Chapter 415/An Unforgivable Embrace

Chapter 415

Julie’s POV

Robert stepped away from the bed with measured, calm strides, leaving me curled on the sheets like a pulsating, agonizing corpse. He stopped before the large floor-to-ceiling mirror fixed to the wall, calmly adjusting the collar of his shirt the top buttons undone from my frantic, desperate clawing moments ago.

His reflection showed a face entirely void of emotion an eerie, terrifying stillness while I watched his broad back through ragged breaths, tears searing my eyes.

"You’re a coward, Robert..." I rasped out, my voice dripping with poison and pure hatred. "...You hide behind your cruelty because you’re too weak to admit you don’t hold power over me like you used to."

The tips of his fingers froze at his collar. He turned his head sideways toward the glass, letting the reflection of his dark pupils lock onto mine through the mirror.

"Control?" he asked softly, his tone provocatively calm. "You’re lying here at my mercy, bound by my orders, sold to whoever I choose... and you’re still talking about control, Julie?"

A hollow, broken laugh shook my ribs.

"Yes, damn it!" I snapped, my voice trembling with bitter defiance. "Because you can own my body, you can sell it, and you can lock me within four walls... but you will *never* own my soul. You don’t see that scared little girl crying at your feet anymore and that is exactly what terrifies you. That’s why you refuse to touch me... because you know your touch brings me nothing but pure disgust!"

A cold smirk curled the edge of his steel jaw. Turning away from the mirror, he walked toward the heavy wooden door, placing his hand on the metal handle. He tilted his head back, letting out a slow, deliberate exhale.

"Delude yourself however you want to soften the weight of reality, Julie..." he murmured. "...but tomorrow night will prove to you that your rebellious spirit will bow its head just as your body submitted beneath Mr. X’s fingers today."

"I will kill you, Robert!" I screamed, summoning every ounce of courage left in my chest. "I swear on my brother’s blood, I will end your life with my bare hands!"

He didn’t flinch. He didn’t even turn around. Opening the door, he cast his final words over his shoulder like cold lead:

"Save your energy for tomorrow’s client, Julie."

The heavy wooden door slammed shut with a sharp, decisive thud, leaving me submerged in the freezing silence of the room.

I forced my heavy body off the bed, every joint aching with exhaustion and humiliation. Dragging my feet toward the bathroom, I stepped into the glass shower enclosure and turned the brass handle all the way, letting the cold water cascade violently over my skin.

I scrubbed frantically, trying to wash away the contamination this body that had been reduced in a single vile moment to a cheap commodity showcased and sold to the highest bidder.

Yet what devoured my chest wasn’t just the filth of the act itself; it was Robert. Seeing *him* hand me over to another man with such unbothered ice, as if I were nothing as if the years between us had left nothing in his heart but stone.

My hand trembled as I raised my fist, striking my chest hard right over my aching heart. A ragged sob burst from my throat, mixing with the water pouring down my face.

"Why, you cursed heart..." I sobbed hysterically, "...why do you still love him, damn it?! Why do you still ache for him?!"

I snatched a coarse towel, rubbing my skin raw until it turned red, desperately trying to erase every lingering ghost of Mr. X’s hands.

Stepping out, I gathered the scattered fragments of my sanity. I threw on my clothes, dried my damp hair, and pulled open the bedroom door.

I took three steps into the hallway before freezing in my tracks. Olivia stood right in my path, her lips curved into a poisoned, triumphant smirk.

Before she could utter a single word, I took a sharp step forward. My eyes pinned her with lethal intensity, my voice dropping into a razor-thin threat:

"Olivia... I swear to God, if you come near me or try to cross me again, I will tell Robert everything. If you want Robert to stay away from me, you better pray he never finds out I gave birth to his child."

Olivia’s eyes widened in sudden, jarring shock. The words died in her throat, her arrogant stance instantly collapsing into visible panic.

Without waiting for a response, I brushed past her with steady strides, descending the grand staircase toward the lower floor in search of Max.

I checked his room first, but found it empty. Following the distant metallic clanking, my feet led me straight toward the private gym.

The hallway echoed with the harsh heavy clatter of iron weights. I stepped inside the cavernous space and found him sitting on a leather bench, lifting a massive barbell.

"Max..." I called out, my breath hitching in my chest.

He reacked the heavy barbell onto the rubberized floor with a thud. Wiping sweat from his forehead, he looked up with a warm, welcoming smile.

"Hey, Julie—"

I couldn’t hold back. I threw myself forward, wrapping my arms around his broad shoulders in a frantic, lost embrace, burying my face deep into the cotton of his shirt.

Max froze in sheer astonishment, sitting rigid for a few seconds as he tried to process the sudden impact.

"Julie?!" he asked, panic lacing his tone. "What the hell happened?!"

I tightened my grip around his back, my breathing uneven against his neck. "Don’t ask me anything..." I whispered desperately. "...Just let me stay like this for a little while. Please."

His tension slowly melted away. Raising his massive hands, he patted my back with gentle, protective care.

"Okay, Julie..." he said softly. "...Whatever you need."

Max wasn’t just a guard in this cursed mansion. He reminded me of my brother Steve in every single detail. His honest, comforting embrace made me feel like I wasn’t entirely alone in this living hell that someone in this house actually cared.

I pressed my face deeper into his shoulder, my voice cracking with pure shame:

"I think I’ve officially become a whore, Max..."

Max moved instantly, placing his palms on my shoulders to push me back and look at my face. But I tightened my hold, anchoring myself to him and refusing to let him see my tears.

"Max, no!" I begged, my voice breaking completely. "Don’t look at me, damn it... I’m so disgusted by myself!"

He stopped pulling away, though his frame remained stiff with shock. "Julie... I don’t understand. Why are you saying something so horrible?"

I swallowed the burning lump in my throat, forcing the words out:

"Robert sold me to a client today..."

I felt the dense muscle beneath my palms lock like solid iron.

"...He really sold me, Max!" I continued, my heart shattering for the thousandth time. "I thought it was just a sick, twisted trick to break my spirit... but that masked man actually fucked me!"

Before I could finish, a sudden, powerful force slammed against my chest!

Max shoved me away with violent force.

I stumbled backward, my heels skidding against the rubber mats as I barely managed to keep my balance. I stared at him in utter disbelief, finding him standing pale, his eyes wide with a sudden, suffocating terror.

"Max, what the hell is wrong with you?!" I gasped out.

Before he could open his mouth, a cold, deadly voice sliced through the heavy air of the gym from right behind me dripping with lethal authority:

"What the fuck is going on here, Max?... Are you working here as a security guard, or are you handing out free hugs?!"