Chapter 418/Where Are My Children?!

Chapter 417

Meredith’s POV

She took a heavy step forward, shoving past my shoulder with a light brush, and swept into the house with a disturbing, effortless elegance. I was left standing there like a fool next to the open door, completely frozen.

Turning my head, I watched her glide in, asking in a trembling voice, "What brought you here?"

Her sharp, falcon-like green eyes scanned the living room before she made her way toward the leather sofa, sinking into it with total relaxation. Crossing one leg over the other, she looked up at me with a mocking smile.

"Is this how you greet your sister whom you haven’t seen in over twenty years?"

I gripped the doorknob so hard my knuckles turned white, my voice dropping into a cold rasp. "And what made you remember me after all this time?"

Curling her lips, she replied with a tone dripping in fake guilt:

"Shame on you, dear sister..." She adjusted her position against the cushions. "...How could I ever forget you?"

I stepped toward her, my facial muscles tight with anger as I snapped, "Please stop this cheap act! What do you want, exactly?"

Fixing her harsh pupils onto my face, her smile vanished in an instant. She delivered three words sharp enough to cut like a sword:

"I want my children."

The blood turned to ice in my veins, a sudden chill rushing through my entire body.

It had never once crossed my mind that she would suddenly show up demanding them or that the thought of looking for Julie and Steve would even enter her head after all these long years!

How was I supposed to open my mouth now and tell her that her son had dragged his bruised body away and run away at fifteen to escape the brutal beatings?! How was I supposed to face her with the reality that her daughter had been sold off to a club that rented out girls at just eighteen years old?!

The sharp wall of silence broke as she sat up straight, her voice cutting through the heavy air:

"I’m waiting... Where are my children, Meredith?!"

I wrung my hands together tightly, staring at her in genuine shock. "Your children?!... You’re asking for your children *now*?"

Tilting her head steadily to the side, she asked, "Yes... Where are they?"

Gathering my scattered composure, I quickly painted a look of fake disapproval onto my face. "After all these long years and abandoning them... you remember them now?"

"That is none of your concern," she interrupted, her voice flat and absolute.

Taking a sharp step closer, I forced a flare of false emotion into my tone. "I’m the one who raised them, Violet, and spent my life with them!... I have every right to ask!"

She straightened her spine, looking up at me with a terrifying, suffocating calm. Her voice dropped into a low, threatening murmur:

"Meredith... you know very well that I don’t usually get angry or lose my temper. But do not push me there right now... because my anger is something you will not be able to handle."

I swallowed hard, averting my eyes as I stammered, "Your children aren’t home."

"I’ll wait for them here," she replied simply.

"How can you wait for them so easily?" I asked, trying to plant a seed of doubt in her chest. "How are they going to accept the fact that you’re their real mother and not me?"

She shrugged off the thought with cold indifference. "Don’t bother yourself with things that don’t concern you."

I tried playing another card to drive her away. "Stewart will be here shortly, and he’ll lose his absolute mind when he finds you here in his house."

The corner of her mouth twitched into a smirk. "Really, Meredith? Will he actually be angry?"

I nodded firmly. "Yes... He hates you and never wants to see you again."

She ignored my words entirely. Rising from the sofa with a fluid, effortless motion, she walked out of the living room with confident steps, heading down the hallway.

Panicking, I rushed right behind her. "Where the hell do you think you’re going?!"

She didn’t turn around. She kept walking until she stopped right outside Julie’s room. Raising her palm, she pushed the door open in a single swift motion revealing a dark, abandoned room covered in dust and heavy with the scent of neglect.

Her eyes locked onto the empty bed for a few agonizing seconds. Then, she turned around slowly to face me, speaking in a tone devoid of any warmth:

"Tell me the truth, Meredith..."

I struggled to swallow the dry lump in my throat. "What?"

She took a single step toward me, demanding an answer with absolute authority. "Where are my children?"

"I told you they’re not home!" I insisted, my voice tight with rising anxiety.

She advanced with slow, calculated steps, forcing me to hesitate and stumble backward. Leaning in slightly, her low whisper choked the air right out of my lungs:

"Meredith... speak."

I crossed my arms over my chest in a wave of fake defiance. "I won’t tell you anything!"

Tilting her head slightly, she asked calmly, "Are you stubborn now?"

I threw my head back in pride, shouting, "And what are you going to do?!"

Her emerald eyes locked onto mine. Her tone remained completely unbothered. "What I do is something you can’t even fathom, Meredith... so you’d better speak immediately."

A bitter, mocking laugh escaped my lips. "You’re still the exact same... a whore!"

