My father sold me to the Mafia King-Chapter 73 - 74/The Trap of Hope

Chapter 74:

Julie’s Point of View

I took a step backward, feeling my chest tighten from sheer anger and confusion, and said in a wavering voice:

"What are you doing in my house? And why did you follow me?"

That provocative smile did not leave his face as he replied coldly:

"I want your number."

I gritted my teeth so hard I felt pain in my jaw, and said, pointing a trembling finger toward the outside:

"Get out of here! If my father sees you, he will kill you!"

I tried to push the door with all my weight to close it, but he was faster than me; he wedged the tip of his leather shoe between the door and the frame, and the door recoiled to strike my shoulder.

I shouted in astonishment:

"Are you crazy or what?"

With a sudden movement, he pushed the door with his strong hand to enter by force, then shut it behind him with a terrifying calmness.

At that moment, I felt as if my heart had stopped beating; the blood froze in my veins and my knees began to tremble. I said, my voice almost vanishing from sheer terror:

"Get out... get out now or I will call the police!"

He leaned his back against the wall with utter ease, placing his hands in his pockets, saying:

"Why are you so nervous? I just want to talk to you."

I found no choice but to defend myself; I turned to the right and my eyes fell on a heavy glass water bottle on the table.

I snatched it with a shaking hand and raised it high, while my whole body braced for an attack, and said with defiance mixed with fear:

"Either you get out... or I will smash your head with this!"

Karl straightened his posture, and his smile vanished to reveal a hint of tension in his eyes. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

He said quickly:

"Calm down, Julie... I don’t intend to hurt you, I came for another matter."

I screamed at him, tears beginning to burn my eyes:

"I don’t care! Get out of my house now!"

But he uttered a single sentence that made the bottle nearly fall from my hand:

"It concerns your brother... Steve."

I felt as if the ground were swaying beneath me, and the strength suddenly drained from my limbs.

I whispered with great difficulty, shock paralyzing my movement:

"Steve?!"

He nodded and said in a serious tone:

"Yes, he is the one who sent me to find you."

I placed the bottle on the table listlessly, as if all my energy had been depleted, and said, my breath accelerating:

"Tell me, where is he? How is he? And where has he disappeared all these years?"

He replied calmly while watching my troubled features:

"Calm down, Julie, he will tell you everything himself."

I asked him, unbelieving, feeling a faint glimmer of hope shining amidst the ruins:

"Is he here?"

He shook his head no and said:

"Not now... but come tomorrow at exactly nine in the morning to the park you two used to go to in your childhood; you will meet him there."

I rushed toward him, clenching my fist until my knuckles turned white, and said in a stifled tone:

"Tomorrow? I can’t wait until tomorrow!"

Karl fixed his steady gaze on my trembling eyes and replied with cold firmness:

"You will wait, Julie."

I felt weakness running through my knees, so I leaned against the edge of the table behind me, whispering pleadingly while my eyes overflowed with tears:

"Fine... just tell me, is he okay?"

He nodded calmly and said:

"Yes, he is fine... don’t worry."

A heavy silence prevailed, in which I could hear my racing heartbeat thumping against my chest wall.

I asked him while scrutinizing him with suspicion, trying to understand the link between him and my world:

"And who are you to Steve? And what is the reason for your presence at Sandra’s engagement?"

He replied simply, tilting his head:

"I am his friend... so the engaged girl’s name is Sandra? I didn’t know."

My pupils dilated in shock, and I took a step back, puzzled:

"How do you not know? You were there!"

Here, a malicious smile formed on his lips that made a shiver run down my spine, and he said in a low voice:

"Because Steve gave me your home address, and I saw you leaving with your mother so I followed you there... it was my only chance to talk to you."

I felt a coldness in my fingertips; this man had followed me like my shadow without me sensing it. I said, looking at him with wonder tinged with fear:

"You are truly strange!"

Suddenly, a terrifying moment of realization hit me; my parents might return any second.

My body jerked and I moved toward the door in a panicked reflex, opening it wide as I pointed for him to leave:

"Get out of the house now! If my mother or father come, they will kill you!"

Karl moved with a provocative slowness, as if he didn’t care about my threat, and said in a calm tone as he approached the door:

"How about we get to know each other a bit?"

I pushed him from his shoulder with my trembling hand and said firmly:

"Go on, get out... go!"

He crossed the threshold of the door and turned to me with one last glance, saying:

"I will see you tomorrow."

I slammed the door in his face with force and leaned my forehead against the cold wood while panting deeply.

I slid down slowly until I sat on the floor, pulling my legs to my chest; my mind was buzzing with Steve’s voice,

images of our childhood, and the idea that tomorrow I would actually touch his hand, not in a dream.

I returned to my bitter reality, and with an instinctive movement, I pulled a pillow that was lying beside me, wrapping my arms around it tightly as if I were clinging to a lifeline.

I pressed my face into its cotton filling, summoning that warm embrace I had been deprived of my whole life;

in my home, arms were only extended to me for reprimand, so I learned since my early childhood to replace my mother’s tenderness with silent pillows.

I finally closed my eyes and surrendered to a heavy sleep loaded with images of Steve and Karl.

But the silence did not last long; the sound of the door hinges creaking violently pierced my eardrums.

I startled in my place and opened my eyes with difficulty, to see "Olivia" appearing with her slender stature, wearing tight black pants and a shirt red as the color of blood.

She stood at the threshold of the room in an imposing stance and said in a commanding, dry tone: "Get up!"