Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 33: Home Sweet Church

Bea poked her head in. I smelled soup. "Can I come in?"

"Sure."

"Father DiMarco said you didn’t eat."

"I’m not hungry."

Eat a bit, anyway. You’ve had a rough couple of days."

I knew my friends were concerned about me. I owed it to them to show I was making an effort.

I smiled. "Will you stay with me while I eat?"

"Absolutely."

While I ate, I discussed the second project with Bea.

"Teela, you don’t have to share your leads with me. My company does okay."

"I know King’s antics cost you money and clients. It’s the least I can do. Besides, I’ll have more work than time when the right people know I’m back in the game."

I always did when I was in school. I’d built up a nice nest egg, too. Mom’s medical bills ate that up early on once the insurance benefits were depleted. By then, all my time was devoted to school and Mom. Besides, Mom disapproved of me spending time on the computer. She never really knew about the hacking, and by the time we were using my savings for her bills, Mom’s health was too fragile for her to consider where the money came from.

In school, I was one of those computer geeks who lived in her mom’s basement. If it weren’t for classes, I sometimes went days without seeing sunlight, but I was happy.

Mom, on the other hand, worried. It was because of my behavior that Mom thought I needed someone like King to take care of me. If I’d shown Mom how independent I could be, I might not be in the mess I was in now.

Bea said, "Well, I’ll follow up with Stiff on the debugging job.

"Have you considered combining what you and Stiff do with what I do? I mean, you could join my company as partners. We could flow the payments through the company. It would give you a base of operations and legitimize what you do. I know the dark web and your shadow operations have been good to you, but wouldn’t it be easier, and you could take on more jobs with more staff?"

"Bea, not everything we do is exactly legitimate. You could get into a lot of trouble if we’re caught."

"Babe, don’t you know by now that I’d rather go to jail with you than live without you?"

"Aw, how sweet. Are you going to confess your love, too?"

"Of course, I love you! You’re my bestie." Bea hugged me. "Hey, wait. Who confessed? King?"

I shook my head. "Well, sort of. He dumped his mistress, but that isn’t it?"

"Dumping his mistress is big."

"Whatever. What does it matter if I don’t intend to stay with him?"

"Good point, but back to the question. Who confessed? Do I know him? No, wait. It’s Stiff. The man’s always finding a reason to touch you, not to mention he tracked you down after all this time."

"It’s Stiff."

"When? How? What did you say? If you don’t want him, can I have him? He’s hella good-looking and loaded."

"Right after you dashed for the bathroom. He just blurted out that he loved me. It was a shock, only it wasn’t, but I can’t cope with his feelings right now. I don’t even know what I’m feeling from minute to minute. How can I be responsible for someone else’s?"

"That makes sense. It was poorly timed, but Teela, if there were no King, would you consider him?"

"In time, probably. I mean, we have history and stuff in common, and he smells so good. I could live in that scent forever."

"And He is good-looking and rich."

"That too."

"Don’t let him pressure you. You’re under enough pressure from King."

"Exactly! Why doesn’t Stiff see that?"

"Stiff acted from his heart instead of his head. It’s probably some warped attempt to reassure you that you are not alone."

"Did I tell you that King is contracting hackers to stop me from hacking him and stalking me? Get this. His first pick is Night Shadows."

"O-M-G. are you going to do it?"

"I want to. I’ll discuss it with Stiff tomorrow."

Another knock at the door. Stiff stuck his head in without waiting for an answer. "Did I hear my name?"

"You did," I said, cautious about what this visit meant.

"Is this about what happened earlier or King’s job?"

"Can we just table what happened earlier for like a billion days?"

"Um, compromise. How about we table it until six months after your divorce."

"Deal."

"Then what about the King contract? Do you want to take it?"

"Yeah, I do."

"My laptop is at the dinner table. How about we have cake while we discuss the details."

Bea said, "Teela, can we get Stiff’s take on my idea, too, because I really think it’s a good one."

"Sure."

The chocolate Italian cream cake was just as good tonight as it was last night. Maybe it was better because it wasn’t competing with the wine for control of our tastebuds.

We discussed the contract and what fine-tuning we’d need before accepting King’s deal. We also discussed joining Bea’s company as partners. In the end, it was agreed that it would be mutually beneficial to create the partnership. Not only could we help Bea increase her contracts and cash flow, but Stiff and I could also fill the holes created in staffing by King’s assholery.

Besides, our skills complemented each other. It was a good marriage, and if I had to be honest, it gave me a sense of belonging and stability that freelancing didn’t offer. And I trusted these people above all others.

"I think we will have to keep the King deal separate from the company, though," I said. "King would never trust you with his security, especially once he discovers I’m working with you, and I have no doubt he’ll find out."

Bea and Stiff agreed.

Bea was cleaning up our plates when Jake slipped in from the back of the building. He looked like a feral animal on the hunt.

"Jake, are you alright?" Father DiMarco asked.

Jake nodded once. "Coffee?"

"I’ll make some," Bea offered.

"Warm the soup up, too," Father DiMarco said.

"Any problems," I asked.

"Nothing I couldn’t handle."

I nodded.

"Do we have a budget for equipment?" Jake took a seat at the table.

His hands were dirty. No one said anything. We were fortunate he was here. I would still be locked up in the hospital without him.

I felt fortunate to have all my roommates in my life. They each added something special to the mix, and best of all, they were supportive of me and each other. We were all making efforts to help Father DiMarco bring this old church back to life. Stiff was coordinating work to finance our efforts, plus he was a killer hacker. He also helped Jake with making sure we were secure. Jake would help Father DiMarco with the renovations. Bea offered us the stability of using her company as a storefront. And Father DiMarco, well, he held us all together in loving arms. I’d be lost without him.

But what did I bring to the group other than trouble? I was a good hacker. I had faith that I could cover my share of the expenses in time. I cooked, but then again, so did Jake. I cleaned, but so could anyone. And what positives I had to offer, I didn’t think they outweighed the negatives. I had to get King off my back, if not for my sake, then for that of my friends.

I couldn’t believe how quickly we had congealed into one working unit. I only hoped I could hold my own with the awesome people.

Stiff pulled a black card from his wallet and slid it across the table to Jake.

Jake asked, "You don’t want to know what I need or why?"

Stiff said, "No. I trust you—all of you. This collaboration will only work if you trust one another." Stiff shrugged. "Besides, if you screw us over, Night Shadows will track you down and kick your ass."

That made us all chuckle. Me kicking Jake’s ass. Funny. Jake towered over me, and the military training ensured he was hand-to-hand combat ready. I was still awaiting my first taekwondo class. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Jake said, "All right. I’ll return this to you tomorrow."

Once Jake had finished eating, I headed back to my bedroom. I had only thought I was tired earlier compared to the exhaustion weighing on me now. With the entire group safely at home, I could rest well. If had any say in the matter, I didn’t plan to wake up until it was time to attend the futile couple’s therapy.

At this juncture, the couple’s therapy felt like putting a Band-Aid over a bullet wound. I’d be better off finding an attorney to start the divorce proceeding, but I didn’t think it would be that simple. With King’s influence, it might be difficult to find someone to go up against him. Even if I did find a willing attorney, King had a team of attorneys behind him. He would drag the proceedings out interminably so until he lost interest. I didn’t see that happening any time soon, especially without Nan waiting in the wings.

I was dozing off when the sound of tapping at the door brought me back to full alert. My bedroom was way too busy tonight.