Chapter 58: Chapter 58: A Furious Devil
Ray POV
"Brother, are you sure that we can’t negotiate about it?" Miles asked again for the third time by the end of this meeting.
This meeting was not an official one on his schedule, and I could’ve just kicked Miles out for not following it.
But I wanted to know what this bastard had to say, since he actually dared to ask for the wedding ring back on the phone after I paid him ten million dollars for it.
He didn’t seem to understand his situation at all, though, because he insisted on buying it back for five million.
"You fickle bastard, have you got your ears checked? Because when I said no, then it is no," I denied his request for the third time now. "Besides, why are you changing your mind now? Don’t tell me that you regret our transaction."
Miles looked flustered when I accused him of backing off on his own decision. He looked scared, perhaps because I couldn’t control my facial expression right now.
I was more than annoyed with Miles now, because having his wedding ring in my hand was one of the rare cathartic moments I had in love. When I held that ring, I felt like I already had half of Claudia’s life in my hand, and I didn’t want to trade it over what—five million dollars?
That amount didn’t even register to me. That was less than pocket change!
"Did you suddenly remember her as your wife and want that ring back?" I asked again. This time, I knew that I must’ve looked like a demon in front of Miles, because his face visibly paled in just a matter of seconds.
"T-that’s not what I want, brother! Y-you know me, right? I—I will never take back what I’ve discarded, including Claudia and that wedding ring!" Miles tried to defend himself, but it didn’t look convincing at all in my eyes.
"Then why do you want that ring back?"
"..."
This time, Miles couldn’t answer at all. He was probably too scared to give me the real answer, because I knew that he was having second thoughts.
He already hesitated on giving me the ring to begin with. Maybe at home, he began recalling some of the good memories with Claudia and regretted his decision a bit.
This was dangerous in my book, because Claudia was a fool. If she accidentally met with Miles again, who knew what could happen next? They might as well reconcile, and Claudia would somehow overlook what Miles and Clarissa did.
Or worse, she might be stupid enough to accept her new fate and become Miles’ fuckmaid while Clarissa became the new Mrs. Hoffman.
My chest began to heave as I imagined Claudia as a fuckmaid. For some reason, the idea was so repulsive in my mind that I clenched the armrests until veins popped at the back of my hands.
It was rare for me to lose control to someone that wasn’t named Claudia, yet right now, I... actually had a murderous thought about Miles Hoffman, my wretched stepbrother.
I had planned his downfall in the most devastating way possible. However, if my plan went awry and Miles successfully persuaded Claudia to return, then...
Killing him wouldn’t be a bad contingency plan.
That vile thought crossed my mind. Still, I tried to keep myself in check while facing him.
To me, Miles was like a timid rat. But unlike Claudia, who was beautiful and nice to look at despite all of her antics, Miles was like a filthy sewer rat that made me want to step on him until his innards burst out of his body and his eyes popped out of their sockets.
Both he and his mother were the same sewer rats I wanted to stomp until their guts splattered all over the wall, and that would’ve been an easy way out for both of them, because what they did to me in the past was truly heinous.
I was patient enough to play the long game... until now.
Seeing how he tried to change his decision made me feel like committing something atrocious just to calm the rage in my heart.
I took a deep breath to calm myself and said, "If that’s what you want, then sure. You can have the ring back."
Miles raised his head in surprise, staring at me with his disgusting fawning look again. Everything about him screamed pathetic to me, and I couldn’t help but grin as I imagined a grotesque image.
"But you have to return everything that I have invested in your company. Everything as in—the money, the connections, and all the convenient things I did to help you build your company until it skyrocketed," I said. "Of course, I’ll make sure you pay it all back... with interest."
Just as I expected, my threat was enough to scare him shitless. He shook his head vehemently before replying, "I—I don’t think I can do that, Brother. Who needs that stupid ring anyway? Hahaha..."
See? This was the true Miles, the man that Claudia loved so much that she actually insulted me because she thought Miles was much better than I could ever be.
He was an opportunistic coward who wouldn’t hesitate to do anything to get the profit he wanted, but when faced with consequences, he backed off immediately and tried to downplay it.
But instead of just being a coward, he was the worst type of guy—a coward who bullied those weaker than him, just like how he bullied Claudia once he got a crazy bitch like Clarissa by his side.
"Then if you have nothing to say anymore, don’t waste my time and SCRAM!" I raised my voice at the end to let go of the frustration in my chest.
It felt good seeing how Miles was about to piss himself as he shook from head to toe. He ran away without saying anything, much to my dismay.
"I don’t understand you, Claudia. Why would you give yourself up to a stupid wimp like him?"
