Chapter 443/She Is My Fiancée!
Chapter 443
Robert’s POV
My phone vibrated inside my trouser pocket. I pulled the device out and cast a dry glance at the screen; it was my father.
I swiped the answer button and lifted the phone to my ear, my raspy voice dropping low to extinguish any trace of heat:
"Hello... yes?"
My father’s voice came through the speaker, asking with a casualness that was completely blind to the fire consuming my ribs:
"I came to the club, but I didn’t find you there."
I answered with heavy breath:
"I’m not there."
A short silence stretched over the other end before he asked with subtle apprehension:
"And Julie... where is she?"
My grip tightened around the frame of the phone, and I breathed a low, velvet hiss laced with lethal promise:
"I have a long conversation ahead of us, Father."
His tone shifted instantly, laced with mild confusion:
"Is something wrong?"
I pinned my eyes onto the endless street stretching ahead, speaking with absolute, cutting clarity:
"I know you found Julie before I did... and yet you never told me."
His breathing hitched through the line, his tone turning instantly apologetic:
"Robert... son, listen to me, I—"
I cut him off, unyielding:
"Where are you right now? Are you still at the club?"
He answered calmly:
"No... I’m at home."
I replied curtly:
"I’m coming."
I ended the call without waiting for a response. Turning around, I walked with quiet steps back inside. Julie was still sitting beside her brother, her storm of tears having calmed down slightly, though her soft eyes were swollen and bloodshot.
I stood before her, my towering frame casting a shadow over her, and spoke dryly:
"Shall we go?"
She lifted her head toward me in confusion, speaking in a broken voice:
"I want my brother to come with me."
I narrowed my eyes, asking:
"Where?"
She turned toward Steve, speaking with a stubborn, almost childish insistence:
"He will work with you at the club."
Steve straightened up in his seat, looking at her in utter disbelief as he voiced his protest:
"And who told you I want to work there, Julie?!"
Her tone turned surprisingly bossy, answering clearly:
"Because I want you to!"
I studied her fragile stubbornness for a few seconds, then severed the dialogue with an official tone:
"Alright, Julie... right now, we are going to my father’s house."
She shot me a puzzled look, asking:
"Why?"
I answered with icy detachment:
"You’ll find out there."
Steve sighed, shaking his head as he waved his hand dismissively:
"I’ll stay here... you go ahead."
She nodded at him, whispering softly:
"Alright."
We walked out to the car. Before I could open the door for her, her soft fingers reached out to wrap around my palm with a warm, trembling grip. She lifted her fear-filled eyes, asking in a low voice:
"Are you okay?"
I was not okay, for hell’s sake... my chest was exploding like a cauldron boiling with blood and ash, but I locked my steel features in place and answered in a calm voice:
"I’m fine... don’t worry."
We settled inside the car, and I fired the engine, sending the vehicle accelerating through the streets toward the villa where my father lived.
I pulled up in front of the gate and spotted Harold’s car parked near the entrance. We stepped out in heavy silence and walked toward the broad wooden door. I raised my palm and knocked with firm, decisive strikes.
The maid opened the door, bowing with stuttering respect:
"Welcome, sir..."
Julie leaned into my arm, whispering with a restless, nervous apprehension:
"What are we doing at your father’s house?"
I didn’t answer her. I stepped inside, cutting through the hallway and pulling her hand so she would follow me toward the main living hall.
My father was sitting there in his wheelchair, and beside him sat Harold, leaning against the leather sofa with a comfortable, relaxed elegance. The moment their eyes fell upon Julie standing beside me, motion froze completely in their bodies in blatant shock.
The silence of the hall shattered when Harold stood up rapidly, attempting to mask his bewilderment behind a welcoming smile, speaking in a raised voice:
"Robert! Brother... welcome!"
Then he shifted his dark eyes toward Julie, scrutinizing her broken features with artificial wonder, adding in a cautious question:
"Who is this young lady?"
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Julie’s POV
I stood there, staring at the man sitting before us... he was like another copy of Robert, possessing the exact same dark hair and piercing eyes.
Before the echo of Robert’s question could bounce across the grand hall, the quiet was suddenly shattered by the sound of tiny footsteps rushing across the wooden floor. A small child ran across the room soft black curls scattered across his forehead, and a pair of emerald-green eyes sparkled in his face, framed by soft dimples carved delicately on both cheeks.
Everything around me stopped... time froze, and my breath vanished completely.
My heart began thudding violently, rattling my ribcage, as a strange, unearthly shiver ran through my veins a feeling I had never experienced in my entire life. The little boy carried Robert’s features with unmistakable clarity, and at the exact same time... he had something of me! It was as if he were a masterfully crafted cinematic blend between the two of us!
I couldn’t stay in my spot, nor could I feel the weight of my own body anymore. I moved toward him with dark, spellbound steps, dropping to my knees right in front of him on the cold carpet. I wrapped my arms desperately around his tiny frame, pulling him against my chest with a ferocity born of raw instinct.
I don’t know how I did it, nor did it make an ounce of sense to throw myself at a complete stranger’s child with such reckless abandon... but his scent! Oh God... it was the sweetest, purest fragrance I had ever inhaled into my lungs since the day I was born!
I held his soft back with both hands while my heartbeat raced wildly. I forced myself to pull back slightly a physical resistance my nervous system fought against so our eyes could meet.
A warm smile formed over his tiny lips, and he extended a delicate hand, placing his tiny palm against my cheek.
My chest constricted in helpless sorrow. What on earth was happening to me?! Had the trauma of losing my baby Ethan driven me so far that I was showering all this fierce, explosive love onto a child I didn’t even know?!
Thomas’s dry voice cut through the stillness of the moment, calling out authoritatively:
"Adam... come here."