Chapter 404/Why Did I Choose Robert?

Chapter 404

Julie’s POV

I looked up at Carlos. He stood mere inches from me, his features intensely strained with a heavy, protective anxiety, his eyes overflowing with a raw, genuine devotion that he couldn’t possibly hide. In that exact second, a devastating question sliced through my mind like a jagged blade: Why couldn’t I have just loved him? Why the hell did I choose Robert? Why did my wretched, broken heart have to beat for Robert alone, shattering me completely while leaving a man like this behind?

I forced a deep, stabilizing breath into my lungs, desperate to drive away the suffocating thoughts distracting me, and forced my voice into a flat, quiet register. "I just left, Carlos. That’s all there is to it."

His tone shifted instantly, dropping into a deeper, more resonant frequency as he locked his gaze onto mine, refusing to let me look away. "There is a definitive reason, Julie... you... you still love Robert, for God’s sake. I know you too well to believe anything else."

The final words left his throat with a slight, vulnerable tremor, a minute crack in his armor that caused a sudden spike of doubt to creep deep into my veins. Was it actually possible? Did he still carry a flame for me in the deepest corners of his heart after all this time, despite everything I had put him through? I swallowed the thick lump in my throat, bracing my spine as I forced a definitive, artificial firmness into my voice. "I don’t love him anymore."

Carlos’s eyes dilated in sudden, stark bewilderment. He leaned in slightly, his tone laced with deep, intuitive suspicion. "Do you truly not love him anymore? Or are you simply pretending to be numb to the pain, Julie?"

My muscles locked in sheer panic. It was terrifying how effortlessly he could dissect my armor and read the chaotic mess churning inside my soul with such lethal accuracy. I forced my chin up, meeting his gaze with a faint, defiant tilt of my head. "How do I look to you?"

He shook his head with a heavy, helpless sigh, his shoulders dropping slightly as he replied in a rough whisper, "I honestly don’t know anymore... but four years ago, your love for him was so pure, so absolute, it burned in every single look you gave him."

I aggressively wrenched my face away from his stare, a suffocating weight tightening around my throat as I whispered a desperate plea, "Enough, Carlos... can we please just bury this topic completely?"

He held my gaze for a fraction of a second before giving a slow, subdued nod. He took half a step back, intentionally granting me space as he asked quietly, "Fine... tell me about yourself then. How are you holding up?"

The familiar, acidic bitterness pooled in the back of my throat again. I looked away, my voice cracking with a wounded, raw honesty. "I am not okay, Carlos. Not even close. Robert tracked me down and dragged me straight back into this living hell by brute force, completely against my will."

His gaze locked back onto my face with unyielding, solid intent, his voice dropping into a low, fiercely authoritative register. "I can get you out of here, Julie. I mean it."

I stared at him, my eyes narrowing with intense scrutiny and heavy skepticism. Sensing my immediate doubt, he stepped closer, his eyes flashing with a sudden, competitive fire. "I know what I told you in the past, and I know I failed to pull you out back then... but things are completely different now. The power balance has shifted."

I shook my head in utter despair, a violent sob catching in my throat as my knuckles turned white against my sides. "I can’t leave this place, Carlos. It’s over. Even if you managed to smuggle me out past his guards, I couldn’t run."

His dark brows knitted together in sharp confusion, his posture stiffening as he demanded an answer, "And what the hell is stopping you?"

The dam broke, and the words ripped from my chest, muffled by a bitter wave of tears. "Because he has my brother!"

Carlos froze, his entire frame paralyzing in sheer, cataclysmic shock as he stared at me. "Your brother?! You have a brother, Julie?"

I gave a weak, thoroughly exhausted nod, my fingers trembling. "Do you remember Steve? The young blonde guy who used to work for you a long time ago?"

He went entirely still for a few agonizing seconds, his eyes darting back and forth as the memories flashed behind his retinas. Suddenly, his pupils dilated aggressively, his breath catching in his throat in a sharp gasp. "The one with the green eyes... those uncanny green eyes that looked so suspiciously like yours? Oh my God... that boy was your actual flesh and blood?!"

"Exactly, Carlos," I whispered, my voice breaking under the weight of my ruin.

He slammed the palm of his hand against his forehead, letting out a ragged, breathless exclamation of pure betrayal. "Why the hell didn’t you ever tell me about this?! Not even a hint!"

I let out a shaky, miserable sigh, casting a fearful, paranoid glance toward the heavy wooden door of the room before looking back at him. "Because if you knew that secret, Robert would have inevitably twisted it out of you or found out one way or another. And the second he knew, my life would have become a thousand times more complicated and hellish than it already was."

Carlos’s expression softened into a grim, dark solemnity, his chin dipping as the harsh reality sank in. "Yeah... I see your point now. I completely understand why you had to hide him."

I let out a hollow, defeated laugh, my tone overflowing with a bleak, submissive resignation. "And now... I have no choice left but to obey Robert’s every single command without a single word of argument. If I slip up even once... he will slaughter my brother without a single shred of mercy."

In that exact, cursed second, the brass handle turned. The heavy wooden door swung open with a slow, terrifying silence that sent a violent, icy shiver straight down my spine.

Robert’s massive, dominant frame filled the threshold, casting a long, suffocating shadow over the room. His pitch-black eyes were completely lethal, burning with a volatile, suppressed fury that could have cracked stone. He stepped into our space, casually shoving his hands into his trouser pockets with a detached, freezing nonchalance.

His deep, gravelly voice vibrated through the room, dripping with an agonizing, razor-sharp sarcasm:

"I got entirely sick of standing out there in the hall by my lonesome waiting for the two of you... so I decided to come inside and join the conversation, my dear Carlos."