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!"

3: 3

Over the next few days, I went on living at home like nothing was wrong.

I just had to make a few trips to the agency now and then.

Vivien thought I couldn't bear to divorce her, and her tone started to sound a little like her mother's.

"Duke, since you don't want the divorce either, go kneel and apologize to my mom. She's not unreasonable. Just transfer the house to Miles and put up a million dollars as bride money, and she'll forgive you for sure."

I lifted my eyes and looked at Vivien like she was an idiot, said nothing, and walked straight out the door with the contract I'd just signed.

Once I'd finished the last of the paperwork, I came home to find several trucks parked outside the house.

Workers of every kind were carrying things out nonstop.

My mother-in-law stood off to the side with a crowd of what looked like Cobb relatives, barking orders at them.

The second he saw me, Miles strutted over and shoved a delivery slip at me.

"I'm getting married soon. All this secondhand junk looks like bad luck. For my wedding I only want the best!"

"Oh, and I ordered a whole set of brand-new custom handmade furniture. It'll be here any minute. Cash on delivery, so don't forget to pay!"

I looked at the row after row of zeros on the slip.

"You sure you want to throw out all that furniture and buy something this expensive?"

Just one chair in that order was worth a few hundred thousand.

The whole set together came to more than five million dollars.

Miles raised an eyebrow.

"What's that supposed to mean? Of course I want the best for my wedding. You think I'm like you, whining and whining over handing me one house for my marriage?"

"You go transfer the house into my name tomorrow, or I really will make my sister divorce you!"

Hearing that, the Cobb relatives turned and heaped praise on my mother-in-law.

"Your Miles really has what it takes. He's got his big-city brother-in-law trained to heel!"

"Miles gets to live in a mansion this size from now on. Your family's really coming into the good life!"

My mother-in-law couldn't hide the smugness in her eyes.

"This is nothing. Our Miles is going to take over his brother-in-law's company too. Once he's running it, he'll be a big boss. He can buy as many mansions as he wants!"

The relatives still seemed to doubt her a little, and glanced at me.

"Your son-in-law's really willing to hand a mansion this expensive to Miles? A place like this has to be worth over ten million!"

My mother-in-law waved a scornful hand.

"So what if it's ten million? Duke's an orphan with no father or mother. When he's old he'll have to lean on our Miles anyway. One mansion is just the interest he's paying to get on Miles's good side!"

The relatives around her were green with envy.

"A mansion this big must've cost a fortune! And this furniture looks pretty new to me. Isn't it a shame to just toss it?"

Miles waved a careless hand.

"Whatever you see in this house, haul it off. My new furniture's coming any minute anyway!"

The doubt in their eyes vanished on the spot, and they turned to Miles, excited.

"Miles, can we really take this furniture? It all looks like it's worth a lot!"

Miles gave a smug little smile.

"When Miles Cobb gets married, he uses the best. This is all secondhand, beneath a man like me. Consider it a gift to all of you!"

With that, Miles turned and looked at me.

"You just going to stand there instead of helping? You really want me to make my sister divorce you?"

I lowered my eyes to the secondhand property sale contract I'd just signed, and gave a calm little smile.

"No problem."

4: 4

I finished speaking and walked straight into the mansion.

The living room was already stripped bare.

My custom handmade leather sofa, the hand-carved dining table done by a master craftsman, all of it gone without a trace.

Upstairs, a woven sack sat dumped outside the master bedroom door, my clothes stuffed into it like trash.

Vivien saw me and her face went awkward.

"Mom says this house belongs to Miles now, so the master bedroom should be his. She wants us to move down to the maid's room!"

Then she stepped closer and grabbed my hand.

"Honey, Miles ordered a set of furniture. Pay for it later, would you? Call it making up for these past few days. Then we can live as one family again, okay?"

I gave a cold laugh, shook her hand off, and carried the sack downstairs.

A hopeless case deserves to meet the fate she chooses.

I'd barely reached the bottom of the stairs when the roar of engines came rolling in.

Miles's pack of hangers-on stood in the garage staring at the limited-edition supercars, greed glinting in their eyes.

"Miles, these are all limited editions! You're unreal, man!"

"Miles knows how to live. This is every guy's dream car!"

Under all the flattery, Miles's grin only spread wider.

"This is nothing. These are all going to be mine soon. If you like them, I'll give each of you one. On my wedding day, you can drive them in the procession to bring me my bride!"

The whole group sucked in a stunned breath at his words.

"Miles, you serious? These cars go for a couple million each at least. You'd really just give them to us?"

Miles shot me a taunting look.

"I keep my word. Not like some people, too stingy to hand over one house."

"Besides, they're just a few cars. I'll buy new ones later, no big deal."

The moment Miles confirmed it, his crew rushed into the garage cheering, ready to pull the cars out.

Engines roared one after another from the garage, and Miles turned to me, pleased with himself.

"Duke, you see that? That's what real vision looks like!"

Then he sent a photo of the newest supercar model to my phone.

"Remember to buy me this one as a wedding gift. Otherwise, next time it won't just be cars I'm giving away."

I looked at that smug face of his and gave a cold laugh.

"Miles, you sure you want to give away all the furniture and the cars in this house?"

His face darkened.

"You think I'm stingy like you? That I don't keep my word?"

My mother-in-law chimed in from the side.

"You think our Miles is a cheapskate like you? Our Miles has vision. That's how a man who does great things carries himself."

Vivien stepped up too and took my hand again.

"Honey, you've got so many cars anyway. What's the harm in my brother giving a few away? These past few days were your fault to begin with, so consider it your apology to Miles!"

I looked at their greedy, insatiable faces and felt nothing but disgust.

Right then, the furniture company pulled up in front of the house with several truckloads of furniture.

A manager climbed out with the invoice and came toward Miles, all smiles.

"Mr. Cobb, here's your bill. Settle it first, if you don't mind."

Miles looked at the thick stack of invoices and ordered me around.

"Hurry up and pay the furniture bill. I'll count it as you making amends."

Then he turned to go tear around with his crew.

The next second, over a dozen bodyguards in black rushed forward and blocked his path.

A tall, broad man stepped up in front of Miles.

"You broke into my house, stripped it of furniture, and gave away my cars to whoever you pleased. That's a serious crime. Either you pay up, or I send you to prison!"