Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 48: Min Visits Ben

Min said, "King hasn’t returned from the Heavenly Estate. Any word from Teela?"

Stiff said, "Nothing. I’ve been reviewing security footage. I have footage of three men taking Teela out of the building. Take a look."

The Crazy Code conference room was once again a beehive of activity, only this time, the mission was to locate and rescue Teela and now King, apparently.

Min said, "Yeah. They’re Lettie’s men."

"So, Lettie has her and possibly King," Bea said.

Stiff said, "Yes, or King colluded with Lettie to take Teela."

Min shook his head. "I don’t think so. He’s been pretty bitter toward his mother lately. She’s trying to insert herself back into the business."

"Do the Heavenlys have cameras in the house or just outside?"

"I don’t know much about the security at the estate. I never saw cameras inside."

"Good to know."

Stiff typed frantically. He had to find Teela. He was supposed to protect her, and he failed, miserably so. If anything bad happened to her, he would never forgive himself.

Father DiMarco brought him a coffee. "Don’t beat yourself up, son. There was nothing you could do. It was three against one."

"If I was Min or Jake, I could have stopped them," Stiff said.

"But you aren’t. You have your strengths, and they have theirs."

Bea said, "You’re going to taekwondo classes with us, Stiff, just as soon as Teela returns. We may never operate at Jake and Min’s level, but we can learn some basic self-defense."

Jake said, "Everyone should know some basic self-defense."

"Found it," Stiff announced.

Everyone gathered around to view the footage outside the Heavenly family home. They watched as King entered. Stiff fast-forwarded until three guys left. They were the same men who roughed him up and took Teela.

King never did exit, so they at least knew where to find him. Stiff went backward to find where the men entered the house. No Teela. Based on the timeline of when Teela disappeared and when the men entered the house, they concluded that Teela wasn’t being kept at the Heavenly Estate.

Jake said, "Ok, my men and I can track the muscle men and find out where they are keeping Teela. Min, can you get into the estate and find King? At least make sure he’s okay?"

"If he were okay, he’d be answering my calls."

"Good point."

Min said, "I doubt I can get into the house without King at my side, not without causing suspicions, but I know someone who can."

"Stiff, find those men. Give me a starting point," Jake said.

"On it."

Stiff was so thankful for the friend circle he’d stumbled into. A circle that centered around the love of his life, which proved what great taste he had in women. Now, if only he could manage to keep her by his side.

Min walked into Well Water and scanned the crowd for Ben. When he didn’t spot him, he headed upstairs to the office.

He paused before knocking at the door and took a deep, cleansing breath. Min was scared of few things, but his feelings for the youngest Heavenly brother terrified him.

Ben was out of his league and ten years younger than him. He was relatively innocent compared to everything Min had experienced over the years.

Min feared all the bad inside him would seep out and stain Ben. But that didn’t stop him from admiring a great beauty when he saw one or longing to hold him close.

Now, after all these years of keeping his distance from Ben to avoid soiling his good nature, Min was about to dump a load of shit on Ben’s doorstep and ask him to dig through it for the sake of King.

He raised his fist to knock when the door opened, and he was face to face with Ben.

"Ben."

"Min. Can I help you? Is King here?"

"Yes and no, he isn’t. That’s what I’m here about. Can we go inside?"

"Sure."

Ben moved to one side and let Min in.

Min felt like he could breathe again once he put a little distance between him and Ben. At the same time, the loneliness that he lived with on a daily basis intensified to the point of a low burning ache. He sat in the guest chair before Ben’s desk and waited for Ben to settle in his desk chair.

Ben said, "I don’t think you’ve ever come to see me alone. You’re always King’s shadow."

"Something’s come up. I need your help. More importantly, King needs you."

"Min, you’re scaring me. What has happened?"

Min backed up to the beginning, back before Teela left the Heavenly household. He told the story of the abuse, the neglected. He told the story of the loneliness and the humiliation. It was important that Ben saw the big picture of how warped Lettie’s behavior really was.

He then covered Lettie’s threat against King. Either King would leave Teela and return to the fold as the obedient son, or Lettie would take the company back. And then he proceeded to Teela’s kidnapping and King’s disappearance.

Ben’s face blanched. "I don’t know what I can do. Mom won’t listen to me. No one ever listens to me. Never have."

"Not even King?"

"No, King is different. Teela, too, for that matter, not that I had much to do with her. Mom made it clear from early on that Teela’s a persona non grata."

"Then help us."

"What do you need me to do?"

"I need to you to go home and find out what happened to King. He hasn’t been seen since he entered the estate. He isn’t picking up my calls, and we know the same men who kidnapped Teela work for your mom. They were seen exiting the house after King entered."

"Mom would never do anything to King. He’s her favorite."

"Are you sure?"

Ben paused to think about it. "No, I’m not. Okay, give me a few minutes to arrange coverage here. I’ll head home, but it will likely be morning before I can talk to Mom or King if he’s there."

Min said, "Ben, take this seriously. I’ve covered the basics, but I have firsthand knowledge that Lettie and Daniel are dangerous. You might be family, but if they decide you’re a threat or you openly defy them, you could face the same fate as King and Teela.

"Just do the recon for us and report back to me. I’ll take care of the heavy lifting. Promise me."

"I promise, Min. I know more about Mom than you give me credit. I’m the youngest of four kids. I’m the invisible kid. Always have been. When you’re invisible, people forget you’re in the room. They say things. Do things that they wouldn’t want anyone to know about."

"Then, when we’ve rescued King, let’s talk. I think it’s time your mom gets what’s coming to her. Do you understand my drift?"

Ben nodded. "Maybe so. I don’t know. All I know is my skin crawls when I’m in that place. I’ve done everything I can to stay away. I’m thinking of selling this place and finishing my doctoral overseas. Anything to keep distance between me and the family."

Min spoke without thought, a lump forming in his throat. "Don’t go."

"Why? No one here would care. Probably wouldn’t even notice for the first six months."

"I would."

"Oh," Ben said, and then realization sat in. "Oh, I didn’t realize. You never, I mean it’s unexpected."

Min started backtracking. "I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. It’s just you’re unforgettable and so different than the rest of your family. It would be a shame to see them run you off."

"Oh, for a second there, I thought that you," Ben pointed a finger from Min to himself, "might be attracted to me, but yeah, I guess a guy like you, um, yeah. Sorry. My bad."

Ben’s face reddened, and Min felt even worse. There was a reason it didn’t say much around strangers usually. He always managed to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, only it was the right thing this time, especially if Ben planned to leave.

"Don’t apologize. It’s not that I don’t find you attractive, but it’s just—" Min cleared his throat. "There’s no way for me to get out of this conversation without making you uncomfortable, is there?"

"No."

"Then can we table it, if you want, until after we’re sure King is alright?"

Ben visibly swallowed. "I think I’d like that."

Min left the office and stopped outside. Leaning against the wall, he rolled his eyes to the ceiling. That hadn’t gone anywhere near the way he had pictured in his head. This visit was supposed to be about King. How had it ended up as an unintentional declaration of interest?

What surprised him the most was Ben seemed interested. The beautiful, wealthy man had at least a passing interest in him, a street rat orphan who worked for his brother.

But what would King say?