Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 124: Facing Lettie

I dearly hated it when the cops left me in the back of the van with Daniel and Anya. True, there were two of them and one of me, but it was more than that. Daniel was twice my size, and they both hated me.

On the upside, Alec had taught me self-defense techniques. I could fight back a lot better than I could have before meeting Alec. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Halfway to the meet site, Lettie called.

"Pull over. Get rid of the driver. Like I said. I only want to see you, Daniel, and Anya. Let Daniel drive."

I did as instructed. As soon as we pulled back into traffic, Lettie called back.

"Put me on speaker. Daniel, remember where that Korean family lived over the restaurant?"

Daniel said, "Min’s family? Sure."

"Remember the apartment we lived in?"

"Yeah."

"Go there."

"On my way."

"Teela, throw the phone out the window."

"Lettie, I might need the phone to call medical help for Bea. How is Bea?"

"Do what you’re told or she’s dead."

I closed my eyes against the reality of my situation. Lettie was taking away my last lifeline. The best I could do was send a quick text.

Teela: Meet changed. Min—

Anya jerked the phone away and tossed it out the window, elbowing me in the jaw in the process. I saw stars for a second, but it passed quickly. Alec was right. I was getting used to the pain. How sick was that?

My bigger concern was the missing phone.

"Now, what are you going to do without a way to call your male harem to your rescue?" Anya asked.

I wanted to knock the smirk off her face. I didn’t, but I wanted to.

"It’s the same plan of action. Take you to Lettie in exchange for Bea."

"You are such an idiot. You’ll never escape Lettie. Why, I predict Lettie will make you pay for your meddling before I have these handcuffs off. I can’t wait. Do you think Alec will still want you after Lettie’s done messing up that pretty little face of yours?"

"What? You expect me to cry or something now?"

"I know I would."

"I doubt it. You are incapable of any emotions except anger and contempt."

"That’s all you know."

Daniel took a sharp turn. Anya went flying, and I helped her by putting my foot on her ribs.

Anya cried out in pain.

"Oh, look. Something else you can feel—pain."

"When I tell Lettie you hit me in my condition, she’ll make you pay ten-fold over."

"What condition? Not pregnant? I already told her."

"You don’t know that."

"I do know. The doctor who administered the test called before I left."

"You’ve got five minutes to get knocked up," Daniel said. "Mom won’t take kindly to you faking it, and you know how ruthless she can be when she sets her mind to something."

"Maybe Lettie can keep Teela alive to act as a surrogate," Anya said.

"What is your aversion to having your own baby, Anya?" I asked.

"Why should I destroy my body? All the puking and stretch marks, not to mention childbirth and a baby crying all day and night. No, it’s not my scene. I’ll leave it to the middle-class breeders with nothing to lose."

The van stopped outside a rundown three-story building. The two luxury cars out front looked out of place. Daniel exited the van and opened the side door. He helped Anya out, but I was reluctant to join them.

Daniel waved me out. "Come on. We don’t have all day."

"I’m not in a hurry to walk to my death," I mumbled.

Daniel shrugged. "Your call. The girl is not my friend."

Bea. The whole reason I was here.

"Where’s the keys to these things?" Daniel held out his cuffed hands.

"I assume with the cops."

"Terrific."

Daniel headed toward the apartment building with Anya right behind him.

I didn’t have a choice. I shook my head at my absence of options and followed behind them.

The building lacked many things, including an elevator, pest control, and modern décor. Not that I expected better. From the stories Min and King had shared, the place had to have been low-rent when they were kids. No doubt things would have gone downhill since then.

I kept looking around for any signs of a friendly face, but my people would be at the dock. I was alone.

Two men stood guard outside the apartment. Inside, Lettie waited for me on a couch that was covered with what looked like a couple of men’s coats.

"Uncuff them," Lettie said.

"I’ll tell you what I told them. I don’t have a key. Where is Bea?" I gazed at a closed interior door, willing it to open and Bea to walk out, only it didn’t happen.

"You should be more worried about yourself rather than that girl. You betrayed me. You’ve got no one here to protect you, and I bet Daniel here holds a grudge."

"I know I do, Mother," Anya said. "She kicked me in the van. If I miscarry, it’s her fault."

"You kicked Anya? You know how I feel about violence."

"I do, but I also know you hate liars. I’ve never lied to you. Anya can’t say that."

Lettie nodded. "True, true. It’s too bad I hate you. You’re a lot more like me than any of my children."

My stomach soured at the thought. "How so?"

"You have guts. You’ll do what it takes to survive, quick learner. Hard worker. Too bad. Waste of potential."

"I suppose I should be flattered."

"But you aren’t?"

"Being told I’m like a psychotic human trafficker who likes to mentally terrorize kids? No, not particularly."

"Watch it, Teela. You are in a precarious position here."

"Where is Bea?"

"She’s here."

"Where? In there? I headed toward the closed door."

"Not so fast. I’m not done with you," Lettie said.

"But I’m done with you, old woman."

I kept moving until Anya grabbed me by the hair. "Respect Mother, Teela. She took care of you for a lot of years. You owe her."

I used some of my training and jabbed an elbow backward. I was pretty satisfied when I came in contact with Anya’s torso. I secretly hoped the blow landed in the same spot as the kick from earlier. I knew from experience that would double the pain. Anya deserved it.

"Let her go," Lettie said. "She brought you here. Let her go to her friend. God help them both."

I rushed through the door, calling for Bea. The room contained a bed and a chair beside it. A glass of water sat on the chair.

Bea’s form was curled up on the bed, facing the wall. She wasn’t responding.

"Bea," I said softly. I didn’t want to wake her if she was asleep, but I also wanted to take her away as soon as possible before Lettie changed her mind. However, it was too late.

Behind me, the door closed, and a lock bolt clicked in place. I rushed to the door, trying the knob, only to find it wouldn’t budge. I knocked at the door and called out.

Through the door, Lettie said, "Ignore her. Daniel, you know what to do. Anya, with me."

Daniel said, "It would help if I didn’t have these cuffs on."

"Can’t be helped. Make it work," Lettie said.

A door slammed, followed by a whole lot of unnerving silence. I’d feel better if I had any indication of what Daniel was doing. Well, I’d feel some better. I’d feel a whole lot better if Bea and I were on the street waving down a car to go home. Either way, I needed to get Bea on her feet and ready to go.

I rushed to Bea’s side. The second I touched her shoulder, I knew something was wrong. This wasn’t Bea just sleeping soundly.

"Bea, honey, I need you to wake up. We have to get out of here. I have a feeling something back is about to happen."

If we couldn’t go through the door, our only other option was the window—a third-story window at that. Torn between wanting to stay with Bea and knowing we needed to get out, I gently shook Bea and went to the window.

The window opened easily. There was a screen, but I pushed it out. Leaning out of the window, I tried to judge whether we would survive if we jumped. Below us, there was a picket fence around four partially filled dumpsters. The trash could break our fall, that is, if we didn’t land on the pickets.

I looked up the building instead. After all, rock climbing, in theory, could be used to climb buildings, but I had no safety gear. Not even a rope. Never mind a harness. Besides, Bea wasn’t a climber, and from what I’d seen so far, not in any condition to learn right now.

On the other side of the door, signs of life reminded me we weren’t alone. At the same time a scream rang out from deeper in the building.

Ah, shit.