Ryan blushed, grinning from ear to ear, clearly pleased.
Seeing how well this was working, Claire kept going.
“But we’ll need to refine your image a bit. It’s not that you’re not good-looking, but you need to match the public’s taste. People like a fresh, youthful look now. So your hair has to be dyed darker, tattoos need to be removed if possible—or covered up—and your wardrobe has to be clean and simple.”
Ryan frowned.
Before he could complain, Claire anticipated what he was thinking.
“Don’t worry. I’ll pay for all the makeover expenses, and I’ll hire a Korean stylist to help you pick outfits. You just have to cooperate. It won’t take much of your time—two or three hours a day at most. I’ll even hire a social media promoter to build up your online presence and turn you into an influencer.”
With just a few sentences, she had Ryan completely tamed—even I was impressed.
After failing his SAT, Ryan had become a total delinquent—smoking, drinking, bleaching his hair, secretly getting tattoos. Last time he even asked me for money to get a full back tattoo, and only gave up after Mom scolded him.
I never imagined Claire could talk him into behaving with just a few words.
Quietly, I asked Claire with some concern,
“Won’t this cost you a lot? Marrying you was already the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to me—I don’t want my family to be a burden on you...”
“Don’t say that. You—and everything that comes with you—are mine to care for. How is that a burden? Don’t ever say that again.”
Claire massaged my shoulders gently, patted my back, and whispered in my ear.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure Ryan listens more and more. With me here, he won’t go bad—he’ll only get better.”
I nodded, deeply grateful—but suddenly I heard a faint laugh coming from Claire’s chest.
I tried to look up, but felt a sudden, sharp sting on my scalp!
“Claire, did you hear that? It sounded like someone was laughing just now.”
“What?”
Claire glanced around, looking genuinely puzzled.
“No, where would laughter come from? Honey, are you imagining things?”
I looked and listened carefully again but found nothing unusual.
The pain had come from Claire’s amulet pendant—it had accidentally snagged a strand of my hair and yanked it out.
“So that’s it—it just pulled my hair and made my scalp hurt. I must’ve misheard.”
“There, it doesn’t hurt now. Let me rub it for you.”