Betrayed by My Trash Husband, Surrender Myself to the Devil-Chapter 35: A Jealous Girl is the Most Dangerous (I)

Claudia POV

"The investigation is still ongoing and they will interrogate Miles first. Though you should know that he is seen as a witness rather than a potential suspect like you," Ray replied with his back turned away from me. "The police cannot put you under arrest because there is no substantial evidence just yet, and since I’ve diagnosed you as mentally sane, you are not going to be put in a mental ward as well."

"In the end, the police are still waiting for both girls to wake up, because they are the key witnesses. If one of them wakes up and points her finger at someone, then that person is dead meat."

I was relieved that the investigation had slowed down considerably after Ray helped me with the diagnosis. But for how long could this continue until they made an arrest?

What if Aurora and Lara took too long to wake up?

As if he could read my mind, he suddenly added, "And don’t worry about your case. They cannot arrest you until there is any hard proof. Just because Miles and Clarissa said so doesn’t mean that they can arrest you easily. Though you are still a prime suspect, and if you break any law during this period, they might put you under tight watch."

He tilted his head slightly as he looked over his shoulder and said, "So don’t test me, Claudia. I have a lot of ways to put you under scrutiny."

I swallowed nervously and my head nodded on its own. With my current position, I was basically walking on eggshells. One small misstep and everything would fall apart, with me serving a jail sentence for a crime that I didn’t commit.

Ray left the penthouse and I was once again alone in this golden cage. I was relieved by the information that I obtained, but I still hadn’t felt settled.

At this rate, Clarissa and Miles might come up with something heinous to finally put me in jail. The only saving grace I had was the fact that both Aurora and Lara were still unconscious.

Surely, once they woke up, they’d tell the truth, right?

I was 100% sure that my daughter would definitely tell the truth. Aurora had always been a very honest girl and also had a strong sense of justice, since she often spoke up about the bad things that other kids did in the playground.

Then, what about Lara?

I hadn’t paid much attention to her that night. She stayed quiet the entire time, clinging to Clarissa. From the way she behaved, it seemed she was dangerously close to her mother.

I just hoped that she wasn’t as crazy and manipulative as Clarissa, because if that was the case then...

My blood ran cold as fear crept from my feet up to my head. I recalled all the terrible torture I had endured while living with my family.

And Clarissa...

Despite her big, innocent eyes as a kid, she was still cruel enough to tell lies repeatedly so I would get beaten weekly by either my father or stepmother.

**

I spent the entire morning feeling restless about the possibility. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do while being trapped in here. Maybe I should ask Ray to bring me out later, because there might be something else I could do while outside.

As I was busy thinking about the possibilities, the door opened again, and this time it was none other than Jane Jiang.

Our eyes met, but she rolled her eyes and walked right past me.

"Wait, Jane."

Jane halted her step and turned toward me, waiting for an order. I didn’t know what Ray had said to her, but she had become as silent as a corpse.

At least I preferred her this way rather than her uncanny and unhinged smile from yesterday. The way she twisted her smile made it obvious that she was trying to mock me, at least I thought so. I just couldn’t give a damn about listening to insults from a girl who was probably ten years younger than me.

"What?" she asked crudely.

"Nothing, I just want to make sure that you are alright. Since Ray seemed to be very angry at me last night, I guess you got the flak too."

"Of-fucking-course, Miss Oldbag," Jane rolled her eyes. "Mr. Gatlin said that I’m not allowed to speak to you unless necessary. He also said that if I dare say anything that gives you the wrong impression, then I’d be fired. Can you believe that? I didn’t even say anything wrong! You are one of the dozens he dated. You fit his type, but you are nothing special! How come he wants to fire me over a dozen like you!"

Her out-of-the-blue rant caught me off guard. I found it a little funny, because it reminded me of a high school girl trying to be a "mean girl."

"Ouch, that’s a little mean," I said with a smile. "Well, at least he didn’t do anything bad to you. It’d be awkward between us if he fired you over it, right?"

Since it had been cleared up, I turned toward the living room. As I turned, Jane seemed to notice the hickey on my neck and grabbed my wrist so tightly that I winced in pain.

"O-okay, what is it now?"

"H-how could this be—did he..." Jane pointed at my hickey with her shaking hand. Her eyes widened as she fought the tears at the corners of her eyes.

"Kissed me? Uh-huh. He gave me the hickey last night." I rolled my eyes, recalling the confrontation and the awkward morning that followed.

Jane certainly knew about the pet contract, but I doubted Ray ever explained the circumstances behind our complicated relationship to her.

Besides, I didn’t want to tell Jane—or anyone else in this world—about the mess between Ray and I.

"It’s just Ray being Ray. He’s the most logical man I’ve met—very smart, but also a little... crazy. He acts on his whims, and he whimsically gave me a hickey last night. Can you believe that?" I sighed as I tried to rub it off. "It’s such a deep hickey too, it’d take four to five days to disappear."