She studied my face for a moment, then shook her head with a cynical chuckle. "Ah, my foolish sister... and you remained the exact same too: an idiot."

I thrust my finger toward the hallway, exploding in rage. "Get the hell out of my house!"

"Not until I know where my children are," she replied with icy stability.

Stepping right into her space, I leaned close to look straight into her eyes, my lips curving into a poisonous smile. "Do you want to know how your foolish sister got revenge on your children?"

She didn’t even blink. She kept studying me with total detachment, offering two dry words:

"Tell me... how?"

The words tumbled out of me, my trembling lips fighting to reclaim a shred of pride. "Your precious son Steve ran away from this house like a stray dog because Stewart had been flogging him with a leather belt ever since he was a little child!"

Not a single muscle in her face twitched. Her breathing didn’t even shift.

I smirked bitterly, leaning closer. "I know you don’t even have a heart that loves children to begin with."

"Yes..." she replied with chilling calm. "...I don’t."

My excitement soared as I burned to shatter her terrifying composure. Bringing my face right next to hers, I whispered with raw malice:

"As for your beloved daughter Julie... Stewart sold her off to a club that rents out girls! Turns out her future is going to be just like yours a professional whore!"

Her smile slowly broadened. Her eyes gleamed with a strange, dark light as she spoke softly:

"I really thought you were just stupid... but I was wrong."

Joy and arrogance flushed through my features as I declared proudly, "Yes... You were very wrong, dear sister!"

She raised her palm with a smooth, gentle motion, running her fingers slowly through the strands of my hair as she stepped closer.

"I didn’t think you were *this* much of an ignorant fool," she whispered, her voice dangerously soft. "...You truly never learn from the past."

My eyes widened in utter confusion at her sudden gesture. Before I could process her words or utter a single syllable her grip tightened around my hair with brutal, violent force!

She yanked my head backward with vicious aggression, smashing my forehead hard against the edge of the heavy wooden table!

A sharp, explosive pain burst through my forehead like fire, blinding my vision instantly. My body gave out, collapsing onto the wooden floorboards as Violet’s figure began to blur and recede into the distance.

Leaning down slightly, she looked at me with one last lingering smile. Her low voice was the last thing that reached my ears:

"Sleep well, sweet sister."

And suddenly... the room plummeted into complete blackness, and the dark swallowed me whole.

------------------------------

Julie’s POV

I spent the entire morning pacing quietly back and forth across my room. A deep wave of relief washed through my chest, bringing a warm, subtle smile to my lips. My brother Steve was finally out of Robert’s brutal grip far away from his ruthless claws.

I kept repeating to myself that the nightmare of the auctions was officially over. I would no longer be forced to doll myself up or wear those scandalous dresses for his filthy clients. No other man would ever lay a finger on me again, no matter what happened.

Suddenly, the brass doorknob turned. The door swung open to reveal Robert, his steel-like features completely devoid of any human emotion.

He swept a dry glance over me, his voice low and absolute:

"You will be prepared for tonight."

I froze in my tracks, crossing my arms defensively over my chest. "Really?..." I asked, my voice laced with bitter irony. "...Do you want to sell me off again?"

"Yes," he replied, his tone flat and unbothered.

Lifting my chin in firm defiance, I stated, "I am not going to any more clients. Not anymore."

He straightened his posture in the middle of the room, tilting his head slightly as he offered a quiet warning. "It seems you’ve forgotten that your brother’s life rests entirely in my hands."

A contemptuous smile touched my lips. Painting my face with a flawlessly constructed mask of indifference, I replied, "I’ve thought a lot about my brother’s life... but I discovered that I love myself far more."

His pupils dilated in a flash of fleeting shock he couldn’t quite conceal. "What do you mean by that?" he asked guardedly.

Taking a confident step toward him, I spoke in an unwavering voice:

"I will not play the whore just so my brother can live. Not ever... You can kill him if you want to."

Robert recovered his icy composure in an instant, his sharp, falcon-like eyes pinning me in place. "I am far too intelligent to fall for this little act, Julie."

I raised my eyebrows, interrupting him with a provoking edge:

"Kill him then!... I don’t give a damn about him."

He closed the distance between us with slow, deliberate steps, leaning down until his lips hovered near my ear. His voice came as a dark, venomous hiss:

"You are clever indeed... but that little intellect of yours can never reach my level, Julie."

My heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean by that?" I asked, a sudden chill creeping into my chest.

Fixing his pitch-black eyes directly into mine, a cruel smile stretched across his face, instantly snuffing out my last flicker of hope.

"I know that my father is the one who helped your brother escape."