Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 43: Min’s Story

"My little eleven-year-old self was terrified of being entombed in that car trunk, but I would be alive, so I crawled in. Besides, I’d had enough of needles when I was in the hospital. Lettie unceremoniously slammed the trunk shut.

"As soon as the car started, I regretted my decision. Car exhaust combined with the odor of tire rubber and grease. The odors grew to fill the darkness as Lettie drove without regard for my safety. I was tossed with each turn and bump until I finally wedged myself between the spare tire and the back of the trunk. It took all my core strength to maintain the resistance to keep myself seated in place.

"I kept telling myself it would all be worth it when I saw King. King would take care of me. Only Lettie didn’t take me to King.

"She took me to a warehouse filled with dog kennels. She made me crawl out of the car trunk. I was so sore by then I couldn’t stand, so she dragged me over to a registration table. The whole time, she was cursing me as useless and weak. I kept trying to climb to my feet, but Lettie kept jerking me around.

"At the table, I was tagged and assigned a cage. Lettie shoved me inside and locked it. Then she stood guard. The cages around me were also filled with kids. Some held one child, while others held two. I saw one cage that contained a girl a little older than me breastfeeding a baby while holding hands with a toddler. The boy at her cage door didn’t look much older than her.

"We were animals in cages while our handlers negotiated our worth. Once I figured out what was going on, that Lettie was selling me to strangers, I panicked. I begged for freedom. I made promises like I suppose all little boys do—to be good, to eat less, clean more, listen better.

"Lettie threatened me, but when that didn’t work, she borrowed a cattle prod from one of the other handlers and shocked me into submission. I tried to hide in the back of the cage, hoping if no one saw me, Lettie couldn’t sell me. Then, she would be forced to take me home to King.

"Lettie wasn’t having it. She made me sit up front and answer people who spoke to me. One man asked to see me naked, and I was forced to strip. He must not have liked what he saw because he left. I wasn’t so lucky with the next guy.

"I was sold for twenty-five thousand dollars cash money. Lettie’s last words to me were, This money will jumpstart the Heavenly family empire. Not a bad return for a useless piece of Korean trash."

"Oh my god, you’re ground zero. The first child to suffer at the hands of Lettie. This has been going on for twenty years." Of course, I wasn’t counting King and his brothers.

I was breathless and heartbroken for this man in front of me.

Stiff said, "Maybe. We don’t have the proof to tie Min’s kidnapping into Drake and Davon, but it’s a really good start."

Jake agreed.

I asked, "Min, how did you go from human slave to King’s assistant?"

"The man who bought me ran an underground fight ring. He gave me a one-week course in survival. I was thrown into the ring the next week. I totally got my ass beat, but I survived and learned from the experience.

"As illegal fighting went, Hank was pretty humane. He kept me fed. Treated my injuries. He trained me, and his boys had access to online schooling. It wasn’t mandatory, but I knew it was something my parents would want, so I took advantage of the classes to maintain my education.

"At first, it was tough. I was beaten a lot, but over time, I adapted. My win column outweighed the losses. I had value, and Hank started to reward me with a few freedoms and a little cash, which I saved. I wasn’t planning on staying with him forever, which was a good thing because Hank specialized in fighting kids.

"One day, he handed me half the purse and my backpack. I’d aged out. He gave me the phone numbers of a couple of legitimate clubs that might take me in, and he kicked me out.

"I spent two weeks on the streets thinking about what I wanted to do. It was during that time that I saw a magazine with Lettie on the cover. I read it thoroughly, starving for any clue as to where to find King.

"He was attending a private school that I could never attend, but they couldn’t stop me from looking for him outside the school. When I spotted him, it occurred to me that I had no idea what to say to him, so I walked away. I couldn’t tell him what his mom did to me. He wouldn’t believe me. Plus, he was a rich kid now. There was no way he could relate to a beaten-down street rat like me. I’d be lucky if he even remembered who I was.

"I kept walking until I ended up in Asian Town. For the first time since my parents died, I wasn’t the only Asian kid around. Only those kids were multilingual and highly territorial. I only remembered a half dozen Korean words and had no ties to anyone anywhere. I was useless with the other languages I heard around me.

"I got into fights. A lot of fights, but I was good with that. I was used to using my body to prove dominance. Only one old priest wasn’t okay with it. Reforming me became his life’s mission.

"I must have run away a dozen times before I learned the old man would always find me and bring me back. I stopped running. The old man made sure I got my high school diploma. He helped me secure an athletic scholarship for university, and he turned my fighting skills into black belts in three different marital art disciplines.

"By the time I left for university, I was ready for civilized society, and I was deadly good in and out of the fight ring. No one messed with me.

"By competing during university, I could visit different campuses, including where King attended. And the rest is history."

"Happily ever after," I mumbled.

Min said, "People like me don’t get a happily ever after."

Bea said, "Aw, that’s not true. Broken people find happiness all the time. Besides, you seem to have put the broken pieces back together really well. Look at all you’ve accomplished."

"It’s not the same."

I agreed. Once broken, the pieces never truly fit again.

"So, what is the verdict, Teela?" Jake asked.

My first instinct was to say yes, but I said yes when King asked me to marry him. See what that got me. Instead, I looked to Stiff.

Stiff nodded. "Underground means off the grid for the most part, but the rest of the story checks. And there was a Hery Tubbs, aka Hank, who was arrested for running a juvenile fight ring and gambling den.

Min said, "Tubbs, yeah. I’d forgotten."

"Okay, Min is in. We’re lucky to have him."

Stiff clapped his hands. "Now that that is settled, go back to CK. When can we meet with him?"

"Now," Jake said.

"Let me see what I can do."

Stiff did what Stiff did best. "CK has work until midnight. We can meet him there at closing."

Bea asked, "What does CK do for his day job?"

"He’s a clerk at his dad’s store. Electronics or something." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Okay, then let’s get some work done for Crazy Code for a couple of hours," I suggested.

"Hell, yes!" Bea said.

"I’ll drop Min off at Heavenly and head by the church," Jake said. "I need to help the guys settle in and keep Father DiMarco from trying to feed them. The man’s cooking should be weaponized."

Bea said, "He’s not that bad, is he?"

Stiff said, "I asked him to butter toast yesterday. I might as well have asked him to make breadcrumbs. Nicest guy in the world. Hopeless in the kitchen. Father DiMarco is proof positive that everyone has an Achilles heel."

I asked, "What are you planning to tell King about today, Min?"

"That I lost Night Shadows in a crowd."

I nodded. I had to trust him. But to hedge my bet, I was doing a deep dive into the Heavenly network the second we were done with Cometkazee. I wanted in and out as soon as possible, just in case Min was put in a position where he had to choose between us and King. King would win. I had no doubt.

But for now, it was good to have Min on our side. I hoped we could provide him some closure while successfully rescuing Jake’s boys. His story definitely deserved inclusion on our Love List.