Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 178: Joshua and Dot All Tied Up

I steeled myself against what I was about to see. Jake had moved Dot and Joshua to the facility’s basement under the pretense that things were getting too messy upstairs. If Dot and Joshua kept holding out, it would be morning soon, and Alec’s staff would be arriving.

I’d seen Dot before. It wasn’t pretty. If it was so bad now that the villainous couple had to be relocated. I did not doubt that what I was about to see was the thing nightmares were made of.

My hand on the doorknob, I went to turn the knob but was stopped when Alec put his hand on top of mine.

Alec said, "You don’t have to do this. Eventually, Joshua and Dot will talk about whether to go in or not. Besides, what does it matter why Dot did what she did? Does it change anything? King will still be coping with an addiction. We’ll still be taking the same steps to find a cure that we are taking now."

I nodded. Alec was right, but if I could order the torture of people, then I had to be woman enough to view the results.

The doorknob turned under my hand. Alec’s grip on my hand tightened.

"Please, Teela, don’t do this. You don’t know how I sight like this can change you for life. Don’t make me force you."

That got my attention. Alec had no right to force me to do anything. My gaze darted from the door to the concerned look on Alec’s face. I knew he had the strength and skill to stop me if he wanted to push this. I also knew if he did, I’d never forgive him.

"Leave her alone, son," Eugene said as he joined us, flanked by two bodyguards.

"Dad," Alec said. "You know what this will do to her. I can’t allow it."

Eugene said, "Alec, Teela is stronger than you give her credit. Call it a rite of passage. If she is going to be a part of our family, she’ll see worse one day. Mark my words. We all did eventually. We have all survived and learned to deal with our demons."

"I don’t want my woman to have demons."

Eugene patted Alec’s back. "Son, I suspect you are way too late to prevent Teela from having demons. I’ve heard about some of her living nightmares. She can handle what is on the other side of that door just like you handled your first time.

"Give her the respect she deserves. Let go of her hand."

"But, Dad."

"You can help her best by having her back during all of this. Stay by her side and help her cope. It is what you are best at."

Eugene nodded at me to make my own decision as Alec reluctantly removed his hand from mine.

I took a deep breath and let it out as I opened the door. It squeaked open. The room was unfinished with a single light fixture dangling from a high ceiling. Dot and Joshua were tied to chairs. The chairs were positioned to face each other. The two prisoners were slumped forward in their seats. Samson nodded in greeting from his position to one side, where he was cleaning his tools at a long metal table. Jake was stretched out in a raggedy recliner with a hat pulled down over his face.

The metallic scent of blood filled the air. My stomach roiled. I fought back the accompanying nausea. And then I homed in on the blood staining the floor around Dot and Jake. I knew there was blood. I’d seen blood before, and I knew what Samson was capable of doing, but faced with it here was overwhelming.

My body shook, and I squeezed my fists so tightly that my fingernails bit into my palm. The pain helped me to calm down before tears formed in my eyes. Eugene was right. I could do this, especially with him and Alec at my back.

I twisted my brain into thinking of the scene as unreal, nothing more than a horror house staged scene. At least I was able to tell myself that until I walked further into the room and saw Dot’s face. Where once she had large brown eyes fringed with false eyelashes and cherry red lips, now the eyes were swollen shut, and the cherry red lips were coated in dried blood. A long string of spittle dangled from her bottom lip.

I choked back a whimper and reminded myself that she brought this on herself. She could have tapped out at any time. All she had to do was explain herself. Even if the story she told was a lie, provided it was a good lie, I would have likely bought it just to bring an end to things.

And then I noticed Joshua’s hands were swollen and his fingers twisted in unnatural angles. Joshua was a surgeon. Injuring his hands was the same as ending his career, but then again, isn’t that exactly the same thing he had done to King?

I closed my eyes and willed the images in front of me to fade for just a second before I spoke. "Okay, you called me here. I’m here. What do you have to say?"

Jake spoke with the hat still covering his face. "Do you really want to hear her bullshit?"

"I’m tired. You guys are tired. I’m sure we’d all like to put this nasty business behind us and move on with our lives."

Jake sat up and pushed the hat back on his head. "Sampson, wake up, sleeping beauty."

Sampson grunted and strolled across the room where was faucet dripped into a dirty white bucket that was smeared with blood. He checked the contents before opening the faucet to add more water.

Sampson snorted and spat a luggie into a shadowed corner. "If it counts, I could do this all day. I like my job."

"Good to know, Sampson," I said.

Eugene said, "I have other work for you when this is done, if you want it."

Sampson looked to Jake for permission, which he gave with a wave of his hand.

Jake said, "As long as it doesn’t interfere with your work for Tee, I don’t give a shit."

"Deal," Sampson said as he picked up the bucket and slung the contents over Dot and Josh.

Dot sprang to life, slinging wet hair away from her face. But Joshua just sat there with his head hanging down and his body slumped.

"Is he alright?" I asked Jake.

Jake shrugged. "Probably. He’s spent more time passed out than awake. I’m not sure what Dot sees in him unless he’s just a tool to gain access to King."

I nodded.

Sampson brought me a folding chair and sat it down just out of range of the blood splatters on the floor. I thanked him and took a seat before turning my attention back to Dot.

"Okay, I’m here. Tell me. What did King do that was so bad he deserves the hell you are putting him through?"

Dot cackled through bloodstained lips. "You bitch. Why should I tell you? You haven’t earned it."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Then why am I here?"

"You should see what your men have done to us."

I looked around as if I were admiring art pieces at a museum. "Okay. I’ve seen it, and frankly, I’m bored. Alec, tell this woman what happens when I’m bored."

"The last time, you had Sampson remove a man’s tongue, didn’t you?" Alec said from where he stood behind me.

"Did I? I don’t remember. I do remember the last time the man hadn’t done anything as damaging as what Dot and Joshua tried. So I guess this time, I will have to try something more substantial to make my point.

"Sampson, Jake once told me you know how to slice a wound just deep enough to bleed out slowly over days. We could keep you locked in here and forget you. Let you bleed out slowly while your boy toy here watches. He’s family—well sort of—I’m ore apt to keep him alive than you.

"What do you think, Alec? We could provide medical care to Joshua, food, water, and let Dot watch him recover while she slowly bleeds out. That seems like a fair punishment for what she’s done to King, I think."

Dot feebly struggled against her bonds as she screamed out her frustration. "I’ll kill you, bitch. You’ll see. You’ll be dead when I get out of here."

"You’re not very bright, unlike your sister, are you? Dot, what is my incentive to let you live if you threaten me with death?"

Dot said, "You won’t kill me, Teela. It’s not in your psychological makeup. You are nothing more than the whipped dog of the Heavenly family waiting for chance to lick that asshole King’s boots again."

She shifted her focus from me to Alec. "You are just a placeholder for King Heavenly. She’s using you to make him jealous. Teela is no better than any other spoiled rich heiress who’s got her sights set on a man to keep her."