2: 2
The second my mother-in-law saw me, her face changed, and she looked down her nose at me.
"You've got the nerve to come back?"
"Today you either get on your knees, apologize, and put the house in Miles's name, or I'll make Vivien divorce you!"
With that, she flung down a divorce agreement Vivien had already signed.
I looked at the whole smug lot of them and found the whole thing laughable.
Back when I married Vivien, her family's bride price started at three hundred thousand, then on the wedding day itself they suddenly bumped it up to nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, or they'd call off the wedding.
I did like Vivien. Thinking of how bright and lovely she was, I swallowed it.
I never imagined that on the second day after the wedding, my mother-in-law would move into my mansion with Miles like it was theirs by right.
And now she was greedy enough to want my mansion signed over to that fool of a son of hers, on top of a bride price from me?
I picked the divorce agreement up off the table without hesitation and gave a cold snort.
"Then let's divorce!"
And I turned to head upstairs.
Vivien grabbed my hand at once, a little panicked.
"Duke, what do you mean by that? You'd actually divorce me over one house? When did you get so petty and calculating? Miles is my own brother!"
My mother-in-law was even angrier. She rushed forward and slapped me across the face.
"You piece of garbage, you dare agree to a divorce? I gave you a perfectly good daughter. You think you can just say the word and walk away?"
"Don't come kneeling in front of me tomorrow begging me to marry my daughter back to you!"
I let out a mocking laugh.
"Don't worry. That day will never come!"
And I went straight upstairs.
Vivien tried to say something more, but my mother-in-law caught her hand.
"Let him go. With a man like this you have to keep him at arm's length, or he'll walk all over you!"
"Just wait and see. By tomorrow he'll be crying and begging you!"
My brother-in-law only watched my back going up the stairs with a sneer.
"Sis, you think he'd actually dare divorce you? A divorced man's got no value on the market!"
Hearing my mother-in-law and Miles, the panic on Vivien's face turned to fury in an instant.
"Duke, if you don't agree to sign the house over to my brother today, then even if you kneel down and beg me tomorrow, I won't forgive you!"
I paid none of them any mind. I went straight back to the bedroom and gathered up the property deed and all my personal documents.
Early the next morning, I got a call from the real estate agency.
Someone was interested in buying my house!
I was just about to head out to negotiate when the dealership called.
"Mr. Vance, your brother-in-law took your car out today and crashed it into a curb barrier. The repairs are estimated at three hundred thousand. About this whole thing..."
My grip on the phone tightened slowly.
I had a habit of collecting cars, and there were several sports cars sitting in the garage.
Ever since Miles moved in, he'd treated everything in this mansion as his own, going down to the garage every day to take a different car out.
This was the fourth car he'd wrecked this month.
At that, I hung up and called the real estate agent.
"I've got one more condition! If the buyer has no problem with it, I can come sign the contract right now!"
