Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 50: In the Void

My mouth was dry. It felt like my throat would glue shut if I didn’t hydrate and soon. I crawled toward the water while fanning my hands across the floor as I closed in to where I thought the supplies were left.

The dark, the music, and the cold still pounded at me. I had no idea how long I’d been left in the dark. It felt like a long time. It could have been minutes.

My hands hit a water bottle. It toppled into the other bottles. Down went more bottles. I heard them rolling across the floor, but I managed to save two.

My fingers were numb from the cold. I struggled to open the bottle. I finally broke down and used my teeth to unscrew the cap.

The water was cold and welcoming. I fought back the urge to gulp it down because I knew I’d regret it if did. When I judged I’d finished half the bottle, I recapped the bottle.

I knew better than to sit the bottle down. In the dark, I could lose it again. Instead, I swept as many of my supplies as I could find into a corner. I built a barrack from the granola bars to corral the water bottles.

Now, I could always follow the walls back to hydration, at least until I emptied the bottles.

I wondered how long ago it had been when I suffered from insomnia and went off on King. Now, I had all the time in the world to sleep with no excuse not to sleep and no possible distractions beyond environmental except for the one huge one—monkey brain still had me firmly in its grip.

I hoped Stiff was okay. I had no doubt he would have protected me if he could. If he was injured because of me, I’d never forgive myself.

I had faith that if he were okay, he would work with the team to find me. I had to hold onto that truth to survive, that and the pure obstinance that no matter what, I didn’t want Lettie to win. If I died, that was a surefire win for that awful woman.

Survival was paramount, It would be ridiculous to die now after I’d escaped the Heavenly household but apparently not the Heavenly family. With their money and power, I’d never be able to escape them permanently. They could do exactly what they did this time and pick me up whenever they wanted. I’d never be free, not unless I destroyed them financially and publicly.

"Mom, I miss you."

My voice was lost under the weight of the heavy metal bass and drums, but it felt life-affirming to speak.

"I’ve gotten myself into trouble. It would be so easy to blame you for it, but I won’t. After all, you introduced me to King. And you sold me to him under the guise of marriage.

"I won’t blame you, though, because I’m an adult. I could have said no at any time. It isn’t your fault I waited so long.

"And it isn’t your fault Lettie hates me."

My butt hurt from sitting on the floor for so long. I paced the room, running my right hand along the cold mirrored glass. It stabilized me to have structure in the sea of chaos.

It was unnerving to find the rough texture of the door after so much smooth glass. I couldn’t help but try the door handle, even though I knew it would be locked. I pressed my ear to the door, hoping I’d hear signs of life, but the music was too loud, the door too solid.

I wondered how many taekwondo lessons it would take before I could kick down the door. I mean, I knew taekwondo students broke boards and busted cinderblocks. That had to translate into breaking down doors.

"Mom, I’m weak now, but I will grow stronger. I promise. As soon as I leave here, I’ll exercise my mind and body until no one can do this to me again."

I continued my trip around the room. One more trip around, and I settled down again. Still no chance of sleep even though my brain was foggy and my eyelids drooped.

"If King is behind this, I’ll destroy him, no matter whether he is involved in the disappearance of Drake and Davon or not. If he tries to stop me from taking down his mom down, he is done for.

"Mom, I know you liked King, but he’s let me down in so many ways. He’s either the most oblivious man on Earth, or he lacks a heart. And every time he gives me a glimmer of hope that he might be turning some proverbial corner and finding his humanity, something horrendous like this stupid kidnapping happens, and I’m back to ground zero with him.

"I truly believed marriage should be forever. I was willing to do whatever it took to compromise, to change myself, and be forgiving of the shortcomings of others, but it wasn’t enough. Now I don’t know what I believe because how can marriage be forever if I’m willing to give up and walk away?"

I must have dozed for a bit because I awoke trying to extract warmth from the mirror. However, I was so cold that not much had transferred to the glass. I had to move to increase my circulation and survive, but standing felt like too much work, so I went to rubbing my bare skin with frozen fingers.

Tears rolled down my face. Terrific. Just what I needed. The tears were warm for a second but cooled quickly into slivers. I caught some on the tip of my tongue. After all, tears were water, and I needed water almost as much as I needed heat.

I was going to die here. Wherever here was. I’d be alone and miserable, and the Heavenlys would once again get away with destroying a life. And there wasn’t a goddamn thing I could do about it.

I was a weak, miserable waste of space. Lettie was right to keep me away from her son. Only why did she keep pulling me back in when all I wanted to do was run away and never see any of the Heavenlys ever again, particularly her son.

Maybe it had nothing to do with King. Maybe I exuded some special scent that made me irresistible to predators like Lettie. I’d love to spend time alone with her and a truth detector. I’d like to know what it was that made me such a good victim. Or did Lettie know? And then, I’d like to know how many victims Lettie had left in her wake. Lastly, I wondered how she lived with herself. How she condoned her behavior as she preached high morals to her family and fans.

"Damn you, Lettie Heavenly! Go to hell!" I screamed into the dark. I continued to scream until I choked back a sob and had to catch my breath. I pray to God that Lettie could hear me. If those were the last words anyone would ever hear from me, I wanted her to hear them. I wanted her to know just how much I hated her with all my heart and how much I hated myself for playing her game for as long as I did.

The scream must have set off some alarm somewhere because the music ended. I stood up, waiting for the lights to come on, my ears ringing in the silence. It made sense that if they were ending my punishment, the lights would come on. Oh, please let the lights come on and the door fly open. Please let Jake and Stiff rush to me and take me out of here. I’d give anything if those things would happen right now.

Only that isn’t what happened.

The door banged open. The bright light from the outer room poured across me, blinding me after so much time in the void. I threw a hand up to protect my eyes, but it also blocked my view, not that it would have mattered much. My eyes were watering so hard I doubted I could make out much. Why I ever thought I’d be able to identify my rescuers was beyond me.

"Help me," I croaked.

Someone snorted.

Why didn’t they turn on the lights? If they had access to the music, then they had access to the lights. This wasn’t over, was it? This wasn’t a rescue. This was what?

I dropped into a ball and tried to protect myself from what was coming next. Through splayed fingers, to break the glare, I made out two figures at the door. They were carrying something between the two of them. They stepped into the doorway, one figure leaning against the door to keep it open.

Then they opened the container, tossing the lid back into the light. They swung the container back and forth before tossing—