Betrayed by My Trash Husband, Surrender Myself to the Devil-Chapter 39: A Repulsive Stepbrother (II)

Ray POV

"I can see that you’re taking your time," I sneered before glancing at Amira.

Amira nodded. She grabbed a cleaning spray and a cloth from a cabinet. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

She furiously sprayed and wiped the chair that Miles had sat on and also the side of the round table where Miles had put his shoes just now.

Miles watched this and frowned. "Is that really necessary? I’m not a dirty hobo who’d infect you with germs!"

"Only a dirty hobo would sit in someone’s seat uninvited and put their shoes on the table as if they owned the place," I replied calmly, but it was enough to strike Miles straight in his conscience.

He looked ashamed for a moment, yet true to his nature, he clicked his tongue and acted all buddy-buddy.

"Tsk, your habit still hasn’t changed at all, Ray. You are a clean freak! But we are brothers after all, so I’ll allow you to do that!"

I told Amira to leave the meeting room as I sat in the newly cleaned seat. Miles followed suit by sitting on the chair right next to mine. He had that fawning look in his eyes, ready to say all the sweet things just to make me comply.

Well, I had been complying with all of his requests so far, though those were just within my calculations, since I wanted him to show his true nature to everyone—including his own wife.

"I don’t have much time to deal with your nonsense, so keep it quick and concise. What do you need?" I asked.

Miles put on a troubled expression and said, "I don’t know what to do with the case, brother. Claudia left the house and is nowhere to be found. I tried calling her, but she blocked me already."

"Maybe she’s trying to run away because she knows that jail time is unavoidable? She’s been erratic these days," Miles said. "Or maybe she can’t handle the pressure and jumped from a bridge or something—"

"Stop with your nonsense, Miles," I gave him a stern gaze, which scared him easily. "Claudia cares so much about her daughter. Why would she run away or kill herself as long as Aurora is still alive?"

"I—I’m just guessing what she’s been up to, but I don’t really know what to do either," Miles sighed. "Do you know how your evaluation of her, declaring her mentally sane, threw us a curveball? Now the police can’t just arrest her or put her in a mental hospital, and all we can do right now is wait for Aurora or Lara to wake up."

And everything is just within my expectations, including writing her off as mentally sane.

I thought as I continued to listen to his rambling.

"Now I feel stuck. I can’t blackmail her into giving up everything to Clarissa and becoming my fuckmaid because her position is no longer dire," Miles sighed heavier than before. "And I can’t just throw her into a mental ward for her ungratefulness either."

"Why do you want to make her a fuckmaid?" I asked.

"Because she’s an ungrateful loose bitch. She’s controlling, fussy, and acts like she has control over me—the man who gives her money. Since she doesn’t know how to appreciate me, then she’s better off as a fuckmaid instead of my wife!" Miles exclaimed loudly. His pathetic voice grated on my ears even more by now, but I still maintained my poker face.

"Why don’t you just divorce her if you can’t stand her?"

"Huh, and let her take half of my assets? That’s bullshit! I worked hard for it!"

"Most of your current success is because of my investment, Miles, and I haven’t gotten enough dividends to cover my losses," I reminded him calmly, and Miles’ proud face deflated instantly.

"I don’t know why you are ruining our plan, Ray? I thought that we were tight-knit brothers who support each other. So why would you write her as mentally sane?" Miles asked.

"Tight-knit?" I raised my brow to ridicule him. "You’ve only recently started saying that after I gave you fifty million dollars for your mega property project."

"Besides, I don’t have any obligation to help you and your mistress. All I said is that I’ll be on the winning side, and from the looks of it, you’re not winning against Claudia anytime soon," I ridiculed him even further by doubling down. "As for my evaluation? I’m just being professional. She is mentally sane. You and I both know that."

"She shouldn’t be after what happened that night! I even told Clarissa to push Lara stronger than Aurora, so the wounds would be very convincing."

I disliked having to speak about the details of their crime, because I already had a different plan after the peck of kisses this morning with Claudia.

"Just tell me what you want, Miles. I don’t have time for your pity party, nor do I care about Claudia’s case."

Miles gave me a dirty look for a split second, then quickly returned to his fawning smile and said, "Brother, I’ve been getting a few hiccups with the property I’m handling. An accountant in my company made a huge mistake and squandered some of the money invested by you and other investors. So I need your help to cover the losses, so my project can continue."

"And how much do you need?"

"Uh... about ten million?" Miles’ smile widened as he added, "That’s a tiny amount for you, right?"

I smiled back at him, my smile was neither fawning nor joyful. Perhaps my smile had always been sinister, because Miles slowly lost his smile while staring at me.

"Sure, I can do that, with one requirement."

"What is it, brother?" he asked.

My gaze flicked down to the neat tie that Claudia fixed for me in the morning, then toward Miles, who wasn’t wearing any tie.

Perhaps my stepbrother had become so used to being taken care of by Claudia that he didn’t realize how much he had lost over the past few days.

But that was even better for me.

I wanted him to know the feeling of how pathetic you become once Claudia leaves your life.