Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 29: Surprise Awakening

It hurt when King threw me over his shoulder and carried me from the car to the house. Lettie was waiting for us.

"You’re not bringing that woman back into this house."

"Mom, this is my home. Teela is my wife. I’m bringing her home."

"I forbid it."

Maybe Lettie would save me from whatever was awaiting me inside. Maybe for the first time in a long time, I had a reason to be thankful to this woman.

King nodded. "Alright. But, Mom, if Teela isn’t welcome here, neither am I. I’m moving out.

"You’d abandon me for this ungrateful woman?"

"Abandon you? In a mansion, surrounded by the rest of the family and all the servants you want? Yeah, Mom, I don’t feel bad leaving a healthy woman capable of building an empire with that kind of support.

"Now, are you getting out of my way, or are we leaving?"

Lettie stuttered, but no actual words came out. She took her time, but she did move out of the way.

"Lettie, no. I don’t want to come back. Don’t let him take me inside."

The blood rushed to my head as I twisted enough to see Lettie glare at me. She might have let me in that house, but that glare told me I would pay for it the second King’s back was turned.

In no time, we were upstairs in our bedroom. King sat me down on the edge of the bed and caught his breath as he assessed me.

"If I let you go, are you going to behave?"

I responded by screaming out my frustrations at the top of my lungs. If I wasn’t going to have a good night, no one would.

King slapped a hand over my mouth as he bore me back until I was flat on the bed with King’s body weighing me down. He was big enough that with my hands and feet bound, I couldn’t move, couldn’t fight back. I struggled to breathe. For a moment, I thought he might forget the family’s rule against physical violence and strike me, but he restrained himself.

"Teela, please. Just give me a chance to make things right."

I shook my head in dissent, so he maintained his position until I finally relaxed and closed my eyes, ready to put up with whatever came next if it meant getting out of here soon.

King eased some of his weight off me and relaxed the hand on my mouth. By degrees, he moved his hand from my mouth as he judged whether I would scream again.

When I didn’t move to yell, he rolled to one side, allowing me to take a deep breath for what felt like the first time in a long time.

"Alright. Good," King said. "I’m going to untie you so you can get ready for bed. I’m tired. You must be tired. We should sleep. You can sleep next to me, right?"

No. There was no way I could sleep next to anyone at this moment. My senses were on high alert. The last thing I wanted was sleep.

When I didn’t answer, King took that as an affirmative and untied me. I sat up and rubbed the feeling about into my red wrists. There would be no denying to anyone that I’d been tied up for several days.

King locked the bedroom door. "Get ready for bed."

I nodded and retrieved a T-shirt and shorts to sleep in. All of the clothes I’d left behind remained untouched. Slipping into the bathroom, I turned on the shower but didn’t get in immediately. Instead, I looked in the mirror at my tear-streaked face and smeared lipstick.

It was only then that I realized I didn’t have my backpack, phone, or wallet. I couldn’t call for help. However, I could wait for King to sleep and try to slip out. I couldn’t see Lettie stopping me from leaving, and I hadn’t heard King instructing security to detain me. It was my next best option.

Only King was ready for me when I came out. He had already changed into pajama bottoms and had a robe belt in his hands.

"I know you think you can leave when I fall asleep. It isn’t happening. There’s a guard posted outside the door, and we’ll be tethered. Sorry. I didn’t want it to be like this."

I frowned as he took my hand and tied one end of the belt to my wrist. I winched as the terry cloth tightened over the already bruised skin.

"Sorry. It’s just for one night. I’ll come up with a better plan tomorrow."

He fastened the other end of the belt to his wrist. There wasn’t a lot of distance separating us, and the tether complicated getting back on the bed and tucked in under the covers, but we managed.

Normally, I’d roll to my right side to sleep, but with the tether, that wasn’t possible without King’s cooperation. I wasn’t about to ask for it.

I was surprised when I didn’t have to. King suggested it, and then he was holding me gently in his arms with his alcohol-flavored breath brushing against the back of my neck.

How many nights had I laid in this very spot, aching to have King hold me exactly like this? It broke my heart that it was happening now and in this way when I was a prisoner. I’d dreamed of turning in his arms and snuggling against him. Instead, I was a rigid ironing board hugging the edge of the bed, waiting for the night to turn into day so I could see what came next.

At some point, I must have dozed because the next thing I knew, I woke up to a cold water splash. I snapped up. Lettie stood at the foot of the bed with an empty water pitcher. King was gone.

"You know the rules. Get your lazy ass out of bed and downstairs to the kitchen. The family is waiting for breakfast."

Lettie turned on her heels and walked out, leaving me standing there shivering and wet. The soggy robe tie dangled from my wrist.

"So much for dealing with your mother," I muttered as I gathered clothes to change into.

Stiff

Jake, Bea, and Father DiMarco sat at the church dining table drinking coffee as Stiff tapped away on the keyboard.

Stiff narrated as he typed. "I hacked into the Uber database and found the trip logs. Teela went to The Trigger last night. The driver appeared to have waited for her then. Oh shit."

He stopped keying.

"The driver took her to the Heavenly Estate."

Bea said, "King must have tricked or threatened her into going back."

Father DiMarco said, "Can’t we just drive over there and check on her? The Heavenlys may be wealthy, but they wouldn’t hold her hostage. We could check on her. Make sure it is her decision."

Bea said, "She disappeared for three years last time. I’m not ready to take that chance."

"At least let me try," Father DiMarco said.

"I’ll destroy them," Stiff said.

Father DiMarco patted his arm. "Let’s call that Plan B."

Jake said, "Plan C. I’ll take care of Plan B."

"What is Plan B?" Bea asked.

Jake finished his coffee. "I specialize in covert extraction."

He took his empty coffee cup to the kitchen.

Teela

I took the platters of pancakes and breakfast meats to the dining room. The family gathering was smaller today. Maylean and the twins were missing. So was Ben and King. Anya was there with a smirk on her lips. Her red-tipped fingernails glistened with glitter. Joshua looked as if he was embarrassed to be there.

I was relieved the little ones weren’t there.

Once all the food had been served, I asked, "Is there anything else?"

Lettie motioned toward my usual seat. "Sit. Eat."

Anya added, "You’ll need it."

I froze.

"Stop standing there like a deer in headlights. Sit." Lettie insisted. "Joshua has to get to the hospital as soon as he’s done giving you your treatments?"

"Treatments? As in plural?"

"You’ve been whoring around outside. I can’t let you bring back anything that might infect my son, so on top of the hormone injection, you’ll be dosed with meds to prevent you from transmitting STDs."

Anya added, "Just to be safe, a medical abortion, too. Isn’t that right, Mother?"

I started backing up. "I’m not pregnant. I’ve not been with anyone."

"We can start with a pregnancy test. If she’s not pregnant, there is no reason to put her through an abortion," Josh suggested.

"You know a pregnancy test isn’t accurate this soon," Anya said.

I kept backing toward the kitchen and the backdoor.

"Guards!" Lettie called out. "Help Teela find her seat at the table. Someone give her some food."

Two guards appeared and escorted me to my seat. A plate of pancakes was set in front of me.

"Eat your food, Teela," Lettie said as she took a mouthful of eggs.

I had no silverware, even though I knew I set the table fully. I didn’t let that stop me. I tore a piece from one of the pancakes, shoved it in my mouth, and chewed for sure I’d never be able to swallow it.