Chapter 266: 266/The Luxury Cell
Chapter 266:
Robert’s POV
He wanted to steal her from me; he uttered it with such audacity, as if she were merely a piece of land contested by strangers. I felt my jaw muscles clench so hard that I heard the grinding of my teeth echo in my skull. The veins in my neck protruded like taut ropes about to burst from the sheer intensity of my rage. I took a single step toward him, my massive frame casting a shadow over him. "Listen to me well, Carlos," I said in a low, husky voice that rose from the depths of my burning chest. "I will say this one last time; whether I am with her or burning her in my fire, that does not give you the right to approach her, or even to utter her name with your cursed tongue."
Carlos did not retreat as I expected. Instead, he stood his ground, puffing out his chest with an overt defiance I hadn’t witnessed in all our years of partnership. He fixed his gaze on mine I saw his pupils dilate with provocative boldness. "The era of silent respect is over, Robert," he said in a powerful tone that shook the hallway’s silence. "I respected your love for her and stayed away, even though I love her too even though my eyes were the first to spot her beauty and fall captive to it. But now, you’ve smashed all the rules. You reject her, humiliate her, and imprison her, while I want her... and I want to give her what you failed to provide."
I felt a boiling in my vitals, as if my blood had suddenly turned into volcanic lava. How did he dare declare his desire to possess Julie while standing in the heart of my club? I clenched my fists with such excessive force that my nails dug into my palms and my knuckles turned completely white. My arm muscles swelled, primed to smash his face and crush that insolence. "You have crossed your limits, Carlos," I gritted out through the pain. "I swear by my mother’s blood, if you don’t get out of this club this second, you won’t be walking out on your own two feet!"
Carlos adjusted his stance with an infuriating slowness, then looked away from me to cast one final glance at the locked door of Julie’s room; it was a look of chilling determination and a promise of salvation. He turned back to me with a coldness that only fanned the flames in my chest. "I’m leaving now, Robert," he said, his words like stabs. "But do not delude yourself for a second that I will abandon her or leave her prey to your volatile whims... because I won’t. Julie deserves a man who knows her worth, not a monster who imprisons her."
He left me standing in the hallway, my body trembling from suppressed rage. I was panting heavily, my chest heaving in violent, successive movements, while jealousy gnawed at my heart like a predatory beast suddenly unleashed. The echo of his words about loving her rang in my ears like the screech of metal, threatening the ownership I try to deny even to myself, while my hand still felt the key to her room in my pocket the only weapon ensuring she remained under my control, far from Carlos’s reach.
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Julie’s POV
I sat on the edge of the bed, my body shaking like a branch in a fierce gale. I couldn’t grasp that things had reached this point that he would lock me here, behind this bolted door, exactly as my father had done when he first sold my body to him. I felt the walls of the room closing in on me, as if the air were being slowly sucked from my lungs, causing my chest to rise and fall in rapid, painful gasps.
Time crawled with a deadly slowness. Every passing minute gnawed at my nerves until, finally, the cold buzz of the electronic lock sounded, and the cook entered, wheeling a food cart whose wheels emitted a screech that tore through the suffocating silence.
I held my breath, watching her movements with my heart pounding in my throat. I waited until she was busy arranging the marble plates, and in her moment of distraction, I bolted from the room like a madwoman. I was barefoot, feeling the coldness of the marble sting the soles of my feet. I ran downstairs until I reached Max’s room. I entered without knocking and found him deep in sleep. I shook his shoulder with all my might. "Max! Wake up... please, wake up quickly!" I panted, wiping the sweat from my brow.
He opened his eyes in bewilderment, rubbing them with an exhausted hand. "Julie? What are you doing here? I’ve been working all day... I’m truly exhausted. What happened?"
"Listen to me carefully," I said breathlessly, fear gnawing at my vitals and making my hands shake in his. "You know my brother Steve’s address. Robert has lost his mind he’s locked me in my room!"
