarco would have to wait for me to return and get them. This is what I deserved for rushing.

"I forgot the rings," I admitted. "I need to go back. Wait here."

I turned to rush back to the car, but Alec caught my hand. He pulled out a ring box from his slacks. "I’ve got you covered, Teela. Nothing is going to stop us this time."

I smiled. Alec had me covered—my dear, sweet Alec. I was a lucky girl.

Inside the chapel, a slender woman in a knee-length navy blue shift dress approached. "My name is Lizzie. You must be Alec and Teela. We are expecting you. Come this way."

She led us to a small office simply decorated with a conference table and four chairs. On the table, a white parchment with a scroll border awaited us, along with a loved mother-of-pearl pen.

This was it. This was the marriage certificate. When Alec and I signed this piece of paper, we were bound to each other legally. If I died, all my worldly possessions would be his and vice versa. If it didn’t work, there would be a record of our failure that everyone could see.

We’d have to go through a divorce and divide our possessions. Of course, Zane would go to Alec, but what if we had children? They would be heartbroken.

I imagined the end of our marriage before I’d ever signed the papers to start it. I felt the blood rush from my face, and nausea creep up from my stomach. How could I enter a marriage and imagine something so horrific as scarring my hypothetical children for life?

I know losing my parents scarred me.

I inched away from Alec as I tried not to freak out visibly. I wouldn’t back out. I wouldn’t. Not again. Only someone should tell me body because it was aching to run away.

Alec’s arms closed around me. He nuzzled my neck and whispered, "We don’t have to do this, Teela. If it is that hard to picture us happy together, we can walk away together. I’ll love you either way."

"I know. Give me a minute. I’ll be fine."

Probably, I told the truth. Right now, I was drowning with a mixed bag of thoughts from excitement to be entering this next stage of my life to regret that those same unconceived children would die at my hands because I was absolutely not capable of raising small people to adulthood to wishing I had on a formal wedding dress to wishing we were doing this on a beach somewhere.

The one thing that didn’t change through all of my ridiculously flighty thoughts is I wanted to do it all with Alec, whether I did it well or not, whether I failed as a wife and had to divorce or the children turned into demons from hell because of my poor parenting, Alec was there, with me, supporting, loving me, wanting me.

As long as Alec loved me and wanted me, the rest didn’t really matter, in a way. True, things like divorce and broken children were serious business, but with Alec would make it more palatable than without him.

I turned in Alec’s arms. "Kiss me. Kiss me like we are in this together."

And he did. Alec kissed me with all the passion I knew he had in him. His kiss infused me with courage and positivity. It made me sure I was making the right decision with the right man. Alec was right. We needed this. We needed this extra bond to affirm everything we had gone through and would go through in the future—together and in love.