Betrayed by My Trash Husband, Surrender Myself to the Devil

Claudia POV

I woke up while clutching the wedding rings tightly all night. I had another nightmare about Miles and Clarissa last night, but that wasn’t really surprising, as my dreams had been replaced with nightmares ever since Miles and Clarissa framed me for attempted murder.

Since I didn’t want Ray to get his hands on these rings and flush them down the drain, I decided to hide them inside my bag, making sure they were buried deep underneath everything else, just in case that crazy man decided to search for them when he had another episode.

The morning was surprisingly calm after such a tumultuous night. Perhaps because I heard no sound coming from Ray’s bedroom, home office, or the small gym, so I guessed that he was still asleep.

Did he die?

That question popped into my mind as I started preparing breakfast for him.

Then I laughed at myself for entertaining such a ridiculous idea.

"Oh, Claudia, what the fuck are you talking about?"

There was a saying that the most beautiful flowers get plucked the earliest. Thus, many good people die young while the rotten ones are left alive until they wither in old age.

Then I guess Ray would die at an extremely old age. Maybe he’d be immortal—just like a real devil.

I was entertaining myself while cooking breakfast for him. Sometimes I fantasized about putting poison in his food so he wouldn’t torment me anymore.

Everything that happened last night was no less than a nightmare. Ray became a real devil, and I was utterly terrified of him and his irrational behavior.

Wasn’t it ironic that a prolific psychiatrist was actually an irrational monster like him? Or was it because he found it interesting to study other people’s behavior while ignoring his own sociopathy?

Nevertheless, I was genuinely terrified of his erratic behavior, and I was also angry because he was teetering on the edge of my tolerance.

He was so close to being boxed under the same category as Miles—as people I wished were dead—because I actually wanted to kill them both for two different reasons: revenge for Miles, and self-preservation against Ray.

But I maintained my calm, because I knew that Ray was the only one who could help me right now. And if I could find a way to make him do what I asked, then I wouldn’t mind being trapped with him in here.

As I waited for him to wake up, I began knitting another elephant doll for Aurora. My daughter really liked elephants for some reason, instead of the usual cute animals.

I wished that the elephant dolls I made would give her the strength to finally open her eyes once more.

The door to the home office suddenly opened right before I finished making my elephant doll. I lifted my head slightly, and my eyes met Ray’s green eyes.

Unlike the rage from last night, his eyes were filled with resentment behind those glasses this morning. Yet, they were still equally disturbing for me.

I didn’t want to look into his eyes for too long, so my gaze flicked down to his knuckles instead.

I held my breath when I saw the horrible wounds on them.

He must have punched the wall so many times based on the injury, and if left untreated, it might become infected.

So when he was about to walk away, I told him to stay and then pulled him to the sofa.

Cleaning wounds like these was a common thing for a General Practitioner to do, though it was mostly handled by nurses.

Ray didn’t show any sign of enduring pain—not even a wince appeared on his face. He was calm, just like usual.

But I became even more distressed as I cleaned his wounds. Knowing the severity of them, he must have unleashed his rage like the true madman that he was.

Why would he hurt himself and destroy everything in his home office? Why would he lose control over himself over a pair of wedding rings?

I knew he was a madman, but I also knew that he had never lost control over himself before last night.

I refused to believe that he lost control over those wedding rings. Perhaps it was more because I refused to obey him.

And for a man who obviously liked to control his surroundings, seeing my defiance must have triggered him.

"Alright, all done," I said as I finished bandaging his knuckles.

I walked to the kitchen to reheat his breakfast, assuming that he wanted to eat.

But true to his nature, he began suspecting that I was doing everything because I wanted him to do something for me.

...

Well, it wasn’t wrong. I did need him to do something for me. I just didn’t like being suspected over it, because I genuinely worried about his wounds just now. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

I was pretty hungry while waiting for him to wake up at first. But after listening to him insulting me too many times, I lost my appetite immediately.

Especially when he mentioned my cheap wedding.

It was soul-crushing, because that wedding was probably the only one I would ever have, so I wanted to cherish everything about it, no matter how tacky or cheap it looked in reality.

Unfortunately, that cheap wedding also reminded me of Miles, and my appetite couldn’t get any worse.

Because that scumbag nitpicked everything about me, belittling me for the smallest things I did, and of course forbade me from eating breakfast because it would make me fat, and he was disgusted by a fat woman.

In fact, I could still recall one of the most hurtful things he had ever said to me one morning.

’Seriously, Claudia. You’re already thirty. If you keep eating those waffles, you’ll end up fat and loose. Do you want me to cheat because you’ve gotten ugly?’

Hah. How ridiculous.

I never lost my beauty, and tried so hard to keep everything just like when I was in my 20s, hoping Miles wouldn’t cheat. Yet he still betrayed me and had a child with Clarissa.

His words shouldn’t have mattered anymore, but the damage had already been done. Even now, the slightest shift in my mood was enough to make me lose my appetite.

Thus, when Ray told me to grab a bowl and eat breakfast with him, all I did was sit right in front of him, waiting for him to finish his meal.

What I didn’t expect was him scooping a spoonful of corn chowder and then trying to feed me.

"Then you can eat this with me. I’m not eating my breakfast unless we eat together, Claudia."