My father sold me to the Mafia King

Chapter 391

Stella’s POV

The man’s hysterical breathing tore heavily through the receiver, his voice vibrating with a sheer, unbridled madness that completely stole the words from my throat. I froze in place, listening to his booming, authoritative hiss cut through the line with increasing savagery:

"Tell me where the hell Julie is! Talk, now!"

Seized by sudden panic, I pulled the phone away from my ear, and with trembling fingers, slammed the end-call button to cut him off. Not a single second passed before the screen lit up again with his incoming call; without thinking twice, I held down the power button until the device went completely dark.

At that exact moment, the deafening crash of our wooden front door slamming against the wall shattered the quiet of the house. My body jolted in terror, and my feet carried my panting frame toward the hallway to see what had happened. My eyes widened in shock when I saw Mike; his chest was heaving with volatile emotion, and his face was uncharacteristically flushed.

My mother rushed out of the kitchen with anxious, hurried steps, her brows furrowing in deep concern: "Mike? What in heaven’s name happened?"

Mike waved his hand in exhausted dismissal, strictly avoiding her gaze as he mumbled in a low voice: "Nothing, Mom... nothing to worry about. Go back to what you were doing in the kitchen."

Mom let out an annoyed sigh at his cold deflection, then turned back the way she came. The moment she vanished, I stepped closer, my eyes locked on his broken features, and whispered cautiously: "What happened? Is something wrong with Julie?"

He gritted his teeth in sheer frustration, muttering: "The date is completely canceled."

My brows knitted in confusion, and I questioned him: "Did something happen inside the restaurant? Speak, for heaven’s sake!"

Mike gripped the door handle with a sudden, violent force, exhaling a burning breath from his chest: "We never even made it to the restaurant, Stella! Julie isn’t at her house, and her phone is completely switched off."

In that exact split second, the bare truth flashed like a blinding sun in my racing mind. All my doubts evaporated; I knew with absolute certainty that she was currently tangled in Jake’s arms. I curled my lips into a bitter, mocking smile, whispering in a dry, breathless tone: "I already know exactly where she is right now."

Mike spun toward me with lightning speed, his pupils dilating in sheer shock as he gasped: "What?! Where the hell is she?!"

I locked my eyes onto his, delivering a harsh, dry truth to shatter his ignorance: "She’s with Jake."

His jaw clenched violently, his features twitching in shocked denial as he stammered: "Stop this absolute garbage, Stella! Don’t start your pathetic games again."

I stepped forward with absolute determination, shouting defiantly: "I saw them with my own two eyes the other day, kissing each other with absolute passion!"

Mike’s face flushed deep red with roaring anger, and he bellowed at the top of his lungs, his voice shaking the entire house to silence me: "Stella! Stop these lying, poisonous fairy tales right now!"

My mother bolted out of the kitchen again, her face painted with shock and fear as she looked between us, crying out: "What in heaven’s name is going on here?! Why all this screaming?!"

I turned to her in dry, suffocating desperation: "Mom... please leave us alone to talk for just a few minutes."

Sighing with clear disappointment, Mom reluctantly retreated and firmly shut the kitchen door behind her. I immediately turned back to Mike, stating with finality: "I’m going to grab my phone from my room... wait right here and don’t move!"

I sprinted to my room, snatched the powered-down phone, and ran back to stand before him with a challenging glare: "Let’s go."

His brows knitted in obvious confusion as he stared at my suspicious confidence: "Go where?"

I twisted my lips mockingly: "I believe I know exactly where our little lovebirds are hiding out tonight."

Mike followed me outside out of sheer stubbornness. As he strode toward the car, he muttered in a trembling voice, trying to convince himself more than me: "Stella... there’s no way Jake and Julie are together like that. You are definitely, horribly wrong!"

I pulled open the passenger door, looking at him with a chilling, defiant glare: "You’ll see the absolute truth with your own eyes tonight."

Yet, the bitter, agonizing truth was clawing at my own soul. Perhaps I was the one who desperately needed to see it, just to finally wake up from the delusion of this unrequited, dead-end love. I slid into the passenger seat, pressing my palms tightly against my knees in sheer tension as Mike started the engine. He stared at the road ahead, asking in a low, strained whisper: "And where would Jake even be at this hour?"

I stared out of the side window with freezing coldness: "He’s definitely at his aunt’s isolated cabin... because his aunt went to New York for a surgical procedure."

His brows furrowed deeply as his hands gripped the steering wheel: "And how do you know all these details about his aunt?"

I curled my lips in biting sarcasm: "What matters is that I know. Now, step on the gas so we can get there!"

Mike sped off, driving like a maniac through the dark, deserted roads. Throughout the entire drive, a heavy, suffocating silence hung between us. My mind drowned in a chaotic whirlpool of thoughts about Jake and Julie memories that systematically devoured me and about that mysterious man, her father, who turned out to be alive and searching for her like a madman.

The road felt infinitely longer than usual, until the wooden gates of the ranch finally materialized through the dense trees. My eyes immediately caught the warm light glowing from the cabin’s windows, and I pointed my finger triumphantly: "I told you they were here!"

Mike gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned stark white, whispering in a trembling, denial-filled voice: "Stella... please stop this. We don’t even know if they are actually inside."

I shouted with volatile frustration to crush his hesitation: "I literally told you I saw them kissing, for heaven’s sake!"

He shook his head violently, his voice cracking with immense pain: "That’s impossible... I absolutely cannot believe something like that!"

I threw the car door open and stepped out with absolute resolve, hissing venomously: "Now you’ll believe it when you see it with your own two eyes!"

The moment Mike’s feet hit the ground outside, the wooden door of the cabin violently flew open. My eyes nearly bulged out of my head, and my tongue was completely tied as I watched Julie dash outside, frantically wrapping a messy white bedsheet around her bare body to cover herself. Right behind her, Jake lunged out, completely bare-chested with a fierce, dominant look and tightly coiled muscles.

Jake froze in absolute shock the second his blue eyes landed on us. He took a panicked step back and retreated inside, slamming the door shut, leaving us in a state of total, paralyzing shock. Spotting us in the middle of the yard, Julie stopped running. She tightly secured the sheet around her shoulders, then walked toward us with calm, icy strides as if she had done absolutely nothing wrong. She spoke in an incredibly stable tone, completely devoid of any shame:

"Hi... can you guys give me a ride home now?"

Mike exploded with raging fury. He didn’t say a single word to her; instead, he bolted past her toward the cabin like a madman. My body jolted in terror, and I sprinted right after him, genuinely terrified that he would commit a stupidity and kill Jake out of his lethal jealousy.

We burst into the room to find Jake had already pulled on his jeans, which were completely damp. My eyes widened in pure horror and disbelief at the sight of his bare chest and back. They were covered in hideous, dark blue scars and lines looking as though he had been brutally and ruthlessly whipped. Mike didn’t even give himself a second to process the sight. He threw a devastating, heavy fist straight at Jake’s solid jaw, roaring with immense heartbreak and hatred:

"You piece of trash! You knew I loved her! You knew! To hell with you and your friendship!"

Jake stumbled back two steps, casually wiping the blood from his split lip with the back of his hand. He fixed his cold blue eyes onto Mike, rasping in a deep, gravelly tone: "And did you ever actually tell me you loved her?"

Mike lunged forward, his eyes practically spitting fire: "I didn’t have to say the words, you bastard! You knew! You saw how I looked at her, how I protected her!"