My father sold me to the Mafia King

Chapter 106

Robert’s point of view

Julie said nervously, avoiding eye contact:

”Not yet... but I will finish soon.”

She returned to her seat with a quick movement and drowned in the papers again to escape my gaze.

I sat in my leather chair and began watching her from the corner of my eye; I followed the knitting of her brows every time she encountered a suspicious number, and how she bit the end of her pen while lost in thought, as if she were in a battle with those numbers.

Not long after, her movement froze completely at the file of ”Digital Ops” company.

I saw her reread the page three times, then she whispered, pointing to the data table with a hesitant voice:

”Mr. Robert... can I ask you about something here?”

I pointed with my hand to the small space beside my seat and said in a calm voice:

”Come here.”

She rose from her chair and stepped toward me with cautious steps, then stood right beside me.

She placed the file on the desk in front of me and leaned her body slightly to point at the numbers; the scent of her delicate perfume wafted the same lavender scent, I think this is her favorite perfume.

She asked me in a tone shrouded in caution:

”This tech company... why are they paying massive amounts for ’emergency updates’ on official holidays? And why are there no detailed invoices for these updates?”

I looked where her small index finger was pointing, and felt a sting of genuine interest running through my body; she had laid her hand exactly on the ”wound” without realizing it.

Those mysterious updates were nothing but a cover for planting that damn code Sterling had told me about.

I said in a deep voice, trying to test the pulse of her intelligence and intuition:

”Perhaps it is just an administrative flaw... what do you think?”

She shook her head in absolute refusal and turned to me spontaneously, making the strands of her hair almost touch my shoulder, and said:

”I don’t think so... this looks like someone was trying to enter the system stealthily and paying for the programmers’ silence. Look, Mr. Robert, the amounts were withdrawn from the emergency account, something companies only do in cases of disasters... or scandals.”

My eyes gleamed with a spark I couldn’t suppress; she was amazing in her analysis.

I remained silent for seconds, watching her professional enthusiasm, while her proximity to me formed a different kind of pressure on my nerves.

I said as I slowly pulled the file from under her hand, trying to maintain that stiff, official look despite my internal admiration for her precision:

”Good observation... leave this file to me, and continue with the rest of the statements.”

She nodded calmly and went back to sit in her place, where she immersed herself in work again in silence.

As for me, I began auditing the numbers she had pointed out with doubled focus, feeling my jaw tighten strongly; the threads were connecting with terrifying clarity.

I muttered to myself threateningly:

”Today, the matter of this company will end.”

I pulled my phone from my jacket pocket and pressed Daniel’s number. As soon as the line opened, I said in a low voice, sharp as a blade:

”Daniel, listen to me well... we have a filthy breach in ’Digital Ops.’

They exploited a loophole in the emergency accounts to pass phantom updates, and the goal was to pull highly sensitive encrypted files belonging to the protected witnesses database.

I want you to put the cybersecurity team on high alert; trace the financial path of those ’emergency’ updates, and find the programmer who signed off on those orders before he disappears. I want his name and address on my desk before sunset.”

I paused for a second, then added in a tone that accepted no argument:

”Close the digital exit points of the company; I don’t want a single bit of information to leave their servers from now on... move!”

Julie’s Point of View

I raised my head slowly, watching his stiffened features as he spoke with a terrifying coldness to someone named ”Daniel.”

He was talking about a ”witness data breach” and ”closing exit points,” as if human lives and destinies were nothing but numbers he moved on a chessboard.

I muttered to myself in astonishment:

”What is this man? His influence seems to know no bounds.”

I couldn’t pull my eyes away from him; he looked eerily calm despite the gravity of the situation, a calm that precedes the storm.

Even the way he held his phone was strange and different; he was pressing his thumb on the screen with focus, while the rest of his long fingers were closed tightly and firmly, as if he were gripping the neck of an invisible opponent.

Suddenly, as he was closing the phone, he raised his gaze directly toward me with a hawkish glint.

I froze in my place, and felt my heart’s blood gathering in my face, which ignited with embarrassment.

He said in a deep voice that pierced the silence of the office:

”Is there a problem?”

From my sheer confusion, the pen slipped from between my trembling fingers to strike the desk surface, producing a tap that exposed my tension, before rolling and falling to the floor.

I said in a hoarse voice that I struggled to keep from trembling:

”No... not at all.”

I immediately buried my head in the papers, feeling my breath quicken as I tried to pretend to be busy.

My God, did he see me while I was staring at him with all that amazement? Did he notice how I was contemplating the details of his hand and his features?

I reprimanded myself inwardly as I felt the heat of my cheeks:

”No, I wasn’t staring at this monster... impossible! I was only listening to what he was saying, it was curiosity that drove me... yes, just curiosity.”

But despite myself, the image of his strong grip and his commanding tone of voice was still echoing in my mind.

Robert straightened up and took one last look at the watch on his wrist before saying in his deep voice:

”Alright, I’m going out now... will you finish the files soon?”

I raised my gaze to him with difficulty, feeling the heaviness of my eyelids, but I nodded my head:

”Yes, I will... not much is left.”

He settled for saying ”Alright” before turning and exiting the office with his majestic calmness.

As soon as the door closed, I exhaled air I had been holding in my chest and drowned again in the sea of numbers.

It took two full hours of lethal concentration; I felt my feet like blocks of numb wood, while the pain in my shoulders extended like cold knives reaching my neck.

I gathered the papers in precise order, making sure to attach every note to its specific file, my hand trembling slightly from the sheer exhaustion.

I wondered to myself spitefully:

”Where did that bitch Olivia disappear to today?”,

but I quickly dismissed the thought of her; the absence of her provocative face was the only reward I had received.

I exited the office, my body staggering in search of a bed, but suddenly... I froze in the hallway.

A mad idea sprouted in my mind, an idea that made the blood rush in my veins and temporarily drove away the sleepiness:

”I will go to Robert’s room... maybe I’ll find a hidden phone there.”

I swallowed hard, feeling my heart thumping loudly against my ribs.

Robert is out, and this is my golden opportunity that will not be repeated.

Despite my certainty that this step might lead me directly to hell or end with a bullet in my head, my curiosity and despair were stronger.

I moved with cautious steps, ignoring the sting of pain in my tired feet that led me, as if they possessed a mind of their own, toward his private suite.

I was looking behind me with every movement, my breath coming out disturbed and short, while my hand extended toward his cold door handle... and the trembling controlled my entire body.