Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 79: Ladies and Gentlemen

"I can’t do that, Teela," King said. "No one is going to believe a housewife."

"That’s why I’m here," Anya said. "They will believe me. Take Mom to the hospital. I’ll handle the press."

"And what authority do you have?" I asked, bristling at the thought of King choosing Anya over me.

Anya said, "Everyone recognizes me as a member of the Heavenly family and as a successful businesswoman. They’ll believe anything I tell them."

"Ben, you do it," King said. "Anya, take care of Mom."

Anya said, "You trust that kid over me?"

"Ben’s an adult. He’s two years younger than you," King said as he rubbed at his eyes.

"Yeah, and still in school. And he’s known for his parties. Not the image you want to put out there at a time like this, King," Anya insisted.

Ben held up his hands to ward off the responsibility. "Not me. I think Teela should do it."

"Really, King? Anyone but me, your wife? Is that what your love means? You love me in the bedroom but not the boardroom. I thought we’d moved beyond that."

I don’t know why I expected better from King. He always let me down. I wasn’t sure what upset me the most. Whether it was because he appeared to be siding with Lettie yet again or that he didn’t trust me with his precious little empire. I wouldn’t have volunteered if I didn’t think I could do this.

"Teela, it’s not like that," King said.

"Mom! No!" Anya cried out.

Lettie lay unconscious on the floor. Her color wasn’t any better.

I’d be damned before I let her escape prison by dying. I called an ambulance and then rushed to the old woman’s side.

Anya pushed me away. "Don’t you touch her!"

"Fine, then you do something. She’s not dying here." I looked around the room. "Why know CPR?"

One of King’s security detail stepped forward and took over caring for Lettie. Good. No one could blame me for letting her die.

I went back to my laptop and finished the proxy. I printed it out on the condo’s printer and held it out to King.

"Sign it."

"No."

"I’m Night fucking Shadows, asshole. One word from me, and I can practically make the entire internet go dark. Isn’t that enough clout to be your damned mouthpiece until you are better?"

King’s jaw dropped. It took him a full minute to pull himself together.

"I’ve met Night Shadows. You’re not him."

I rolled my eyes. "You’re an idiot. Min, tell him."

"King, she speaks the truth. I saw through her disguise immediately. I’ve seen her in action. She’s Night Shadows."

"She is my wife. I’d recognize my own wife."

I snorted. "Apparently not. Now sign it."

"I’ll sign proxy to Ben."

One step forward and two back. One more step and I’d fall off this cliff of delusions and, with luck, back into the real world.

I dropped the paper into King’s lap. "I tried. Go fuck yourself."

"Boys, Rosie, with me."

I tucked my laptop under my arm and walked around Anya and Lettie, pretty impressed with myself for not spitting on them. The door was wide open. There were no obstacles between me and leaving all this behind only I wasn’t ready to leave it all behind, not until Lettie was brought to justice. I had another plan in mind.

It took some time to transport all of us to the ground floor, but it was worth the wait. I needed to make an impression during my next plan of action, and my sleeping sweats and a raggedy hoodie weren’t likely to do the trick. I’d have to make an impression in other ways. Walking into a room full of reporters with a dozen security guards at my back and King’s baby brother at my side might work. If not, I’d like the evidence speak for itself.

It wasn’t hard to find the meeting room where the antsy reporters waited for King to make an appearance. Like it or not, King’s useless housewife was going to have her say.

I took the long stroll from the back of the room to the podium while making my presence known.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Teela Heavenly. My husband is King Heavenly. My mother-in-law is Lettie Heavenly. Daniel Heavenly is my brother-in-law. The man to my side here is Ben Heavenly, another brother-in-law and a much better man than any of his brothers."

Ben smiled at me, encouraging me to continue. Rosie squeezed my hand and stayed by my side.

"In a few minutes, King will send a representative down to make you feel better about the future of Heavenly Enterprises. I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to tell you Daniel is innocent. That all those awful charges will disappear like all of this is a bad dream that will magically go away. Nothing is ever that easy or clear cut. I speak from experience."

It was easier to talk while walking through the crowd than it was at the podium, where all eyes were on me, but that wouldn’t stop me.

"If you will give me a half a minute, I’ll tell you the true story. Better yet, I will show you enough evidence for you to make up your own mind."

I tapped into the meeting room video system, and then I told the Heavenly story. Ben fed me additional images from Lettie’s diary as I went along. I didn’t pretty anything up. I didn’t share opinions, just facts.

I made a plea for information about CK’s brother and Jake’s missing Drake. And I put in a good word for all the victims, asking people to check with the local police if they have a missing child. Help those victims return home safely and quickly.

And then I did the unbelievable, particularly considering how angry and betrayed I felt. I explained that there was absolutely no evidence that Heavenly Enterprises, under the leadership of King Heavenly, was involved in the crimes. Blame Lettie. Blame Daniel and Heavenly Logistics, but avoid villainizing those who were not involved.

Anya picked that moment to enter, looking like the cover of Business Weekly, as opposed to my fresh-from-the-bed sweats and hoodie.

"Whatever that woman says is a lie," Anya proclaimed.

A few titters rolled through the crowd.

"Are you sure?" I asked. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"You only know how to lie, Teela."

"So what part was a lie, Anya?" The part where I told them King would send you down to speak for him or the part where I said King Heavenly runs an ethical operation?"

Anya paused her runway stride to answer. "Well, that part is true."

"Then maybe more, if not all, of what I told them is true."

"You’re here to destroy the Heavenly family. Lettie Heavenly is on the way to the hospital right now, and you are taking advantage of her illness to make her out to be a monster."

"Who called an ambulance for her while you did nothing?"

"You did, but I was in shock. I could have called."

"But you didn’t. So, who is out to get Lettie, me or you?

"Don’t turn this on me, Teela. I didn’t betray the family."

Ben said, "Some families deserve betrayal. Teela, let’s go. You’ve said what you came to say."

I closed my laptop and left the podium as reporters tried to get my attention for questions. The reporters closed around me until Ben signaled security to hold back the crowd.

Ben was right. I had said my piece. They either believed me or not, but no one could accuse me of cowardly behavior. I did the bravest thing I’ve ever done, and I didn’t regret a minute of it.

"You did great," Ben said as we exited the room. The guards shut the doors between us and the uproar from the reporters.

I nodded, my teeth chattering so hard from nerves that momentarily I couldn’t speak.

Ben tried to lead me to the elevators back to the penthouse. Well, that wasn’t going to happen.

I shook my head and veered toward the exit. I needed to get out of there.

"I can’t leave Min," Ben said from his place near the elevators.

"Everyone should be true to their own path."

"And we can’t leave King alone. I owe him too much."

I didn’t. Not anymore.

"Rosie, you should stay, too."

"You sure? Mr. Heavenly is ill. He could use my help, but my loyalty is to you and Father DiMarco."

"Go. I need some alone time."

That wasn’t exactly true, but it let her off the hook. She was right. King would need her.

He never needed me. Not really.

I left with four guards, leaving the rest for King and Ben, not that I thought they would need security. If Lettie wanted to hurt anyone, she would strike against me. But first, she would have to regain consciousness.

All of a sudden, I knew exactly where I needed to be. Now, I was moving with purpose.