Hearing Raymond’s words, Anna almost jumped up in shock. “William is married to your sister? Doesn’t that mean… mean that you are Valeria’s brother?”
Anna’s eyes were opened wide with surprise as she stared at Raymond. But as Raymond’s face was covered in blood, she couldn’t see the resemblance.
Seeing that Anna was staring at him, Raymond could only explain, “I’m Valeria’s brother! I truly am!”
Anna still didn’t believe it. “How is this possible? Valeria is such a nice person. How could she have a shameless brother like you? I don’t believe it! I would never believe it!”
Raymond didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Ms. Taylor, this is a misunderstanding. I’m not shameless. I just…”
“Just what? Didn’t you already do so many despicable things? You were harsh and rude at the restaurant that time. Then you hung out with that disgusting scumbag, Michael. And today, you did something even more out of line!”
Anna was furious when she recalled Raymond looking at her naked. “How could a man like you barge in like that? Where are your manners? Why didn’t you knock first?”
“I didn’t mean to. I thought you were undergoing your facial treatment. I only wanted to take a look at you in secret.”
“I don’t believe it. You looked so suspicious! You must be peeping at me! And I think I am not your first victim. You must have done this countless times! No, I don’t believe that you are Valeria’s brother! I’m going to call Valeria and ask her about this.”
Anna was about to call Valeria, but Raymond stopped her immediately. “You can’t call her.”
“What’s the reason? Are you are an impostor, and you’re afraid that I would expose you?”
“No, if you tell Valeria about our conflict, I would lose my dignity. Anyhow, I am still Valeria’s older brother. How am I going to face her if she finds out about this? I want to keep my dignity.”
Anna glared at Raymond. “Why would you want to keep your dignity? I would kill myself if I were you!”
Raymond was humiliated, but he was the one at fault. So he could only try to solve this matter by apologizing. “Ms. Taylor, we would still need to meet each other in the future. We can’t let everyone find out about this. We should try to solve this between us. Since you doubt my relationship with Valeria, how about I show you our chats?”
As Raymond spoke, he showed Anna the chat history between him and Valeria. When she saw that Valeria addressed Raymond as her brother, Anna had no choice but to believe.
She hated his guts and even wanted to smash his head open. But since Raymond was Valeria’s brother, how would she face Valeria if she were to kill Raymond?
How would she face William?
Seeing that Anna’s attitude had eased a little, Raymond immediately seized the opportunity and said, “Ms. Taylor, I apologize for what happened today! It’s all my fault! Let me know if you want any compensation. I will fulfill your requests if I’m able to.”
“Who wants your compensation?” Anna snorted and gritted her teeth. But she was now in a dilemma. She cannot let the others find out about what happened between her and Raymond today. After pondering for a while, she said, “Don’t you dare tell anyone about what happened today. Not even a word, understood?”
“Don’t worry. I will make sure that none of this gets out! I would take full responsibility for this if anyone were to find out.”
“Haha!” Anna glared at Raymond again. She then thought it would be her loss if she didn’t make him pay for it.
She didn’t want to suffer this in silence. Since she couldn’t beat Raymond up herself, she could let him do it instead.
“I don’t want compensation. How about this? Beat yourself up severely. Then we can put this behind us!”
“This…” Raymond looked at Anna in shock.
“Didn’t you say that you would fulfill my requests if you’re able to? Hah! This is my request.” Anna sneered. “Why are you not hitting yourself? Slap yourself in the face! As long as your face becomes red and swollen, we can put this behind us! A man should keep true to his words. Don’t make me look down on you, Mr. Saunders.”
Raymond’s face was red from embarrassment. Damn it. Anna had him where she wanted it every time.
Should he follow her request and hit himself?
He couldn’t bring himself to lose his dignity and hit himself. But he had already made his promise. If he was unwilling to, wouldn’t he be breaking his promise?
Just when Raymond was in a dilemma, his phone rang.
Raymond immediately picked up the phone, and Natalie’s voice came, “Where are you, Raymond?”
“Something has happened…”
“What happened? Are you ignoring my words? Ms. Rivera has been waiting for you for over ten minutes. Why are you not there yet?”
“Well, mom… I… I’m injured. I can’t make it.”
“You’re injured? Are you treating me as a fool? Don’t make things up. Go over immediately! If you don’t show up today, you know the consequences. Haven’t you been sleeping in the car for a few days? Do you want to sleep in the car forever?”
“Mom, I really can’t make it. I…”
“There’s no need to explain. Go over immediately!” Natalie didn’t want to listen to Raymond’s explanation and hung up the phone.
Raymond was in a tight spot. He hasn’t settled the issue here, yet Natalie was forcing him to meet with his blind date. How the hell did he get himself into this?
When he was about to call Natalie to explain, Anna, who was staring at him, said, “Is your mother asking you to go on a blind date?”
“Yes.”
“Is your date already waiting?”
“Yes! How can I go there like this?” After Raymond finished speaking, he saw Anna raise her eyebrows.
“Why can’t you go there like this? Since you are Valeria’s brother, let me compromise. I won’t ask you to beat yourself up. You can go on your date like this instead.”
“What?” Raymond asked.
“Don’t you understand what I’m saying? You! You’re going to meet your blind date just like this! You’re not allowed to clean yourself or dress up. Go ahead like this!” Anna raised her voice.
Raymond looked at her, and Anna looked right back at him, unwilling to back down. “You can choose from the two requests I’ve made. It’s either you beat yourself up or meet your date like this! If you are unwilling to choose one, I will call William immediately!”
As she spoke, Anna took out her phone and showed William’s phone number on the screen. Seeing William’s number, Raymond was in a predicament. He didn’t want to be put to shame in front of William. But meeting his date in this manner would be an embarrassment as well.
After thinking about it for a while, Raymond finally made a decision. “Okay! I’ll meet my date like this. But you have to promise me. We are putting this matter behind us. Don’t ever speak of it again!”
Anna snorted. She was not a fool. She would never mention what had happened today, no matter what. “Enough of your nonsense. I want to go with you to make sure that you follow through. Let’s go right now!”