Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 31: Please Let Me Go

"King, why don’t you focus your attention on Nan instead? She has no negative history with your family, and you like her. In some ways, she’s been more of a wife to you than I have."

"I broke it off with Nan last night before I went to the bar. She’ll be reassigned to another division at Heavenly as well. You don’t have to see her again."

Well, that shut me up. I didn’t expect that. The last I remembered, King wanted to keep seeing her while living with me. For the first time, I thought maybe King was serious. Now what?

Did it change anything? No, not really. I still didn’t trust him. I was angry not only about the recent torture, and yeah, I saw it as torture, but the cumulation of everything that had happened since I’d married King. No matter what King did to redeem himself, I didn’t think I would ever get over it.

I really wanted to move on. I wanted to live with Father DiMarco and work with Stiff. I loved the idea of making a little money, finding a little justice, and possibly making the world a little better. This felt like my calling a whole lot more than cooking, cleaning, and making babies.

And, when I’ve healed enough, I’d dearly love a second chance at love. I craved the closeness that should have been mine with King, that I got a taste of last night when he held me. I didn’t think that person would ever be King.

"You shouldn’t have. It doesn’t change my position. I’m not going back."

"Fine. Then stay here. At least you’re safe here. I’ve got a meeting I must attend."

I wasn’t staying here. When Father DiMarco returned, I asked, "Can I borrow your phone?"

"I’m sorry, Teela. They confiscated it at the door. You have two guards. Do you know that?"

"King told me."

"To protect you from the people who did this to you?"

I shook my head. "No, to keep me here until he can find me a new prison. He’s promised that I don’t have to return to the Heavenly family home, but now he thinks I’ll stay with him elsewhere. I can’t let that happen.

"Can you get me out of here?"

"What? Do you think I can just tuck you in my pocket and slip you out the door?"

"Maybe draw them away from the door while I escape? Or pull a fire alarm and force an evacuation?"

"Teela, this is a hospital. Pulling the fire alarm could be detrimental to so many patients. I do have an idea, though. Let me duck out for a bit. I need to arrange clothes for you anyway. You can’t go home in a hospital gown, and your clothes, what few you had on, were ruined."

So much had happened that I couldn’t remember what I started the day wearing. It didn’t matter.

While Father DiMarco was working on a mission for clothing and an escape plan, the doctor came in. He looked like Joshua’s clone, but he was shorter and had a crew cut.

"You’ve been a busy woman today, Ms. Doe. You took an interesting drug cocktail, but I think we’ve got you on the right path to recovery. I recommend no intercourse for the next two to three weeks. I also recommend safe sex practices. Abortion can lead to infertility. It’d be a shame if you couldn’t get pregnant when you are ready to have a baby. Do you know what I mean?"

There was no point in telling the man I wasn’t pregnant to begin with, nor was there anything in that cocktail that I agreed to have put in my body.

"I know it’s easy to get prescriptions when there’s a doctor in the family, but I recommend taking the time for proper testing before putting chemicals in your body. You didn’t need half of the medication we found in your blood work."

"Tell your buddy Joshua that."

The doctor gave me a pointed glare. "Your chart, Ms. Doe, indicates you don’t know the name of the doctor who treated you. I recommend you stick to that story for your own sake."

Well, there was no implied threat there.

"When can I leave?"

"Not sure. You’ll have to ask King about that."

"But if King agreed, I could go home now?"

He nodded, "If you take reasonable precautions like resting well, I don’t see why not."

When the doctor gave up on lecturing me about shit I couldn’t control, I laid down to nap. I wasn’t sure what Father DiMarco had in mind, so it made sense to build my energy.

When I awoke, Father DiMarco sat beside the bed reading a magazine about fishing.

"You fish?"

"Not at all. I found this in the waiting room. Between gossip and fishing, I thought I was better off reading about fishing."

"Do I have clothes yet?"

A big smile crossed Father DiMarco’s face. "You have a special delivery arriving any second now."

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door, and Jake came in wearing a delivery uniform and carrying a package.

"Are you okay?" Jake asked.

"I will be. Thank you for bringing me something to wear."

Jake helped me remove the IV attached to my hand. I ducked into the bathroom and changed into the clothes. I wasn’t sure who packed for me, but whoever packed included extras beyond just clothes and shoes. Packed in the small box were extra sanitary pads, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a brush, and the cap Bea had secured for me at Well Water.

I felt a little like a kid at Christmas.

When I was ready, I returned to the main room.

"Wait here," Jake said.

He let himself out.

The muted sounds of a struggle filtered through the door. The whole struggle took less than a minute, and then Jake poked his head back in and motioned for us to go.

The guards were lying on each side of the door. I had to step over one guy’s legs to walk down the hall.

Jake led the way, and Father DiMarco followed. We made our way to the exit, and no one stopped us as we passed by a nurse’s station. While King left guards on the door, apparently, he didn’t leave explicit instructions with the medical staff. They just didn’t care. We looked like any other visitors, and we left that way.

We stopped at an exit to the stairs.

"Can you manage three flights of stairs?" Jake asked.

I didn’t have a chance to respond.

"No, she can’t. No strenuous activity for a week."

Jake nodded and kept going to the elevator, trying to stay between me and the cameras lining the corridor.

Our escape was going surprisingly well. I felt the veil of worry lifting.

"Thanks for coming to get me."

Jake said, "Never leave a man behind."

I nodded, thankful I’d given this man a chance to be a part of my life no matter the role.

We reached the ground floor. The lobby was busier than the floor we had left. The door was maybe twenty-five feet away.

I remembered Father DiMarco’s minivan was at the estate. "How are we leaving?"

"Bea is waiting at the car. She’ll pull around when we exit," Jake said. "Don’t think. Just get in the backseat with Father DiMarco. We’ll take a circuitous route home, but I promise to get you there, Teela.

I froze when King walked through the door with Min a step behind him.

He’d cleaned up since leaving me. He wore a gray power suit with a red tie. His leather shoes were highly polished, and his hair was slicked back. Min was in his typical black suit and white dress shirt, but just because his attire was simpler than King’s, it didn’t mean he blended into the background. He could have easily stood out anywhere he went.

King walked directly toward us. Jake positioned himself in front of me.

"Teela, is this your man?"

"He’s my friend."

"You seem to have a lot of male friends lately."

"King, I’m leaving."

"I don’t think so."

"You’re going to stop me here in this crowded lobby?"

"If I need to, but I don’t think it will be necessary."

King snapped his fingers and motioned for someone to come forward. Two guards moved into my line of vision with Bea walking between them. Her lip was split, and her clothes were disheveled.

"King, you jerk."

I darted toward her but was pulled up short by Father DiMarco and Jake.

Father DiMarco said, "Let Jake handle this, Teela. This will all be for naught if you end up in King’s hands again. Trust in Jake."

"I’ll spare your friends if you come with me."

Jake said, "No."

"A delivery man speaks for everyone?"

Jake inspected his clothes as if just realizing what he was wearing. I smiled, but this wasn’t a friendly smile. This was the smile of a predator ready to take down prey.