Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 117: Closure

"You do remember that I’m a doctor, right?" Josh asked Anya as two cops circled the table to arrest Anya.

"You can’t send me to jail. I’ll miscarry."

Josh said, "We haven’t had sex since Mom’s stroke, Anya. That is a long time to keep a pregnancy secret, only to bring it up when it’s to your advantage. I’m not stupid."

King said, "I’ll send a doctor to administer a test in the morning, but Anya, you’ll still pay for your crime. If there is a baby and if DNA proves the child is Joshua’s, the Heavenly family will take the baby from you and raise it while you serve your time."

One of the policemen put a hand on Anya’s shoulder. She shrugged it off. "Don’t touch me. I’m not going anywhere. This is my home. I’m a Heavenly. I’m practically royalty. You can’t touch me."

"Don’t fight them, Anya. You’ll hurt the baby," I said. I couldn’t quite hide the sarcasm from my voice.

I believed Anya was pregnant about as much as I believed the moon was made of Swiss cheese. This was a blatant ploy to stay out of jail.

Anya continued to struggle against the police. They ended up restraining her with her face pressed against the table and handcuffs on her wrists. Anya screamed out her rage, her face red and her eyes watering. Fear blended with rage to the point Anya appeared to be in the middle of a psychotic break.

I prayed Anya was as strong as I thought she was. I’d hate for another Heavenly female to escape prosecution.

By the time the police pulled Anya to her feet and escorted her from the house, I’d lost my appetite. That hadn’t gone down the way I expected, not that I expected Anya to go passively.

I removed the brooch and disabled the surveillance. There was no need to invade the family’s privacy further than I already had.

"We should go now," Alec urged.

"No, stay," King said. "I’ve got something to show you first."

King led us to the basement door. I froze. I wasn’t sure I could go back down there. Anxiety ate at me. I hugged Alec’s arm.

"King, what’s this about?"

"I thought you would want closure. Teela, I’ve disassembled the reflection room. You should see before I have the room sealed off."

"I don’t know if I can."

I fought the urge to urinate, knowing it was nerve-related and not biological.

"You don’t have to," Alec said. "We can go whenever you’re ready."

King said, "He’s right, but I think you should. I know it did me a world of good."

He was right. I knew he was, but the thought that someone might make me stay was terrifying,

Min said, "I’ll guard the door, Teela. If you aren’t back upstairs in ten minutes, I’ll come to get you myself."

Min might be King’s man, but he’d had my back more than once, and he was honest. If he said he would protect me, he would, even if it meant going up against King.

And I had Alec, who was almost as lethal as Min. I’d be safe. No one would make me stay. There would be no rats, no darkness, no mind-numbing music, and no more feeling defenseless.

I had all the power now. I could choose whether I walked down those stairs.

Before I overthought it, I was following King into the basement. Across the empty space, the door to the reflection room stood open. The interior of the reflection room was dark except for where the wedge of light from this room spilled inside.

King turned on a light inside. I couldn’t go in. I stood back from the entryway and peered inside. There wasn’t a mirror in sight. In fact, the walls were marred where the mirrors had been removed. Wires hung down from the ceiling where the cameras and speakers had been mounted.

It was gone. The reflection room was truly gone. Lettie would never torture anyone here again.

Tears rolled down my face as the tension and fear seeped away. The nightmare was over.

King wrapped his arms around me. I let him. He’d suffered in there a lot more than I had. I was probably the only person he knew who could relate to what he had been through.

I held him tightly to me as King’s tears dripped onto my face to blend with my own. Right now, he needed me. I had to give him what comfort I could.

For the longest time, we stood like that until the tears stopped flowing. Then I patted King’s back and stepped away.

"Thank you, King. Thank you for keeping your promise to destroy the room. You were right. I needed to see it was gone."

King nodded. "Tomorrow, the workmen will be back. They’ll take off the door and seal the room. The doorway will be plastered over to match the rest of the room. No one will ever enter that room again for good or evil.

I nodded as Alec held my hand. "I’m ready to go now. Thanks again, King. For helping Bea find a donor, for helping with Anya, and for this."

King nodded. "It was the right thing to do. I have one more bit of news before you go. I sent Nan back to her hometown. I won’t be seeing her again. I’m still seeing the therapist. She made me see that a relationship with Nan isn’t healthy for Nan or me."

"Thanks. Good luck finding a better fit. You are a good man. You deserve to find love."

"Only not with you, right?"

"Right."

"You and Alec are serious?"

Alec answered. "We are."

"But we are still friends?" King asked me.

I’d never thought of King as a friend. How weird would it be, particularly considering the history between King and Alec?

"Does that offer include me?" Alec asked.

"If that’s what it takes," King said. "You are important to Teela, so yeah, let’s find a way to make peace."

Alec nodded.

"Then I’ll see you at the next taekwondo lesson," King said.

Taekwondo might be a good way for the guys to work out their differences. Only poor King would face a lot of beatings before he was good enough to truly compete against Alec.

It felt good to leave the Heavenly house. The air outdoors was so invigorating. As long as I was in that house, I would always be paranoid that someone would make me stay.

As soon as we were in the car, Alec asked, "Are you okay?"

"I will be. King checked off several boxes on my to-do list tonight. I feel like I’ve lost a lot of weight overnight, and I’m still learning how to operate my new, thinner body."

"Care to tell me about that scene in the basement?"

"I’m not into King if that is what you’re thinking."

"It’s not. You guys went through something in that room. Something that tore you up. I’m just curious what it was.

I’d told Alec some of my story but not all of it. The whole truth was too distasteful. No one needed to hear it. Since Alec was asking, though, it was time to share more.

As I wrapped up reliving the reflection room for Alec, he pulled into a gas station to fill up.

He wasn’t gone but a minute before he tapped on the car window to get my attention.

"Hey, my card isn’t working. It’s my second card in two days. Can I borrow yours?"

As a hacker who had closed out credit card accounts before, that set off alarm bells in my head. This was especially true since I knew Alec carried a black card with no credit limit.

"Sure." I pulled out a card and handed it to him.

Alec returned the card when he was done refueling and had reentered the car.

"Anything I should know?" I asked Alec.

"No, I don’t think so. Just credit card problems I need to follow up on. I probably messed up the chips and need new cards."

"Not even with Stiff?" I was fishing here, but I knew the signs.

"Oh, you mean his outburst at the office? Who told you?"

"No one had to. What happened?"

"Stiff blamed me for your injuries. I restrained him, and he left."

"Before or after he threatened you?"

"How did you know?" Alec asked before the lightbulb switched on. "Oh, I got it. Stiff’s a hacker, too. He’s fucking with me. I should kick his ass."

"Let me talk to him first."

"Teela, I’m patient, aren’t I? I mean I’m patient with the fact you hang out predominantly with men, half of whom are in love with you?"

"Half? That’s stretching it, isn’t it?"

"No, but regardless, you won’t deny Stiff’s in love with you, right?"

"Yes, but I’ve made it clear that I’m not into him."

"Well, I draw the line with fucking with my identity. Don’t make me play hardball. You know about my father. I might keep my nose clean, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have skills and resources I’ve not tapped into. But if Stiff insists on playing dirty, I won’t hesitate to take him down."

"Alec, don’t threatened my friend. I told you that I’ll handle it. As soon as I’m back at the church, I’ll reactivate your cards, then I’ll talk to Stiff."

Alec nodded. "I’m sorry. I’m frustrated. I got carried away."

"So did Stiff. He’s a good guy at heart."

Yeah, so am I."

"I noticed."