Chapter 135: I Did It For Your Own Good

Yet, he still apologized. “Regardless, I have to take responsibility for this. I didn’t plan things thoroughly and nearly cost you your life.”

“Enough,” Samuel stepped forward, shielding him. “If you have any issues, take them up with me. This was my mistake; it has nothing to do with Caz!”

“Of course, it’s your fault,” Raylee scoffed, her eyes flashing with indignation. “I haven’t even hit you yet, so what’s the rush?”

Without another word, she grabbed the water cup from the table and flung it at his head with full force. Samuel wasn’t fast enough to dodge. The cup struck his forehead, leaving a bleeding gash. He let out a sharp groan, his hand flying up to clutch the wound.

Gritting his teeth, he snapped, “Have you lost your mind? First, you hit me, now you’re throwing things? I actually thought you were dead and was devastated. Turns out, my sincerity was wasted—just like feeding pearls to swine!”

“You’re right. And you’re that swine!” Raylee shot him a cold glare, her eyes piercing like daggers.

She continued, “I thought that after making me rot in prison for four years, you’d at least feel guilty—maybe even try to make it up to me. I thought that if you couldn’t atone, you’d at least stop hurting me. After all, we were siblings for eighteen years. But what was reality? It was just wishful thinking on my part. You’ve done nothing but hurt me over and over, throwing me straight into danger! What the hell did I ever do to deserve this from you, Samuel? Tell me!”

Her voice was raw with emotion, cracking with fury and pain.

Samuel clutched his bleeding forehead, a deep frown settling on his face. For a brief moment, guilt gnawed at him. But it was quickly replaced by anger. If he looked at it objectively, he had only been trying to save Raylee, so how was he in the wrong?

“You don’t even realize what you’ve done, do you?” Samuel ground out through clenched teeth. “If you had just listened—if you hadn’t married Jeremiah—we wouldn’t have had to go to such extremes to stop you.”

“I admit I made a mistake,” he said. “But if we’re being honest here, you were the one who made the biggest one!”

Percival, who had been standing silently to the side, watched the scene unfold with an expression of disbelief. So this was how Raylee was usually treated by her so-called brother.

They twisted the truth to suit themselves, painting black as white. The Goodridge family’s treatment of her was vile enough to warrant divine punishment.

His face darkened as he finally spoke up. “Mr. Goodridge, originally, we had little interaction and weren’t particularly close. By all logic, I shouldn’t interfere in your family matters. But I can’t hold it in any longer. As a man, I despise you. The great young master of the Goodwin family—bullying a helpless girl. What kind of man does that make you? Do you even understand what kind of place the red-light district is? If Raylee hadn’t managed to escape, she would’ve been condemned to a life worse than death!”

Samuel didn’t hesitate to fire back. “And what the hell do you know? You have no idea who Jeremiah is or why I had to stop her. You’re clueless, so stop running your mouth.”

Percival bristled, ready to keep arguing, but Kaylee stopped him with a calm voice. “Dr. Shapiro, don’t waste your breath on people like him. It’s not worth your energy.”

Unlike Percival, Kaylee had long since grown numb to Samuel’s twisted way of thinking. Percival pursed his lips, swallowing.

Meanwhile, Casimir glanced at Percival, his gaze contemplative. The Percival he knew was a man entirely devoted to never showing sympathy toward his patients. His heart was colder than a decade-old butcher’s knife. And yet, here he was, standing up for Raylee.

Samuel, still fuming, kept trying to justify himself. “What’s so wrong with me? I’d do anything to protect you, to keep you from running headfirst into danger! Is it really unforgivable if I ended up hurting you while trying to save you?”

Raylee’s expression didn’t change. “Are you really doing this for my sake? Or are you just scared that after marrying into the Lorimer family, I’d come back for revenge against you and the Goodridges? Just like your parents, you’d do anything if it benefited you.”

“They are them, I am me! I really did it for your own good!” Samuel insisted.

“Enough,” Raylee cut him off mercilessly. “We’re all seasoned enough not to believe in fairy tales, so drop the act. If I were you, I’d focus more on improving myself instead of wasting time trying to control me. Even your parents must regret having a failure like you for a son. If you had even a shred of capability, they wouldn’t have needed to cling to the Lorimer and Sutherland families to prop up their business.”

Samuel’s face turned red with fury, his fists clenching so tightly his knuckles cracked.