Chapter 409/The Price of My Brother’s

Chapter 409

Julie’s POV

Her words hit me like a scalding shock, freezing the blood in my veins.

*A client?*

After everything that just happened with Sarah, he was sending me off to a client?

I stumbled back a step, feeling bitter bile choke my throat. I slammed my hands into tight fists, fingernails digging into my palms as I bit down hard on my lower lip anything to keep from showing a shred of weakness in front of Natasha and Sam. I knew with absolute certainty that this sick, revengeful stunt was entirely Robert’s twisted idea; he wanted to break my pride once and for all after every sharp truth I had thrown in his face.

I swallowed down the burning lump in my throat. "A client?" I snapped, my voice sharp as I forced it not to tremble. "Who the hell authorized this bullshit? Was it Robert?"

Natasha and Sam exchanged a swift, uncomfortable look. Natasha stepped closer, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder, her fingers tightening slightly as her voice dropped into a hushed tone heavy with pity.

"You know the rules of this place, Julie... The orders came straight from the top, and we just follow them. We were told the man arriving tonight is no ordinary client at all... He’s an extraordinarily powerful man, and Mr. Robert emphasized that you must look absolute perfection tonight."

Sam let out a helpless sigh, unzipping his massive makeup bag on the table with a loud scrape. He yanked out a array of brushes, rushing his words. "Come sit down, sweetie, for God’s sake... We don’t have the luxury of time. Time is running out, and Mr. Robert shows no mercy if the storm isn’t pleased with what it finds."

I shook my head violently, grinding my teeth until my jaw ached. "I’m going to him right fucking now to settle this!"

I stormed out of the room, shoving the heavy air aside, taking the stairs two at a time in a furious blur. Pushing open the wide doors to his office without bothering to knock, I found him sitting behind his opulent wooden desk, leaning back with an infuriatingly cold composure.

I locked my eyes onto his dark ones, my chest heaving as my voice trembled with raw venom. "Are you really selling me out to a client, you fucking bastard?!"

He slowly lifted his gaze from the documents in front of him, letting his eyes trail up my body before a harsh, mocking sneer curved his lips. "Why are you so stunned, Julie?"

I slammed my palms down onto the edge of his desk, bending forward, white knuckles gripping the dark mahogany. "This is never going to fucking happen! I am not a piece of merchandise, and I will never be sold off in your filthy market!"

He leaned his elbows on the desk, interlacing his long fingers as he fixed me with a poisoned smirk. "And what the hell are you going to do about it?"

"I’ll kill your damn client with my own two hands!" I screamed, the rage burning through my veins like fire as I pointed a shaking finger at his face. "He will never fucking touch me!"

The smirk vanished from his face in an instant. His jaw hardened, his posture locking into an expression as hard and unyielding as iron. He stood up slowly, towering over the desk, his voice dropping into a bone-chilling whisper.

"Then your handsome little brother dies today."

The words crushed against my chest like a falling boulder. A scalding wave of agony choked my throat, my hands slipping off the desk as I took a shaky step back.

"You threaten me with my brother every single time, Robert!..." Tears of sheer frustration blurred my vision, and my voice cracked into an agonizing, broken whisper. "And I don’t even fucking know if he’s alive or if you’ve already murdered him and buried him six feet under!"

He didn’t say a single word. Instead, he calmly reached for his tablet, tapping the glass screen with slow, deliberate movements for a few seconds. He turned the device around, sliding it across the polished wood toward me.

I rushed toward the desk, my breath hitched in my chest. My eyes widened as Steve appeared on the screen; he was sitting on a narrow cot in a cold concrete room, his elbows resting on his knees. He looked physically fine, without a single mark or bruise on his body.

A fleeting wave of relief washed through my chest, knocking the wind out of me. I leaned over the table, pressing my trembling fingers against the icy glass of the screen, tears spilling over as I whispered, "Steve..."

In that exact instant, Robert snatched the tablet away from my fingertips, tucking it under his arm.

"Now you know he’s still breathing, don’t you?" he said, his voice completely flat.

I lifted my head, wiping the moisture from my cheeks with the back of my hand as stubborn determination set back into my features. "Yes... But I am still not going to be with your client!"

Without blinking an eye, he pulled his phone from his pants pocket with calculated precision. His thumb swiped the screen, dialing a number, and he tossed the phone onto the desk between us, slapping the speaker button down.

"Yeah... Put a bullet through his fucking head right now," he ordered coldly into the mic.

My blood turned to pure ice. I stared at him in breathless terror, my hand flying to my mouth. "Who the hell are you talking about?!"

He didn’t cut the line. Instead, he flipped the tablet back toward me. On the live feed, a masked guard stepped into the cell, racking the slide of his black pistol and aiming the barrel straight at my brother Steve’s head! Steve jerked his head up, his eyes widening in confusion.

"No! Stop! Please stop, for God’s sake!" I screamed frantically, lunging forward and gripping the edge of Robert’s jacket, my voice tearing through the quiet walls of the office.

Robert turned his head slightly toward the phone, his lips barely moving as he barked a swift command: "Get the hell out of there now."

Through the screen, I watched the guard lower his weapon, step backward, and pull the heavy steel door shut, exiting Steve’s room. Robert tapped the tablet screen, blacking it out completely, then locked his razor-sharp eyes onto my deathly pale face.

"So..." He leaned in close, his cold breath brushing against my cheek. "Are you going to do what I fucking tell you now?"

I squeezed my fists together so hard my nails cut into my skin, looking down at the carpet as I whispered in utter, sickening defeat:

"Yes... I’ll do it."

He straightened his spine, adjusting his cuffs with a swift flick of his wrists, his tone dripping with cruel mockery. "Excellent... My client tonight is extremely important and hard to please, so I need you to be absolute perfection."

I stood there frozen, completely unable to digest that Robert... the exact same man who used to kill anyone who dared even glance at me or brush against the hem of my dress... was now selling me off to another man with this kind of icy detachment!

"Get lost now," he added coldly, turning his back on me to look out the floor-to-ceiling window. "You don’t have much time left to get ready."