Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 40: Dinner with King

How to answer that? I didn’t want to lie. On the other hand, there was no way I was willing to allow him into my world. Not anymore. So, I skirted the truth.

"If I knew anything definitive, I’d tell you."

"Did you see something on the internet? Something my people should investigate before it becomes a public relations nightmare?"

"Nothing like that. Can we go now? I want to take Bea home and put her to bed. We have a busy day tomorrow."

"You could stay and have dinner with me."

"I wouldn’t dare. I know you’re expected home for dinner."

"I moved out."

"Oh."

"Have dinner with me, Teela."

"We were finishing our meal when Ben interrupted us."

"Send the playboy home with Bea. Stay and keep me company. I’ll count it as our lunch tomorrow."

"Can’t Ben keep you company?"

"He’s got somewhere to be, don’t you, Ben?"

Ben looked like a deer in the headlights. "Oh, right. I’m needed at the bar. I’ve got to rehire some wayward employees. Isn’t that right, Teela?"

"You’ll rehire them? Really? Thank you so much, Ben. I feel so relieved knowing I didn’t cost them their jobs."

I gave in to the urge to hug my brother-in-law while King and Stiff both glared at the show of affection. Too bad.

"It’s the least I can do for my favorite sister-in-law."

"You should go now, right?" King said.

"Yeah, sure," Ben said. "Hey, do you need any help with Bea before I go?"

Stiff said, "I’m not leaving without Teela unless she tells me. And I’ve got my guys to help with Bea. We’re good."

"Got you. I’ll be going then." Ben said goodbye and left with his men in tow.

Stiff asked, "What about it, Teela? Are you coming with us?"

I didn’t want to stay, but I also wanted that pass on lunch tomorrow. Geez, I needed to make some big money quickly. The sooner I hired an attorney, the sooner I could file for divorce and permanently rid myself of the Heavenly family.

I asked, "King, do you promise I can go to my home after and sleep in my bed? No last-minute kidnapping like last time?"

"I promise."

"Then, I’ll stay."

Stiff nodded. "Call if you need me."

Once he left with Bea and the entourage, King sent away Min as well. We were truly alone.

And I had absolutely no idea where to go from there. I sat on the opposite side of the table from King. I opened a water bottle and took a sip to have something to do.

King didn’t help matters. He sat across the table, quietly observing me.

"Didn’t you want dinner?"

"Yes."

"I’ll go find a server, I guess, to take your order."

"No need."

So, I drank the water.

King watched me.

It didn’t take long before I was twitching in my seat. This was unnerving. What did King expect from me? A confession?

"If you’re not ordering dinner, I’m leaving. It’s been a long day, and this is unnerving."

"Why?"

"Why to which part?"

"Why is it unnerving?"

"You’re just sitting there staring at me. I don’t know what you expect from me."

"You’re a beautiful woman. Why wouldn’t I look?"

King Heavenly just said I was beautiful. What was I supposed to do with that? King, in general, was unnerving, but this new King kept saying and doing things I wasn’t expecting was ten times more confusing.

"I don’t know. You never looked before."

"I looked."

"Then why didn’t you say anything."

"I don’t talk much."

"I noticed."

"It never bothered you before."

Before, he could have done anything. I wouldn’t have cared. I was so busy trying to make him happy that what I felt didn’t matter. I think I truly fell in love with King while we were dating. But now, well, that love was dead or, at the very least, in deep hibernation.

"It did. I just didn’t say anything about it."

"You should speak up."

"King, even when I do speak up, you don’t listen."

"Yes."

"Then why am I here? I told you I wanted to go home, but you forced the issue for me to stay. I told you I wanted a divorce, but you bullied me into not only therapy but daily meals and workouts. The same went for when you kidnapped me. I asked to go home, and you forced me back to the Heavenly estate. I ended up in the hospital. When has speaking up ever helped me when it comes to you or your family?"

A grin teased King’s lips. "Didn’t Ben rehire the employees who helped you escape his nightclub?"

I blinked back a scream. "Well, King, you’ve got me there. I’m the big winner. Ben rehired seasoned servers who can help him build his business. But I’m the winner."

Min tapped at the room door before coming in with a box. The box contained dinner for two. The dinner consisted of roast beef, baby carrots, and potatoes. Dinner salads and rolls completed the meal. It smelled divine.

Min served our meals and left as quietly as he came. Once again, King and I were alone together. At least this time, the focus was off me and on King as he enjoyed his meal while I ignored mine. Yeah, it was a bit passive-aggressive. I could have picked at the meal and pretended to eat, but it pissed me off that they served me a meal after I specifically told King I had just eaten.

The minute King finished his last bite, I was ready to leave.

"Can I go now?"

King sighed. "I’ll take you home."

"My car is outside."

"You’ve been drinking."

"I had one beer well over an hour ago. I think I’m fine."

"I’d feel better if you let me drive you home."

"What did we just talk about?"

"Right, respecting your wishes. I get it."

King watched Teela leave. She was holding something back. He wished she would open up to him, but he couldn’t force it. Well, he could, but he didn’t think it would do any good. The playboy was right. She was her own woman, and the longer she was away from him, the more independent she became.

It worried him that Bea was spilling family secrets in public. If Ben hadn’t run into them, there was no telling what that woman would have said within the hearing of others.

King didn’t like Bea from day one. He didn’t like her any better now. While he promised Teela to leave Bea alone, he was sorely tempted to go back on his promise and run the woman out of town.

Then again, there may be a better way to handle the woman. King had promised he would leave Bea alone. He didn’t say anything about his business partners. He could also use the contract with Night Shadows to dig deeper into Crazy Code’s systems. Perhaps Bea had some secrets that he could hold over her head and pressure her to close herself down and move on.

King’s phone rang. It was Daniel.

"Where are you?" Daniel asked.

"Dinner. What’s up?"

"You need to come home. Mom had a meltdown at the table tonight. She’s ready to drum you out of the CEO position."

"She can’t. I’m the majority shareholder."

"She’s asking me and Joshua to give her our shares."

"You sold your shares to me."

"Yeah, but we didn’t tell her. If she forces the issues, we’ll need our shares back."

"You’re serious? You expect me to give you the ammunition to oust me from my position."

"Yeah, dude. I guess I am. We can’t tell Mom we sold you the company behind her back."

King could only shake his head and marvel at the idiocy of the situation. He was a big believer in supporting family, and he took his position seriously. After all those years of Mom working day and night to support her four boys, King was honored to take up the mantle and allow her to rest and enjoy her retirement. He’d put his heart and soul into not only maintaining the conglomerate but growing it.

Now Mom wanted to take it all away from King not because he was doing a shitty job, but because she disapproved of his choice of spouses. It would be heart wrenching, if King still had a heart. He was pretty sure Mom destroyed his during his formative years.

Where was family loyalty supposed to end, and where should personal survival begin? Technically, King could cut off the family financially. He knew his mom had a healthy portfolio. It wouldn’t hurt her financially, but it would devastate her personally.

His brothers were a different story, especially for Daniel who worked for the company. If Mom wanted to play hardball, King had no choice but to go up against her. If he backed down even an inch, she would lose all respect for him and destroy him. He would have to fire Daniel and cut off all financial support to the family.

"Daniel, you know my answer, right?"