Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 59: Strategy Meeting

Dinner turned into a strategy meeting.

"What is the plan?" Ben shoved the last of an eggroll into his mouth.

I shrugged. "You act like I’ve got it all planned out."

"Don’t you?"

"Nah, I’m flying by the seat of my pants. The most I had planned was getting you and King out of that house."

Jake said, "In my experience, Teela flies true though. Just go with the flow. She’ll get you there. Tee has better instincts than some seasoned warriors I’ve known."

"I’d rather have a detailed plan," King said.

"Okay, then here is the plan. Step one, move in together. Done. Step two, surround you with my people."

Jake said, "Check. Three crews will report at oh eight hundred."

"What about the housekeeper?"

"Father DiMarco is sending over a retired parishioner named Rosie. She trained under some of the best house managers in Europe. She has a degree in domestic management and a certification from Le Cordon Bleu.

King asked, "What’s wrong with Beth? She knows my routine."

"You hired her through the same agency that your mom uses. That means she is subject to your mom’s corruption. She’s a liability."

King said, "Fine."

"Step three, we show up in public."

"It’s that easy?" King asked.

"No, King, it probably won’t be easy, especially for someone like you. I need you to go against your nature and defer to whatever I say. For the next however long it takes, I’m your queen and you are my devoted servants."

Ben said, "Sounds like we’re exchanging one dictator for another."

I nodded. "Temporarily, I guess you could say that, at least in public. In private, you retain your autonomy. But keep the goal in mind. The goal is to make Lettie think she’s lost your loyalty to her worst enemy.

"I want her pissed off and ready to throw down, only I don’t plan to give her the opportunity to attack. If it goes to plan, she’ll let emotion overrule logic. When that happens, she’ll do something stupid."

King said, "So, you expect us to hand our balls over to you. What’s in it for us?"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, I don’t know. Freedom from that bitch of a mother. Rescuing dozens if not hundreds of innocent kids from a human trafficking ring, and King, how about the ultimate knowledge that you’re doing the right thing."

Ben said, "You’ve got to admit, it sounds like a revenge plot from some daytime soap opera."

"Okay, fine. Then what’s your solution? I’m open to all suggestions as long as the end result is the same. We shut down the human trafficking, and Lettie and Daniel pay for their crimes."

Min said, "Destroy each location as we discover it. Get the kids back to their parents ASAP."

"That’s an option, Min, and it would probably work once or twice, but then I see Daniel catching on. Jake, what would you do if you were Daniel?"

Jake said, "Escalate security, relocate the kids, destroy records, go on the offensive. Of course, I could also go in the opposite direction, too. I could place a kill order on the kids, take my profits, and run.

"Daniel has a wife and a couple of kids, right? "

At my nod, Jake continued, "With Daniel’s money, I could buy an island somewhere off the grid. Move the family there. Home school the kids. Wait until the heat dies down to return. Or I could use my island as the new base of operation for a whole new crime ring.

"Daniel is still a young man. I don’t see him retiring, at least not for long. He’ll want to do something, and he already knows the formula for building a crime empire. He started showing criminal behavior as a kid. I don’t see him going straight now."

Ben said, "Point taken. Alright, I’m in. I’ve been wanting to break away from the family for a long time. That kind of toxicity sucks the will to live right out of me. It’s a good thing to have help. I didn’t look forward to going up against Mom all alone."

Everyone looked to King for his buy in. I really needed him on board with the plan. I also wanted him to be part of the team. Romantically tied together or not, King was a part of me. I needed to know that deep down, he was a good person who would do the right thing when push came to shove.

King said, "Yeah, okay. I’m still in."

Hallelujah.

"Okay, so we’ll start in the morning. Be ready to go."

King said, "I have access to Mom’s schedule. We can pick events from the calendar for our public appearances."

"Really? Show me."

We gathered around King and his cell phone, delving into the best events to make the most impact. The one that caught my attention was the Fetish Ball.

"Your mom attends the Fetish Ball?"

King said, "Every year. The Fetish Ball was one of the first large clients to hire Heavenly to cater an event. For years, she continued to work the event, but now that she’s retired, she still makes an appearance."

"So, if we showed up with you and Ben on leashes, she’d get the message?"

Ben threw up his hands to ward me away. "I’m not wearing a collar and leash. Leather, fine, but I’m not a dog on a leash for anyone."

Min playfully tugged the hair at the back of Ben’s head. "Not even for me?"

Ben blushed and shrugged away Min’s hand. "Woof."

I looked to King for his response. "Teela should wear the collar."

"Why me? How does that tell your mom that I’ve taken her sons?"

King shrugged, "The collar suits you better. You’ve got a long, slender neck. A black choker would accentuate it nicely. As far as how it speaks to the goal, just getting me to show up in a place like that would be an accomplishment. BDSM is not my scene. And I’ve always refused to escort Mom."

"Ridiculous, King. We need to do something that will be in-your-face plain to Lettie."

Jake pointed to another event set for three days from now. "How about we table the Fetish Ball? It’s a month out. This is a highly attended charity auction of the black tie and ballgown variety, right?"

King said, "Yes, the organization raises money to support endangered species. Mom will definitely attend. She is a chairperson for the charity."

Ben said, "Yeah, they’ve been after me to attend. Not only are they charging a hefty fee per plate, but they’re also holding a bachelor/bachelorette auction to raise funds." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"How does it work?"

"They parade us on stage and take bids for dinner dates, home repairs, serenades, stuff like that. My buddy participated last year. Some old lady paid ten grand for him to work as a personal cabana boy at the lady’s villa in the south of France. He came back covered with bruises from the old lady’s pinches and a wallet full of tip money."

King said, "Sounds degrading."

"Think how all those kids feel."

"Point taken."

"Ben, can you get us tickets to the event, and could you talk your contact into taking you and King on as last-minute additions to the auction?"

"I’m not doing it." King crossed his arms over his chest.

"I swear, you’ll go home with me. It is all part of the show. I suspect your mom will be eager to get you off that stage. I plan to outbid her and walk you out myself."

Ben asked. "What if something goes wrong? Mom has a lot of money at her disposal."

I smiled at King. "My husband gave me a credit card with no limit." I held out my hand. "Can I have it back, please? Pretty please."

King didn’t look happy, but he pulled out his wallet and handed me the card. "The next time I give you a gift, I expect you to keep it."

"Promise."

This was going to be fun. Mom and I were never big into social events. We both preferred to stay close to home and socialize with a few close friends over making a social impact in the world. King never took me to social events. Even when we were dating, our outings were one-on-one occurrences.

Now that I thought about it, I’d never met King’s friends. Did he have friends? Our wedding was attended by a lot of people, but none struck me as close friends to King. His best man was Joshua. I never heard a peep about a bachelor party, and there were no groomsmen.

But then again, I didn’t have a lot of close friends either, not until recently, anyway. When I was in school, I had Bea. I had Stiff, at least virtually, and that was all I needed as close friends. I recognized that I’d willingly kept everyone else at arm’s length.

"Okay, gentlemen. Let’s get some rest. Tomorrow will be a long day.