Her First Love’s Ashes Were in My House

My younger brother, Ryan Miller, failed his SAT and turned into a total slacker.

My Mom kept worrying about him, reminding me over and over to look after him.

Before I could even refuse, Ryan was sent to work at my wife Claire Thompson’s dental clinic—demanding an outrageous $8,000 salary right off the bat!

When I said it was unreasonable, Mom dragged our relatives to the clinic, caused a scene, cursed me out in front of everyone, and even beat me until my face was bruised.

I wanted to cry but had no tears left. I didn’t want to be the kind of brother who sacrifices everything for his sibling, so I painfully brought up divorce.

But Claire just smiled—not only did she not get angry, she even raised Ryan’s salary to $10,000 and treated him to good food every day.

Her only request was for Ryan to become her model so she could give him a perfect set of dental implants.

After the implants were done, Ryan seemed like a completely different person...

...

Perfect teeth?

No one is perfect, nothing in this world is flawless—how could there possibly be “perfect teeth”?

I felt puzzled. Claire had never mentioned this plan to me before.

Ryan was already too excited to wait—he ran up to Claire with a fawning grin.

“Sis-in-law, are you serious? You’re really going to give me ten grand a month? And I don’t even have to do anything except model for you? No hidden conditions?”

“Yes, when have I ever lied to you?”

Claire smiled, speaking gently as if coaxing a child.

She adjusted her silver-rimmed glasses, explained patiently, and every move radiated the charm of a confident, elegant woman—it made me fall for her all over again.

If not for my unreasonable mom and brother, I would never have brought up divorce in the first place.

Claire seemed to understand what I was thinking. She took the initiative to handle the problem for me.

She gave me the greatest comfort and asked me never to mention divorce again. She said even thinking about it broke her heart—she had never wanted to leave me.

After that, our relationship grew even deeper, and I loved her more than ever.

I gazed at her affectionately as she patiently explained everything to Ryan.

“You’re tall and handsome with good presence. I’ve been wanting a model to promote my work. Rather than hire someone else and let them make money, why not let you do it? Keep it in the family.”

“Heh, heh...”

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...”