King
King walked in the front door to find Anya and Lettie waiting for him with hands on hips.
Lettie scowled. "Where's your wife?"
"How should I know? What's wrong?"
"Dinner is served in an hour, and Teela is missing. It doesn't look like she's done the cleaning today either."
"Have you checked the security cam footage?"
"No. We just arrived. I called for Teela to bring in our shopping bags, but she didn't respond," Anya said.
"Why is Teela carrying your bags?" King asked.
Anya shrugged. "Why not? She doesn't have anything better to do."
King sighed. "I'll check with security."
Lettie said, "I swear, I don't know what is going on with that girl. She should be grateful to be a part of this family. I don't understand why she continues to disregard the family rules."
King took off his jacket and handed it and his laptop bag off to Anya, who looked offended.
"Don't we have servants for this type of thing?" Anya said, dropping his things onto a nearby chair.
"What is the difference between my things and your shopping bags?"
"Nothing, I guess."
"So, you think of Teela as a servant?"
Anya grunted and mumbled. "Isn't she?"
Lettie said, "Teela is whatever I want her to be, King."
"Right."
King wasn't blind. He knew Lettie had assigned Teela household chores, but he didn't realize Anya was using her as a personal servant as well. He was so accustomed to entrusting Lettie to running the estate that he ignored the day-to-day operation. It seemed like a good division of labor, considering how many hours of the day he devoted to the business.
It hadn't escaped his attention either that Lettie did not speak up for Teela when Anya treated her like paid help.
King went to the security monitoring station and asked the guard on duty to play back footage for the day. He watched as Teela left their bedroom with a backpack over her shoulder and the shopping bag in her hand. He watched as she walked out the front door.
He saw her stroll down the driveway and enter a bright yellow VW. That Bea woman was behind the wheel. They drove away not thirty minutes after he had left for work.
Giving Teela the benefit of a doubt, King reasoned that he'd given her a credit card. She may have called her friend to go shopping with her, but that was no excuse not to be home by now. He knew with certainty Lettie wouldn't let a new credit card excuse the failure to prepare dinner.
He called the cell phone number Min had given him for Teela. No answer. King couldn't explain away Teela's failure to answer his call. Even if she were running late, she should let someone know.
King took off at a jog toward his bedroom. The credit card he had left for Teela was still there. The cell phone he had given her was still on the bed.
On the other hand, Teela was gone.
King knew the minute Lettie insisted he take Teela to the reflection room, he was at threat of losing her. Now it appeared she had left, and he didn't like it.
It wasn't like he loved her. His heart wasn't broken. What bothered him the most was she left of her own volition and not his. His disappointment was exacerbated because he had started to take steps to make things better for Teela, and she'd still left him. King was accustomed to the world bending to his will, not the other way around.
Now, this unremarkable woman was redefining his reality. King didn't like it. She didn't have the right to upset his world. He didn't like it. What he liked was organization and routine. Nothing about the last few days had been routine.
At the very least, she owed him a reason instead of waiting until his back was turned to take off.
He wondered how much of Teela leaving had to do with this Bea woman. After three years, it seemed unlikely Teela would take off without prompting from outside sources.
If Bea was the cause, King wouldn't let her go. He would destroy her and everything she loved. No one had the right to undermine his marriage.
A nasty thought niggled at the back of his mind. If no one had the right to interfere in his marriage, why had he let his mom set the tone for his?
Teela
The retailer refused to refund me for the shoes without a receipt. I shrugged it off and went to an upscale resell shop two blocks away, where I received ample funds to rent a small furnished apartment and stock it with essentials like groceries, kitchenware, linens, and cleaning supplies. Tomorrow, I would outfit the place with a desk and a laptop that would get me back online while I custom-built a PC with all the bells and whistles I would need to reintegrate into the dark web.
I knew I had skills I could use to earn money, but technology changed quickly. It would take me a hot minute to modernize my skills and re-establish connections with the people who would pay good money for exceptional skills.
If I could stay off King's radar for the next sixty days, Teela Heavenly would disappear forever. I'd done it before. I could do it again. I was that skilled.
Bea collapsed on the couch after washing and stowing the kitchen and dining ware. "Are you ready to give me the deets now on why you left your husband? Most women would give up an arm to marry someone as good-looking and rich as King Heavenly."
"They can have him and his family."
I didn't want to sound petty, so I tried to hit just the main points that made up the backbone of my reasons for living, but the longer I talked, the more slights that I hadn't even realized were bothering me came to light.
Even so, I was proud of myself. I kept my emotions under control.
"My god, Teela. That's a lot. I don't know anyone who would have put up with as much as you did. Did you try to talk it out with King? What did he say?"
"That's part of the problem, Bea. King doesn't talk. He either ignores me or pawns me off on his mother. Either way, nothing gets better."
"I hear you. Well, you don't have to worry about it anymore. Put that blind, deaf, mute jerk in the rearview mirror. You've got me now. You don't need him."
I wished Bea was right, but I knew better. Even if King didn't fight me on leaving, I would have to endure the divorce process and contact with his attorneys. In wealthy families like the Heavenlys, the divorce battle could take months, if not years, to finalize.
But that was a battle for another day. For now, I could hide out and heal while I redefined my self-worth and identity as something other than a victim.
Bea clapped her hands. "I know! We should go out and celebrate."
"No, Bea. That goes directly against the plan to hide out. Remember, wife in hiding here."
"Hide tomorrow. For this one night, let's go out and celebrate your dash for freedom."
"I don't think so."
"Sure, you can, honey." Bea tilted her head to one side and then the other as she examined my face. "Let me do my magic, and not even King will recognize you. I promise. Please? Just for me?"
"I don't have anything to wear for a night of clubbing."
To be frank, clubbing wasn't my thing, but letting loose and being someone else for a little while was tempting.
"I've got clothes."
Bea made a phone call, and twenty minutes later, a petite woman showed up at my door with a garment bag and a makeup kit. An hour later, Bea was right. I didn't even recognize myself.
Bea had thickened my stringy hair with several clip-in extensions. She'd give me a beauty pageant-worthy makeover that made my lips look fuller and my eyes larger. Bea dressed me in a burgundy crushed velvet dress that hugged my curves. The back draped so low, I kept fighting the urge to pull it up. Since I wasn't comfortable wearing heels, we compromised. Bea paired the dress with black leather work boots with platform heels.
I looked sexy in an edgy kind of way that I kind of dug.
Bea wore a black leather jacket and a black, gold and purple plaid miniskirt with a wide belt that hung at an angle on her hip as if one good jiggle would cause the belt to shimmy off her curves and onto the floor.
Bea was a beautiful woman without makeup. Dressed for a night out, she was drop-dead gorgeous. I was surprised that even in my own eyes, tonight I could hold my own standing next to her.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Where the boys are. Where else? It's about time you found out what a real man can do for you."
"Oh, Bea, no. I'm still married. I couldn't."
"You can, but no one will make you. There is no crime in looking, is there? Let's go out and window shop."
Bea led me to the door, handing me a evening bag and my phone. "And if you see anything you like, just let Auntie Bea know. I'll get it for you."
"Auntie? Bea, I'm older than you."
"Age doesn't matter with relationship. Just stick with me. We'll have one night that you'll never forget.