Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 179: Aftermath

Alec

I was so proud of Teela. I knew her well enough to see the signs of how much what she witnessed was affecting her. It was in the crescent nail marks in her palms and the stiff set of her spine. I could tell by how she held her attention on Dot and the way she’d stared at Joshua’s mangled hands.

But the moment we left Eugene to add his expertise to the operation, she had faltered. If my arm around her shoulders hadn’t held her up, she would have collapsed. I knew this would happen. But who was I? Just the man sharing her bed and dreaming of sharing the rest of her life with her.

I scooped her up in my arms and carried her back to my office, kicking the door shut behind me. My patience with this whole situation was about worn out. Lying Teela on the couch and covering her with a throw blanket, I straightened and practiced cleansing breathing as I watched her sleep. She should be home in my bed rather than handling messy business like this, especially someone like King, who had hurt her so many times.

Shaking my head, I went to my desk and pulled a bottle of bourbon out of the bottom drawer. I grabbed my water glass and dumped the contents into a nearby potted plant. I poured a healthy two fingers of the liquor into the glass and downed it in one swallow. It burned on the way down, but it effectively washed away the stench of that torture chamber from my senses.

I tried so hard to be a good guy for Teela, but days like we’d had recently made it hard to press down the demon urges that I’d inherited from my dad. The difference between me and him was I was determined not to become a sadistic beast like him where he gave into his urges.

I would not become my dad. Not even for Teela.

I poured another glass and downed it before picking up the phone and calling the lab.

"Dr. Samuel, where are you on an antidote for Heavenly?"

I wanted King healthy again, but for different reasons than Teela. Teela felt an obligation toward her ex-husband. I wanted him to disappear from our world and back into his, where he could spend all his waking hours making money for a toxic family that was slowly destroying itself while Teela and I would live in love.

"Close. We have defined the chemistry of the original drug and are now down to determining the final few elements needed to concoct a trial drug."

"How long?"

"You know I can’t tell you that, Alec. We are creating something from little more than nothing here. It takes time and test trials to create something reasonably safe for human consumption."

At this point, I didn’t care if it was safe. I wanted the man out of Teela’s life.

Teela moaned and rolled over in her sleep, her back now to me. She should be home in my bed. I should be spending my time off work making her feel so good that she wouldn’t dare leave me.

Dad called.

Eugene said, "It’s done. My men will clean up the evidence."

"Did Dot tell you anything?"

"Yeah, this was all part of Lettie’s mess. She forced the girl to abort a baby. The sisters had a dream diary online. Purely fiction from what I gather. It detailed a torrid romance between the girls and King. Lettie wouldn’t believe it wasn’t real, so when Dot showed up pregnant, she jumped to the conclusion it was King’s.

"King isn’t innocent in this either. I guess she tried to contact him for help with Lettie. He ignored her."

I said, "But if he didn’t have a relationship with her, why would he?"

Eugene said, "The baby daddy was one of King’s teammates. She got pregnant at a party King hosted. He was the team captain, so in her head, he had a responsibility to help her keep the baby.

"Alec, I doubt the girl was in her right mind to begin with, and over the years, her condition probably deteriorated with each tragedy she encountered. It happens."

I asked, "What do I tell Teela about what happened to Joshua and Dot?"

"Teela is a good girl," Eugene said. "She’s going to want to believe any story you tell her that doesn’t end in their death."

"True, and it will be easy to explain Dot’s disappearance, but what about Joshua?"

Eugene suggested, "Tell her he is going into rehab for his hands and then shipping off to work for Doctors Without Borders, since he can’t win against King. If King recovers, it would be natural to assume he would want revenge."

What Dad said made sense. But why did I have to be the person to lie to Teela? I hated tainting our relationship with lies, even if they were for her own good.

I took another drink, then joined Teela on the couch. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept with my arms around her. It felt like forever.

Teela’s body curled into mine as I relaxed, praying she slept for at least a couple of hours. The couple of hours were only a dream, though. Half an hour later, Teela’s phone rang. I pulled the phone from her pocket and eased off the couch to answer it across the room.

As soon as I answered, Stiff went off. "Teela, get online now. The next round of cyberattacks has hit."

I said, "Teela is sleeping. Can you communicate with the attackers? Let them know their backers are no more."

"Alec? Is that you?"

"Yeah. Dot and Joshua won’t be paying for any more attacks now or in the future."

For a second, I thought the call had disconnected.

Stiff said, "Okay, I think I’ve got this, as long as Dot and Joshua were behind it. Keep Teela near the phone, though. If someone else is backing this attack, you’ll want her onboard. They’re going after you, too, Alec."

Right then, I didn’t care nearly as much as I should. As long as Teela was safe, the rest didn’t matter. I could always rebuild.

Teela rolled toward me and opened her eyes as I ended the call.

"How are you?" I asked.

Teela nodded. "Tired. Was that Stiff?"

I filled her in on our conversation.

"I trust Stiff," Teela said.

"Ready to go home?"

"There’s a cafeteria downstairs? I could use some breakfast while we give Stiff a chance."

"Whatever you want."

I arranged breakfast while Teela used my private bathroom to clean up. By the time my secretary brought in two orders of bacon and eggs with fresh fruit and coffee, Teela had returned. She didn’t look any better than she had before she went into the bathroom. Dark circles rimmed her eyes, and her complexion lacked the healthy glow I was accustomed to seeing it. I was tempted to kiss color back into her pale lips, but this wasn’t the time.

As I finished the food on plate while watching Teela mostly just push around what was on her plate, I asked, "Are you ready to go home?"

Teela nodded. "Let me check in on Stiff and King, and I’ll be ready to go."

I frowned. Why were there always so many others on her mind before she made time for me? My disapproval must have shown on my face.

Teela said, "Don’t look at me like that. I’m finish up old business. Speaking of old business. What happened to Joshua and Dot."

I forgot to breathe for a moment. I didn’t want lie to her.

"You’re thinking about whether to lie to me or tell the truth, aren’t you?" Teela asked.

She knew me too well.

"You know we left Dad in charge, right? He called earlier. He said to tell you the matter is settled."

I fed her the story Dad fed me, being careful not to embellish with whether I thought the story was real or not. I left it totally up to Teela to decide what she needed to make peace with what had been done. Dad was right. It had to be done. As crazy as Dot was and as much damage as our people had done to her and Joshua, there was no way we could trust the police to lock Dot so far away that she could never harm Teela again.

Teela would always be my first priority.

Teela’s look of incredulity told me everything I needed to know. She didn’t believe the story I’d fed her any more than I did. The fact she picked up the phone and made her check in on Stiff and King without comment told me she didn’t intend to pursue the proof. At least not now.

I was fine with that. She needed a chance to heal to get through a few rounds of the nightmares and to sweat out the guilt and regret before she would be ready to handle more. In the meantime, I’d be there for her, forever ready to be her rock for as long as she would have me.