Max sprang up as if bitten by a snake, his chest muscles tensing in shock. "What?! Locked you in?"
"Tomorrow, go to him," I continued, the words tumbling from my dry lips. "Tell him not to do anything foolish. I’m terrified that he’ll come here and cause a massive scandal when he discovers I’m missing. Steve is impulsive, and Robert is merciless."
"But why did he do this? And how did you escape just now?" Max asked, bewilderment masking his features.
"I escaped when the cook came in, but she’ll surely miss me and tell him," I said, looking behind me cautiously, my disheveled hair covering my pale face. "And he’ll drag me back to that cell. I know his cruelty well."
"Has he truly gone mad?" Max muttered, shaking his head.
"He wanted me to work as a maid," I replied bitterly, a lump burning in my throat. "And when I refused to bow to his insulting demand, he decided to strip me of my freedom." I grabbed his hand firmly, squeezing his fingers. "Focus with me, Max... go to Steve tomorrow. Tell him Julie is warning you, and that I will find a way to escape this hell as soon as possible."
"Are you serious? Are you really going to run away?" he asked, concern clouding his eyes.
"Yes," I answered, tears escaping to wash my flushed cheeks. "I stayed here because my heart belonged to him, but he trampled on that heart. I’m afraid of him now, Max... afraid of the monster that has woken up inside him."
"I don’t think he would ever physically hurt you, Julie," he said, trying to calm me, patting my shoulder gently.
I let out a choked, bitter laugh. "I also thought he would never abandon me... and now look where I am. I have to go before I’m caught. I’m counting on you."
"Alright, Julie... be careful," he replied curtly.
I left his room and began climbing the stairs, my heart thumping violently against my ribs. The moment I reached the top, the blood froze in my veins. Robert was standing there, his massive frame blocking the hallway, his eyes gleaming with a terrifying light under the dim corridor lamps. "It seems you haven’t yet grasped the meaning of orders," he said in a deep, calm voice that carried a spine-chilling threat. "Nor the meaning of staying behind that door."
I recoiled, feeling the coldness of the wall pierce my back. "Let me go!" I said in desperate defiance, despite my trembling voice. "You hate me, so why do you insist on imprisoning me? Leave me alone!"
He stepped toward me with confident strides, gripping my arm with such excessive force that I gasped, feeling his fingers sink into my flesh. "You aren’t going anywhere," he said with lethal stillness. "Not before I hold you accountable for everything."
I stumbled as I was led away like a prisoner. "Accountable? For what?!" I asked in terror, my pulse racing. "I’ve done nothing but love you!"
He led me to my room, dragging me behind him, then shoved me inside with a force that made me reel. He slammed the door behind him with a violence that shook the room’s foundations. I stood behind the door, listening to the sound of the lock clicking once more.
"Accountable?" the word echoed in my mind like a frightening ghost. I looked at the cold food cart, but my stomach was cramped with anxiety; the lump in my throat was heavier than any hunger.
The hours passed heavy, lonely, and dark.
Sleep did not visit my eyes; instead, I spent the night watching the shadows on the walls, my body unable to stop trembling. When I finally heard the buzz of the lock again, I jumped. The cook entered with the breakfast cart, but this time, she wasn’t alone. Two massive guards stood behind the door, their features as stony as rock, hands clasped visibly in front of them. I realized then that Robert had completely tightened the siege around me.
"Please... call Olivia for me," I said to the cook in a faint, pleading voice. "I need to talk to her."
"The orders are clear," she replied mechanically, placing the dishes without looking at me. "No one enters except me and the cleaning maid."
"But Olivia is the supervisor! How can she be barred?" I asked in astonishment.
"These are Mr. Robert’s personal orders," she said coldly as she headed for the door. "No exceptions."
She left and bolted the door behind her. I sat back on the bed, a total collapse sweeping through my being. He had even barred Olivia! He had sealed every exit, even the one I hoped to use by exploiting her hatred for me to help me vanish. I was now completely alone in his luxury cell.
