Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 152: The Not-So-Good King

Alec pulled up some images on his phone and passed the phone back to me. "King has been feeding these to me since we met. He said I’m wasting my time, that you are a user, and you’ll return to him when you are done with me. He made it sound like it was a pattern with you."

I didn’t need to look at the pictures to know King was lying, but I looked anyway. The first one was when Stiff helped me at the pool table. Another photo was of me in Jake’s arms when I was drunk, and he carried me out of Tiger’s Claw. Alec had pictures of me hugging Father DiMarco at the hospital when we were comforting each other during our grief over Bea’s accident.

Picture after picture, taken out of context, made it appear I was romantically linked to pretty much every man I had ever had more than a passing acquaintance with. How long had King had me followed? Why? I wasn’t his concern anymore. I thought we had worked out our relationship. He’d asked to stay in my friends circle. I had thought it was because he wanted to be my friend. Now, I saw it for what it was. King was low-down stalking me.

I was glad I was already sitting because I would have collapsed otherwise. I’d always thought at heart that King was not a bad guy. He was a victim of his upbringing. A little egocentric, for sure, but whatever complaints I had against him weren’t criminal. In my eyes, he was one of the good guys.

But now, after seeing this, I couldn’t say that anymore. Could I? Not only was he stalking me, he’d done his best to poison Alec against me, and now it appeared to be working.

I had no doubt Alec loved me, but his mind and heart were being ripped asunder. I only hoped King hadn’t landed the killing blow tonight of all nights.

That said, there was no way I could justify marrying Alec while he had doubts. I wasn’t that stupid, desperate, or blind to the odds of our marriage surviving if he couldn’t get over the misinformation King had fed him.

Alec said, "Teela, I love you. I trust you, but I’m also fed up with this shit. Even a saint would find doubt after everything King has said to me.

"Why haven’t you told me about these pictures, these emails? Why haven’t you given me the opportunity to defend myself?"

"Teela, I have asked you about your past many times. You’ve told me just enough to tell me there is an iota of truth in everything he’s told me."

"Alec, all good lies include an iota of truth. That is what makes them believable. But why are we still headed to the chapel if you don’t believe me? You can’t possibly want to marry me with this uncertainty hanging between us."

"I don’t know. Every instinct in my body says you won’t leave me if I make you mine legally. I know that is bullshit. I know the only reason you’ll stay is love, but I still think some arbitrary piece of paper will chain you to me."

"Chain me? Alec, do you really want someone in your life who stays out of obligation? That is no life. Trust me. I know firsthand. I spent the majority of my marriage staying with King out of obligation. It was horrible. Every day was filled with a sense of oppression that followed me into my dreams. If I’d stayed much longer, I’m not sure I wouldn’t have killed myself to escape."

"I know that. Logically, I know that, but the same part of me who places any credence on what King has told me wants this step to take place."

"Alec, that is the wrong reason to get married, especially on the fly like this. I can’t do it. I won’t do."

Alec shook his head. "You’re leaving me then?"

I sighed. I really didn’t know how to handle this. It felt wrong to stay with him while he had these kinds of doubts about me, but I wasn’t sure how to dissuade him from believing King either. I could ask Stiff and Jake to come forward and speak up for me, but Alec could just as easily tell himself they would say anything for my benefit as believe them.

I could confront King, but if I did it right now, I might be the one going to prison for murdering him. The man had no shame. I knew he didn’t exactly see women as equals, especially me, before he found out I was Night Shadows. I thought we had worked our way through that, but he was seriously wrong if he thought he could run something like this by me without any repercussions.

I had to wonder, though, if the reason he was doing this had less to do with wanting me back and more to do with the self-destructive behavior he’d exhibited after finding out the truth about Lettie and his own adopted status. He may be subconsciously begging for me to take him down.

If this wasn’t Ben’s honeymoon night, I would call him and get his feedback. While Ben was King’s brother and more loyal to him than any of the other Heavenlys, he was also my best source of reliable information about King. Min and Ben would know best if King was exhibiting any personality changes.

"I will, if you think it will help. I will do almost anything, if you think it will help, but I won’t marry you while you have doubts about my loyalty."

It was my turn to need to take a walk. "Driver, pull over. I’m getting out."

"Teela, no. It’s the middle of the night. It’s not safe." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"Funny. I didn’t feel it was safe when you did the same thing."

Alec nodded his head. "Fine. I’ll call King to pick you up."

The car pulled up to a bus stop. Good. I knew how to take a bus. I’d gotten good at it trying to avoid King before.

I got out and had the last word before I closed the car door. "You do that, Alec. I won’t be here when he arrives. By the way, did you ever wonder how King had so many pictures of me in compromising positions? Did it occur to you that he has had people following me for months?

"I’m willing to bet King has already been notified that I left the car. I dare you to test that theory. Don’t call him. Drive around the block and park somewhere close by. I’m willing to bet he shows up without one word from you. Are you willing to test my theory?"

"Sure."

Well, there went the quick getaway. Time to let King hang himself.

I sat down on the bench at the bus stop, glad the streetlight overhead was bright. I played the normal bus passenger. I played on my phone. At least, I appeared to be playing on my phone. In reality, I was debating who to call to pick me up. Jake had the boys. Getting him out of bed this time of the night, or I should say early morning, might cause a hardship with the boys. I wasn’t for sure if Mitzy was a live-in nanny or not. Stiff might read too much into it. CK had Colby, so he would face the same problem as Jake.

Screw it. I didn’t want to see any of them, not that anyone but King was really guilty at this point, unless you wanted to count Alec for dragging me out and then blindsiding me. Nothing he said right now would make up for the fact he kept this from me.

I called a car service and requested a pickup to be on standby a block away. I specifically requested a female driver. I also arranged for a hotel room in a five-star hotel. I booked it for a week. It wouldn’t take me much longer than that to do what needed to be done, then I’d see where Alec’s head was.

Fifteen minutes later, a car stopped at the curb. King rolled down the backseat window and called out to me. "Get in."

"Just driving by?"

"Something like that."

I scanned the area around us, looking for his snitch, but King could afford to hire the best. If his spies didn’t want to be seen, they wouldn’t be. "Or do you have someone following me?"

"Just get in the car. It’s late. We should go home."

"Is that what you think will happen here? If I have a falling out with Alec that I’ll run back to you?"

"Won’t you? I don’t see anyone else here to take care of you, and the bus doesn’t stop here for another three hours."

"I can wait."

King left the car and came over to sit beside me. "Teela, it’s not safe out here alone. Come back to the estate. Lettie is gone. You’d be the matron of the family. You could make the household rules. Whatever you say, I’d do it."

"Do you promise to do whatever I say?"

"Anything."

"Then call your spy out here. I want to see who’s been following me."