Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 54: Ben

Teela

CK: How is my goddess? Safe?

Night Shadows: I don’t know about a goddess, but I’m safe. (This is Night Shadows.)

CK: OMG! OMG! I’m so relieved.

Night Shadows: Shouldn’t you be sleeping?

CK: Shouldn’t you?

Night Shadows: I was lying here thinking the same thing.

CK: So, what are you wearing?

That made me smile as I considered how overdressed I was.

Night Shadows: Use your imagination, baby boy.

CK: I have a very active imagination, Night Shadows, and you’ve been a huge guest star in my dreams since I found out you were a woman.

Night Shadows: TMI! Take a step back, Cometkazee. Still married.

CK: Yeah, yeah. I’ll hold back, but it is so hard.

Night Shadows: Did you need Stiff for anything else? I can take his phone to him.

CK: You live with Stiff?

Night Shadows: Yes, but not like that.

CK: That’s a relief. But to answer your question, it can wait until morning. Now that you’re safe, I can sleep.

Night Shadows: Me too.

After so many serious problems in my life, that little bit of innocent flirting reminded me that I was a young woman. Flirting with cute boys is what I should be doing, not chasing human traffickers and saving money to divorce a sadistic family.

Yeah, I said that right. I was more interested in leaving the Heavenly family than leaving the man I married. The man, I could tolerate. And without his family’s interference, I could possibly even fall into a peaceful future with King. Granted, it wouldn’t be an ideal marriage, not the way things were now. And the marriage would probably be a lot less than I deserved, but it would be something I could live with.

Ah, the sweet embrace of exhaustion finally calmed the monkey brain. I snuggled in closer to Bea and let sleep pull me under.

Ben

Ben did his best to appear calm as if nothing nefarious was going on right under his nose, but he knew the moment he sat down at the breakfast table that something was dreadfully wrong.

First and foremost, King was absent, and yet Mom ordered the meal served. She never ordered the food served until everyone was seated. Secondly, Daniel resembled a bear who had taken a beating and now was eager for a rematch. Maylean and the twins were missing.

Seldom were so many of the family absent from a meal.

Ben had just lifted a fork of scrambled eggs to his mouth when his mom spoke.

"So, my wayward son has returned. What brings you home, Ben?"

Ben sat his fork back on the plate, eggs untouched. Time to put on a show.

"I had a break in my schedule. I missed my family."

"Really?"

"How have you been, Mom?"

"Do you really care? You don’t visit. You don’t call."

"I’m sorry. Between grad school and the club, I barely have time to eat." Ben motioned to his plate.

"Of course, eat up. The new cook isn’t as good as Teela, but she’s a whole lot less vile."

"Yeah, I’d heard Teela left." Ben forced himself to chew.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish."

"Where is everyone else?"

"Maylean took the twins to see her mother."

"And King?"

Lettie snapped, "Don’t mention that boy’s name in this household."

The food turned to cardboard in Ben’s mouth. He forced himself to swallow, to continue acting as if this was normal breakfast conversation, but it wasn’t. If he said the wrong thing, Mom would turn on him, and King wasn’t here to keep the heat off him. Daniel wouldn’t help him. Joshua, eh. Maybe.

Josh wasn’t a bad guy—not really. He was meant to be a doctor. Since Ben’s first memories, Joshua has always been taking care of something—a lost kitten, an injured bird, or plants. If any of them were injured, they never turned to Mom for medical treatment. It was Josh who cleaned their wounds and bandaged their abrasions. Josh was also the one most likely to break the rules and slip them food and water when the punishment was too much.

"What happened, Mom? Did King break one of the family rules?"

"He betrayed me. Ben, did you sell your shares of the family business to him, too?"

Ben knew better than to lie. Mom had a way of knowing things.

"Yeah, Mom. Years ago. Right after I turned eighteen. I don’t have any place in the family business. You know that. I wanted to do what you did and build something of my own, so I sold my shares to King. He’s the head of the company now. It seemed like a win-win situation."

Lettie snorted. "For you, maybe, but now the boy has taken over my company and won’t return it."

"Mom, you’re retired, remember? You groomed King to take the reins, and he’s done a great job. Why would you want to put that pressure back on yourself?"

"I can’t trust him anymore. He’s chosen that woman over family."

"Teela? Mom, she’s his wife. Shouldn’t he prioritize her? Isn’t it what you would want from a husband?"

"What I want has nothing to do with it. In the Heavenly family, I am the matriarch. I am the reason we live in this grand style and still maintain strong values. I deserve his total obedience."

Ben nodded, "Yes, Mom, you saved our family from poverty. You raised four strong men with good ethics. No one can take that away from you, but Mom, we are men now. Maybe it’s time to let go a little bit and allow us to make our own mistakes and build our own successes."

Daniel grunted a reply, "Teela sure is a mistake. So’s that Min assistant King keeps."

That surprised Ben. Daniel seldom got involved in family politics. Did Daniel know something about Teela’s kidnapping? It made sense that someone was helping Mom. Mom was an old woman. How would she know how to orchestrate a kidnapping?

Ben put down his fork and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Maybe so, but King is an adult now. Maybe the best way to convince him that his wife is a mistake is to let him find out for himself.

"As long as you interfere, even if it is with the best intentions, the focus is on you and not on whether Teela is a good match."

Anya jumped in. "Ben, it’s only natural for a mother hen to protect her chicks."

"I agree, but when those chicks grow into roosters, the mother hen usually lets go."

"Enough!" Lettie bellowed. "This is my family, and I’ll run it however I want."

"Yes, ma’am," Ben and Anya chimed.

The room went silent except for the sound of clattering silverware and the tap of coffee cups on the tabletop. Ben was at a loss on how to proceed. Mom wouldn’t tell him what she had done with King, but he had a good idea.

"Mom, can I get into the basement? I’m going mountain biking next weekend. I think my bike is stowed down there."

"No, you may not. And, no, I’m not up for negotiating King’s release."

Ben’s hunch was right. Mom had gone back to what she knew best.

"Okay, I guess I can buy a new one."

Daniel said, "I’ve got one at the cottage. Come over and pick it up. I’ll leave it out front."

"Thanks! It’ll be good to get out of the city for a little while."

Lettie’s eyes narrowed, "Didn’t you just return to the city from a school trip?"

"Yeah, but the trip was also in a city. I’m looking forward to a lot more greenery and fresh air."

Lettie’s phone rang. She left the table to answer it.

Anya said, "So, Ben, my assistant is a cute little thing about your age. What do you think about going on a double date with me and Joshy the next time he has a day off from the hospital? It could be fun, don’t you think?"

About as much fun as a stick in the eye, but Ben didn’t say that.

He didn’t like Anya. No one did. He didn’t even think Josh did. She was a two-faced liar who depended on connections to build a reputation. He’d never seen her actually do anything, and yet her mouth never stopped spewing dissension.

"Sure, Anya, if we can manage it, but I work nights, so it will take some strategizing to make it work."

"It will so be worth it. Leave it to me! I’ll coordinate everything. After all, you’re old enough now that you should be thinking about your future."

"Thanks for thinking about me. If you’ll excuse me, I need to make some calls."

Ben escaped and returned to his room, where he spent a good deal of time pacing.

He knew Teela was waiting for his call. If he told her Lettie had all but admitted King was in the reflection room, she would rush over to save him, which would put her right back in his mom’s hands. If he didn’t call, she would probably show up anyway. But if he could stall her, maybe Ben could wait for everyone to leave and break King out himself.

Teela had been through so much that Ben didn’t want to see her hurt again if he could prevent it.

He had an idea.