My father sold me to the Mafia King-Chapter 103 - 104/Flaws in the Empire

Chapter 104:

Julie’s Point of View

Is he really asking me now whether I liked the flowers? Does he care about my feelings toward his friend’s gifts?

I looked away and said with a coldness I struggled to maintain:

"They are fine."

Robert leaned down slightly, running his long fingers over "Axel," who was wriggling under his hand with joy, and asked without looking at me:

"Are you taking good care of Axel?"

I answered him while adjusting my standing posture with difficulty:

"Yes, I’m doing my best."

He straightened up, gave me a quick glance before heading toward the door, saying:

"Alright... come, I have work for you."

I began walking behind him, and with every step, I felt the sting of needles piercing the muscles of my legs.

As for climbing the stairs, it was an unbearable hell; I gripped the wooden banister so hard that my knuckles turned white, dragging my feet.

Robert noticed my slow movement and my frequent stops to pant, so he paused and turned to me, knitting his brows:

"What is wrong with you?"

I said, trying to paint a faint smile to hide my pain:

"Nothing... it’s just some soreness due to the sports."

He didn’t comment; instead, he continued his ascent, and we entered the luxurious office.

He walked with his usual aura toward his broad desk and pointed his hand toward a massive pile of organized paper files on the table, saying in a commanding tone:

"This is your work."

I stared at the files in bewilderment, feeling a slight dizziness from their sheer number:

"What? I don’t understand... what do I do with them?"

Robert sat on his leather chair and opened one of the files in front of me, saying:

"These files need a comprehensive audit.

Since you study Business Administration, you know how these things go.

I want you to review the estimated budgets, ensure the attached invoices match the bank statements, and discover any loopholes or accounting errors in the periodic reports of the subsidiaries."

My eyes widened as I heard what he was asking of me. Robert continued while watching my reaction:

"I want a summary report for each file, outlining financial weaknesses and your suggestions for improving performance. Start now."

I felt a sudden pressure in my chest. I said in a tone filled with confusion:

"What? I don’t have a university degree to do all this, Mr. Robert... this work requires an expert."

Robert leaned back in his luxurious chair, interlacing his fingers in front of his face while watching me with cold, focused gazes, then said with provocative calmness:

"You are at this young age and studying at the university, and as far as I know, you were about to finish your third year in Business Administration... which means you are smart enough to know exactly what I’m asking of you."

I knitted my brows while looking at the piles of paper, then raised my gaze to him warningly:

"But... I’m not responsible if I make any mistake."

His cold features didn’t change; instead, he fixed my eyes with a sharp look and said in a decisive tone that accepted no discussion:

"Make sure, then, that you don’t make a mistake."

I let out a muffled sigh of frustration and carried the heavy files in my hands, feeling their weight pressing on my arm muscles, which were exhausted from the morning training.

I asked him while looking around the room searching for an exit:

"Where will I work?"

He pointed with his index finger toward the chair directly opposite his desk and said with provocative calmness:

"Here... sit down and begin."

I froze in my place for a second; sitting in front of him meant I would be under his direct supervision the entire time.

But his commanding looks left me no choice.

I moved with heavy steps, and with every bend of my body to sit on the chair, I felt a sharp sting hitting my lower back and legs, making me grip the edge of the desk to steady myself.

I finally sat down and opened the first file.

I placed the papers in front of me and tried to dive into the numbers, but I felt his dominant presence hovering over the very atoms of air in the room.

An hour passed while I was drowned among the invoices of security technology companies and the payrolls of guards in overseas branches.

I was jotting down my notes in precise handwriting, trying to ignore the sting that hit my shoulder every time I moved to reach for another file.

I opened a file related to the company’s branch in Mexico and knitted my brows while comparing "extra security hours" with "fuel costs" for the armored vehicles belonging to this sector.

There was a clear inconsistency; the recorded security hours did not match the amount of fuel consumed at all, which meant either there was tampering with the meters or employees were being paid for phantom tasks.

I muttered in a faint voice while writing in the draft of the report:

"There is a financial leak in the logistic maintenance sector... the amounts allocated for surveillance systems at the port exceed the market cost by 15%; it seems someone is receiving secret commissions from suppliers."

I raised my gaze slightly to review an insurance contract for the transport of a shipment of "encryption devices," and noticed that the insurance does not cover cyberattack loopholes, which is a fatal error in a security company of this size.

I wrote in bold script:

"A legal loophole in insurance policy No. 402; must renegotiate with the insurance company to include digital breaches."

Three more hours passed as if they were an entire eternity, during which I felt my mind had turned into a pile of numbers and security data.

My fingers stiffened around the pen, and the blurriness of fatigue began to invade my eyes, while my back muscles were screaming for mercy.

I raised my head to find Robert’s seat empty; he had left the office a while ago, though I didn’t know exactly when.

I stood up from the chair with difficulty, letting out an audible groan as my stiffened legs straightened.

I moved with shaky steps toward the large leather sofa in the corner of the office and threw my exhausted body onto it, lying flat at my full length to rest my spine, which was about to break.

I closed my eyes for a second and muttered with indignation and a faint voice:

"The savage jerk... he gave me all this damn work just to exhaust me, as if Max’s training wasn’t enough to kill me."

I felt sleepiness teasing my heavy eyelids, and warmth began to spread through my strained limbs.

The cold leather pillow under my head felt like a dream, but I resisted the urge to surrender. I clenched my hand tightly and said to myself in a commanding tone:

"Julie... wake up! Don’t sleep here... you still have mountains of files ahead of you, and if he finds you sleeping, he will raise hell."