Betrayed by My Trash Husband, Surrender Myself to the Devil-Chapter 28: This Uncomfortable Feeling (III)

Ray POV

As a man who believed himself to be logical, I should’ve known which one took more priority. But I had been making irrational decisions this morning, all stemming from Claudia’s tears.

Who would’ve expected the infamous cold-hearted bastard to be distracted over a mere woman’s tears?

I stared at Clarissa with nonchalant eyes and replied, "I cannot guarantee Aurora’s safety under your care. So I have to separate her from you for now."

"Huh? What kind of half-assed reason is that?" Clarissa tilted her head. I could see that the mask of ’cute and sweet’ she had begun to crack as she lost her patience. "I haven’t done anything to her, have I? Why don’t you trust me, darling?"

"Besides, if you want to separate them, who will take care of Aurora?"

"I’ll arrange for someone else to take care of her for now," I replied.

Though I hadn’t shown any sign of nervousness in front of her, I understood that Clarissa was the type of woman who wouldn’t listen to any reason that didn’t benefit her.

"You’re not doing this because you’re still in love with that loose bitch, are you?" she asked.

This time, my body couldn’t hide the displeasure. My brows creased as I replied sharply, "Shut your mouth, Clarissa. I am not someone who lingers on the past. I’m doing this because Aurora is still a key witness, and you are as unstable as a human can be. If you hurt her in any way, Claudia’s case will overturn and you’ll be dragged in as another suspect."

Listening to my explanation, Clarissa’s stern expression began to soften as she smiled sweetly at me again.

"I’m sorry, honey bunny sweety. I’m just angry whenever I think that a man of your caliber would be hopelessly in love with Claudia. Thinking about it makes me... ugh! It makes me want to strangle someone!"

"Your craziness just spilled out," I pointed out coldly. "And do you think I would trust Aurora to you?"

Clarissa covered her mouth as if she had been caught, then giggled and winked at me. "Oops, I guess you’re right. Thinking about you and Claudia together makes me want to strangle her daughter. Oh, honey baby, you really know me that well, huh?"

I couldn’t care less about whatever capricious flirtation came out of her mouth.

I walked out of the room and spoke to the administration, who had been informed about my plan beforehand, to quickly move Aurora’s bed to another VIP room.

Since there were two cops guarding the girls before, I made sure one of them would guard Aurora and the other would guard Lara. On top of that, I told them not to let Clarissa enter Aurora’s ward.

"Mr. Gatlin, what’s with this arrangement? Miss Clarissa Reed has been doing well taking care of both of them, no?" the older cop asked.

"I’m afraid Clarissa will snap and want to take revenge on Claudia’s daughter because of what happened that night. This is for their safety," I replied before entering the ward, and the cops accepted the reasoning quickly.

Inside the ward, Aurora lay on the bed with her eyes closed, peaceful like a little sleeping beauty.

I had people following Claudia’s activities almost every day for the past ten years and had collected many pictures of her.

In fact, I didn’t even know how many photos I had of her.

All because I wanted to satisfy this craving inside me. I got annoyed, distracted, and generally incompetent whenever I hadn’t heard anything about her for at least three days.

But I had never paid attention to this little girl. She had always been one of those blurry figures in my life, despite being Claudia’s daughter.

After all, I saw every child in this world as nothing but useless little brats who had no function to me until they were old enough to listen to orders. I never liked children and never planned to have one.

Now that I took a good look at her, I realized that she was basically a miniature version of Claudia.

Her hair and facial features resembled Claudia, like she was just a copy-pasted version of her.

It made me wonder if this little girl also had a sharp tongue like her mother.

Nevertheless, since she resembled Claudia, I bet she was the center of attention everywhere due to her cuteness.

She must have been loved by everyone around her—unlike me, who had been given nasty or fearful looks by everyone growing up.

My father, late mother, late grandparents, relatives, even that bitch of a stepmother.

They all feared me and called me a monster or a devil.

Not that they were wrong, they were simply stating the truth.

Aurora lay before me, and my thoughts drifted to her mother, who had cried so desperately to save her from Clarissa’s clutch.

Unlike Clarissa, who had no feelings for her own daughter, Claudia’s strong devotion toward her child proved the ancient theory that a mother would do absolutely anything to keep her offspring safe.

"So, you are Claudia’s only weakness, huh?" I spoke to the unconscious girl like an idiot. "Do you know how much your mother sacrificed to protect you? She even agreed to stay with a heartless bastard like me in exchange for your safety."

"So, you better stay alive, because I do not like seeing your mother cry like that. It distracts me from my work, and I hate getting distracted."

I felt a little better after talking to Claudia’s daughter.

Somehow, I imagined how relieved Claudia would be to see her daughter safe and sound here, so I took a picture of Aurora and texted it to her.

It took less than five seconds for Claudia to call me, and I picked up immediately.

"H-how is it, Ray? Aurora is safe, right? How about her condition? Is she still unconscious? Is there any improvement, or is she getting worse? Did you find any wounds on her body?"

Claudia attacked me with a barrage of questions, so I gave her the answers she wanted.

"She’s fine and her condition is stable. I’ve moved her to another ward and told the cop not to let Clarissa in. She’ll be taken care of by another nurse 24/7."

"Oh my God, t-thank you, Ray. I really owe you this one," Claudia said. "You are her lifesaver."

"... If you have nothing else to say, then I’ll hang up. I still have work to do."

"Y-yes! Sorry for interrupting you! Thank you for taking care of my daughter!"

Beep.

I ended the call in a much better mood.

My mind had cleared up once I realized that Claudia wasn’t crying anymore, though it felt a little ironic.

Claudia called me Aurora’s savior, but I was the one who told Clarissa to take a picture of her daughter and terrorize her at midnight.

In a sense, I was the one who gave her the poison—and also the antidote.

Just like the devil I truly am.

"..."

Did I regret what I did? No, not at all.

Because I achieved the result I needed using my usual method, which was to make sure Claudia obeyed me.

But maybe I went a bit too far with my method, because I didn’t feel satisfied even after getting what I wanted. Claudia’s tears were definitely out of my equation, and I hated it when things were not under my control.

"I’ll have to adjust my method in the future. I need to make sure she won’t shed tears in front of me anymore, or else I’ll be distracted and start acting like an idiot."