Betrayed by My Trash Husband, Surrender Myself to the Devil-Chapter 33: Meant to Hate (II)

Claudia POV

"You don’t have to try and act nice in front of me. No need to smile as if you tolerate me, and no need to cry as if your life depends on me. All I want from you is hatred. I want you to keep remembering me as a monster that you hate."

I was about to cry before because I got upset with how rough he was. But when he said that he also didn’t want to see my tears, I quickly wiped them before they fell.

I was expecting too much from a monster. I was genuinely hurt, because I really expected us to get closer once we found common ground to talk about our situation.

His brain was wired differently after all. Maybe after he got bored of me, we could start anew as friends, since I didn’t think a man like him was capable of true love.

I admit I was wrong for what I did back then, but was it really worth tormenting me for the next ten years over it?

He already had a perfect life. He was the heir to a billion-dollar investment bank, an accomplished psychiatrist in his own right, and with his looks alone, he could have any woman he wanted.

So, what was the point of clinging to the bitter past with a forgettable and broken woman like me?

I continued wiping my tears, but the sobs coming out of my lips betrayed me.

Ray seemed to get agitated by my muffled sobs for whatever reason, and he warned me, "Stop those annoying fake tears. Neither that nor your fake love from a decade ago will move me."

"It’s not fake..." I muttered while wiping my tears. "Neither was the love I had for you back then."

...

Ray fell into a long silence as I tried my best to muffle my sobs. In the end, he clicked his tongue annoyedly and went to his room.

He slammed the door so hard that my heart jumped for the second time. I didn’t move from the same spot for a while. I wiped my tears continuously for about fifteen more minutes before cleaning the dining table, sobbing a few times.

I was expecting a budding friendship and upcoming freedom after this dinner, but what I got was a rough hickey on my neck and the realization that I wouldn’t be free for the next ten years or more.

"Then what should I do to save my daughter?" I asked myself, the question making my heart and head ache.

**

I tilted my neck in front of the vanity mirror, checking the hickey that Ray made tonight.

There was no justification for this. At least in my opinion, Ray had no reason to give me a hickey so deep that it was impossible to cover up with makeup.

I washed and rubbed it a few times, but this hickey would likely persist for about a week or more, especially since my skin was thin and pale.

Since there was nothing I could do, I decided to push this problem aside and return to my bed, hugging Aurora’s elephant doll that I had just fixed at noon.

What should I do to save Aurora?

That question continued to linger for a good reason, because my daughter was the only reason I signed that crazy contract with him.

I knew that proving my innocence was important so I could leave Los Angeles with Aurora and start anew somewhere else. But how could I do that when I was completely in the dark about the investigation?

Miles and Clarissa were great actors. So great that they could make me look like the crazy one for defending my innocence.

So I needed more information and, if possible, to involve myself more in the investigation. I needed to be active rather than allowing Miles and Clarissa to take control of everything and throw me in jail unless I followed their demands.

I slowly turned toward the wall that separated my room from Ray’s. This apartment was well-built with thick walls, so I didn’t know what Ray was doing in the next room.

I guessed he must be working and was probably annoyed by my tears. He said it himself that he got annoyed seeing me cry.

However, whether he was annoyed or not, he was still my ticket to freedom. So I had to brush our confrontation today under the rug and then pretend that everything was fine by tomorrow morning.

I stared at the ceiling while hugging Aurora’s doll and slowly closed my eyes, thinking of a good life with my daughter, away from Miles, Ray, and Clarissa.

* 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

As I fell into a deep sleep, I dreamt of the time when I was just a child around Aurora’s age, swinging back and forth on an old swing under the willow tree in my backyard while eating an ice pop in that fateful summer.

I was naive and thought my family was perfect. Daddy had a restaurant, and Mommy baked the best cakes and pies.

However, that fateful summer day was different, because Daddy returned home with a strange woman and a girl my age. I didn’t remember much of the conversation, but after seeing my Daddy with his second family, Mommy fainted and fell ill soon after.

She never recovered after that incident. Her health declined rapidly every day, and my Daddy seemed to have forgotten about his wife and daughter at home as he built a new life with his second family.

I was the only one accompanying Mommy on her deathbed and still vividly remember the words she whispered in my ear:

"Claudia, you are my only daughter, and I will always be your mother.

But if I could turn back time, I wish you were never born, and I never married that cheating bastard. I don’t want to fall in love only to get hurt in the end.

My marriage is a mistake, and you... you are the mistake that I unfortunately love with all my heart."

*