Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 181: The End

Three Months Later

I still wasn’t happy with the dress selection. I’d wanted something simple, but Estelle had insisted it was a one-time experience, and we had a family reputation to uphold, so here I was with enough yardage surrounding me to create dozens of simple dresses. The train flowed behind me like a white carpet of silk and lace. Diamonds studded the bodice and the headpiece. I’d won the argument against wearing a veil. Yay me.

The make artist placed the finishing touches on my red lips. I felt like a paint peacock ready to stroll down the aisle and into the arms of my fate lover.

Alec was such a good man. He’d nurtured me through the healing process from my traumatic past to get me to this point. I wasn’t cured yet by any stretch of the imagination, but I could sleep at night now without waking up covered in terror sweat. It was a start.

And I’d done it without medication, which was important. I placed a protective hand on my stomach. Alec had been serious about wanting to make a baby, and I wasn’t exactly an unwilling participant. His hands on my body was one of my favorite things. His body pressing mine into the mattress wasn’t bad either.

Next week, we were relocating to the cabin. We’d work remotely until after the pregnancy. I was still shaking my head at Eugene’s insistence on gifting me a helicopter and twenty-four-seven piloting services. This was our compromise after I refused to live in a hospital until after his grandchild was born. I suspected he’d follow that request up with staying there until the child was an adult, just to be safe.

I foresaw a lot of boundaries between the grandparents and the grandchild in the future. If not, the child would never live a normal life. A little spoiling was fine. All children should be spoiled by parents and grandparents. They should be nurtured and grow up feeling protected and free to be who they want to be, but they needed the freedom to learn from mistakes and the satisfaction of working for what they value as well.

No matter how wealthy the family, I wouldn’t tolerate raising a useless child who didn’t have the confidence to survive without family backing because there were no guarantees in this would. Everyone should have a certain amount of self-sufficiency.

Jake waited for me at the door of the bridle chamber. He would walk me down the aisle. He looked far different from the scruffy bum I’d met that first time. The man whose arm I took was movie star handsome. He was most assuredly in the wrong profession.

A few steps later, Stiff held out his arm. Yeah, I had two men escorting me to meet my future. I smiled up to him.

"You still have time to back out," Stiff said.

"And do what? Become your concubine? Wylla would never allow it."

Stiff’s smile widened. "I’d rather fight with that woman than make love to any other woman in this world. When will she marry me?"

"Aren’t you still working on earning the title of boyfriend?"

"Yeah, she’s a tougher cookie to crack than you."

"You love us."

"That I do." Stiff patted my hand where it rested on his arm.

The wedding hall was filled with more than eight hundred guests—far too many to fill Father DiMarco’s church thanks to Estelle’s forever growing guest list. We’d had to relocate the ceremony but standing ahead with Alec was my dearest savior. I would never consider marriage with Father DiMarco walking me through the ceremony.

As we walked down the aisle, I forced my eyes off my husband to smile at guests to the left and the right. Crazy Code employees smiled like proud parents from their seats. I so wished Bee were with them or, better yet, my maid of honor. I still missed her every day. In my heart, I hoped the child was a girl. I would name her after Bee in a heartbeat. Alec might want a mini-me. I prayed for a reincarnation of my best friend.

Tears welled in my eyes and fought them back. Estelle would kill me if I ruined the makeup job I’d just sat through. It had to be enough knowing Bee was watching over me from wherever she was. She would always be with me in my heart. Always as surely as Alec would always share the space with her.

Ben and Min were there with King. The first round of antidote had worked somewhat. Now instead of living in an endless state of powerless anxiety and fighting a craving for a drug that was apt to kill him in the end, he suffered from periodic episodes. The improved antidote was in the last round of testing now. We had high hopes it would give King back some semblance of his past life.

King looked like he was attending a funeral more than a wedding. His brows were pulled together, and his lips held the hint of a pout. He still clung to the dream that I would return to him. I hoped attending my wedding would dissuade him of that illusion. There was no going back when it came to King. We had too much bitter history between us.

That said, I wished him well. He had a lot of baggage to overcome. That he had survived as well has he had was a miracle, but it didn’t mean I owed him a do over.

Alec was the only do over I wanted in my future. For many days, he was the reason I awoke each morning and forced food into my body. He was the reason I didn’t give into the darkness. I literally owed him my life, and I was willing to devote the rest of my life to him in repayment.

Estelle and Eugene were wiping back tears as I passed, and Jake handed me off to Alec.

Jake said, "I don’t have to tell you to take care of her, right? Sampson and I will be watching."

"And me," Stiff said. "Don’t forget me. I’ve got eyes everywhere."

The men shared a grin of understanding before Stiff cupped my head and left a kiss on my cheek. "You will forever be my precious first love, Teela. I wish you every happiness."

And then it was Alec and I standing before Father DiMarco, our vows exchanged once again, but this time in front of hundreds of friends and family. I couldn’t help it. The tears flowed. Happy tears. Tears of gratitude. I wasn’t alone anymore. I didn’t have to slave away for a cruel family for crumbs of kindness.

I had a princess wedding with a prince of the city, and this time, the choice had been made with both eyes open. I knew this man to be worthy of my love. I had no doubt that he loved me too. He spent every day telling me how much I meant to him. He showed me in his actions from the way he made sure I ate breakfast in the mornings to the tender way he made love to me at night.

Alec and I shared a kiss as the guests clapped and cheered. His lips were possessive as if reminding me I was his and he’d never let me go. I never wanted him to let me go, so I returned the kiss with my own fervor until Wylla tapped my shoulder.

"Teela, time to come up for a breath girl."

"Mm, in a minute."

Reluctantly, Alec and I brought the kiss to a close and turned to smile at our audience. So many smiling faces. So much love and happiness. It was a bit overwhelming.

"You deserve all of this," Alec said. "You always have, Teela. You’ve got so many people in your life who care about you. Never forget this."

I leaned into my man. "You are the only one I need, Alec. You are the reason I can breathe. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you."

As we left the hall surrounded by the people who were important to us, all I could think about was this was the beginning of what would become my greatest adventure. I had no delusions that we would always be as happy as we were at that moment, but it didn’t matter. We had a strong foundation of love and mutual respect to carry us through the hard times. We’d learned to practice good communication skills, and we had a shared history of coping with adversity well.

Alec and I had what it took to survive whatever the world threw at us, and we would pass on those skills to our children. Yes, I’d resigned myself to knowing we would have more than the one child. A love as big as the one we shared needed a big family. And maybe if I was lucky, at least one of the kids would carry on my hacking legacy and bring some justice to an unjust world.