My father sold me to the Mafia King

Chapter 366:

Stella’s POV

I stood frozen in deep hesitation on the doorstep of Julie’s house. The cold wood under my palm made me pause for long, agonizing seconds. Before I could even lift my hand to knock, a sudden, sharp spike of curiosity completely overtook me, pushing me to sneak a peek first and see exactly what the hell Jake was up to.

I wheeled around with light, silent steps, heading toward the other side of the house where the window to Jake’s room was located. I pressed my face tight against the glass, peering in with heavy anticipation, but the space was swallowed by a pitch-black darkness. Not a single trace of movement stirred inside.

"Maybe he’s not in his room right now," I muttered to myself, a faint wave of disappointment washing over my chest. Then, another idea flashed through my mind, instantly sparking my excitement: "Why don’t I surprise Julie instead? Maybe I can play a little prank and scare the absolute hell out of her."

Moving with extreme caution and fluid softness, I crept toward the window directly facing Julie’s room.

Strands of warm yellow light sliced clearly through the glass, breaking the dark blanket of the night. I began to walk on the tips of my toes, fiercely careful not to make a single sound or movement that might tip her off to my presence outside. I pressed my back flat against the freezing concrete wall to gather my courage, then tilted my head with excruciating slowness to take a careful look inside.

In that exact, goddamn second, the blood instantly curdled in my veins and my entire body went completely paralyzed from a shock that struck my brain like a bolt of lightning. Jake and Julie were standing right by the bed, locked in a deep, violent, and utterly terrifying kiss that overflowed with a monstrous passion.

I yanked my back away from the glass with a violent tremor, stumbling several frantic steps away from the window as if a massive electrical current had just blasted through my frame and robbed the oxygen straight from my lungs. I panted heavily, struggling to draw a breath, feeling like the air had been completely severed from my burning chest. I couldn’t even breathe properly.

"Jake... and Julie, what the absolute hell?!" I whispered the two names with lips that shook uncontrollably, while my brain fiercely and stubbornly refused to believe what my own two eyes had just witnessed in that cursed room.

At that exact moment, I felt my heart literally tear apart, shattering and bleeding into a million jagged pieces inside my chest. I fought with every single ounce of my strength and pride to choke back the scalding tears.

I forced myself not to break down or let out a scream of pure agony and betrayal that would completely expose me, especially at a time like this. I clamped my slender hands into tight, white-knuckled fists, grinding my teeth together so hard they audibly grated.

"Stella... pull your goddamn self together," I choked out in a suffocating whisper. "Do not break down right now. At least not fucking now."

Reassembling the shattered pieces of my soul with monumental effort, I marched back toward the front door with stiff, aggressive strides. I pounded on the wood with a hard, unyielding force, a black, toxic hatred and absolute determination hardening inside my chest: *I am never going to let them get what they want this easily. I am going to ruin your fucking fun.*

After moments that stretched out like an eternity, the metal lock clicked, and the wooden door swung open to reveal Jake’s massive, broad-shouldered frame. A distinct look of shock flashed through his eyes, and his rough, grating baritone cut through the air in pure disapproval. "Stella? What the hell are you doing here at this hour?"

In that exact split second, my gaze locked with laser focus straight onto his bottom lip. It was visibly cut, marred by a stark smear of dried red blood. Damn that filth. He had kissed her with such a savage, brutal passion that Julie’s teeth had literally sliced his lip open in such an obvious, glaring way!

I pointed a trembling finger right at his mouth, my tone sharp as I desperately tried to wrap it in a layer of casual mockery. "What the hell happened to your lip, Jake?"

He lifted his massive fingers to the corner of his mouth, a sudden wave of panic and tension bleeding through his features as he tried to mask his agitation. "My lip?" he answered dryly. "It’s nothing. Just a minor split from the dry weather."

I nodded my head in blatant defiance, my eyes boring straight through his pathetic lie. "Right, clearly. It’s bleeding."

He let out a weak clearing of his throat to swallow his obvious nervousness, finally realizing that I was still standing out in the biting, freezing air. He took a heavy step back into the house. "You’d better come inside instead of freezing to death out in this frost."

I walked straight into the living room, sinking onto the long sofa with a forced, artificial calm. I turned my head toward him as he shut the door behind us, asking with calculated malice, "Is Julie... is she here in the house, or is she already asleep?"

"She’s in her room, and she isn’t asleep yet," he answered curtly, stepping into the living room. "I’ll go call her out right now."

"Don’t bother," I cut him off in a rushed, dry, and absolute tone. "Leave her the hell alone. I want to talk to you first. Just the two of us."

He knitted his heavy brows in pure confusion, a deep suspicion rising at my harsh demeanor. "Is there something wrong? Did some drama happen with Mike that brought you all the way out here?"

I forced a faint, hollow smile across my lips, the movement straining my face. "No, of course not. It’s just that we haven’t sat down for a close, quiet chat in such a long time because of your constant absence. I missed talking to you."

"Fine," he grunted, his voice dropping into its usual stony, dismissive cadence. "Talk."

He stepped forward and dropped his massive weight onto the sofa right next to me. I completely turned my torso toward him, my eyes hungrily devouring every sharp line of his face.

Extending my hand with excruciating slowness, I boldly planted my palm over his hard, solid thigh, my voice dropping into a soft, desperate murmur that dripped with pure pleading and humiliation. "I’ve missed you so goddamn much it’s driving me insane, Jake... I literally can’t find the words to describe it. My heart is about to explode right out of my chest."