My father sold me to the Mafia King

Chapter 127

Julie’s Point of View

Hours and hours passed while I was devouring the pages of the book, but the words were passing through my eyes without settling in my mind; for whenever I tried to focus, his image jumped into my head, and I felt the texture of his rough hair between my fingers in that cursed kiss.

The clock indicates midnight, and sleep has become an enemy that refuses to visit me.

Suddenly, the door handle moved with a faint creak. I froze in my place, my eyes widening as I watched the door open. Sarah entered, and I jumped up from the bed, my heart leaping in my chest like a trapped bird. I said in a panting tone: ”Sarah!”

It was impossible for her to open her room door, for her room is locked like the rest of the girls here; only my room now is without a lock.

She approached me with rapid and confused steps, gripping my arm with a force that made me tremble, and whispered: ”Julie... I have something important I want to tell you.”

I took a step back while examining her pale face: ”How did you come here? How did you get out and how did you know my room?”

She didn’t answer me; instead, the pressure of her fingers on my skin increased while she turned around in terror: ”It doesn’t matter... you don’t have time. You must hurry.”

”What? I didn’t understand!” I asked her, feeling a coldness coursing down my spine.

She said in a voice like a hiss: ”You are escaping today, Julie.”

For a moment, I felt the ground swaying beneath me, as if I had fallen into a sudden dream.

I blinked several times while looking at her hand clinging to me: ”Sarah... is this real?”

She didn’t give me a chance to think; instead, she pulled me by my hand violently toward the door: ”Yes... let’s go!”

We went out to the hallway, and my whole body was shaking from the intensity of the tension. We reached the massive door that opens with a password; I saw her fingers pressing the letters with a frantic speed, and suddenly, the ”click” of the electronic lock was heard and the door opened.

I froze in my place in bewilderment: ”Sarah... what is happening? How did you know the password?”

She said while pushing me forward with a tensed body: ”I pulled the talk out of Mr. Robert and stole the key... go, go, go!”

I looked toward the elevator leading to the restaurant, feeling a terror gnawing at my insides: ”But there are guards and people in the restaurant, and they will surely stop me!”

Sarah shook her head with impatience while pushing me even harder: ”There is no one; they are on break... go now!”

I couldn’t control myself; I threw myself into her arms and hugged her tightly, feeling tears of joy and awe wetting my cheeks: ”Sarah... thank you so much.”

Sarah pushed me away from her, her eyes flashing with a deadly concern: ”Come on, Julie... you don’t have much time... go!”

I took the elevator, and then when it opened, I climbed the stairs; my breath was racing irregularly, and I felt a contraction in my chest that made my heart beat violently.

Fear was taking hold of me; what if someone caught me? What if Robert caught me? But despite all that fear, my desire to escape was greater.

The restaurant lights were off and there was no one there; this was very strange and terrifying at the same time.

I headed toward the glass and looked outside; there were no guards. Yes, just as Sarah told me they were on a break. I headed to the door and opened it, and finally, I inhaled the cold, fresh air; it wasn’t entirely fresh due to car exhaust, but it was so to me.

I expected at that moment that Robert’s shadow would extend from behind me to pull me back inside, or that a guard would catch me and return me, but none of this happened.

I stepped out of the restaurant and started running in the street, my feet hitting the pavement harshly.

I was bumping into people as I ran, feeling my shoulder collide with the bodies around me, and I could hear them saying: ”You crazy girl,” ”Watch out,” ”You were going to knock me down.” But I didn’t care; I was just running, and my eyes wouldn’t stop glancing behind me, afraid that they were pursuing me.

I finally stopped at a street corner, panting bitterly, and leaned my back against the wall trying to catch my breath; I couldn’t believe that I had finally succeeded in escaping.

I was so tired that my legs could no longer carry me, so my strength collapsed and I sat on the ground. The coldness of the concrete stung my skin, and I wasn’t wearing any coat; thus, my body began to shiver involuntarily under the effect of the cold that gnawed at my bones, but I didn’t mind.

Suddenly, I heard a thick voice saying: ”Hello miss, are you okay?”

I raised my head slowly to see him; I found it was a policeman. I jumped up quickly, trying to steady my trembling jaw, and said: ”I want to tell you that I am...” But my throat closed up and the words froze in my gullet.

The policeman said, tilting his head: ”Yes, what?” I tried to speak, to tell him that I had been sold, to show him the club, to tell him about the killer Robert Cross who hides under the name of justice, but silence was the master of the situation.

The policeman took me by my arm gently and said kindly: ”What is it? Tell me.”

I averted my gaze from him and said in a faint voice: ”Nothing.. I just wanted to tell you that I want to become a policewoman.” The policeman smiled and let go of my hand and said: ”Well, I wish you good luck with that.”

He left me and went on, and I began walking again, questions hitting my head violently: ”Why didn’t I tell the truth? Why didn’t I tell him everything?” I didn’t know where I should go; I couldn’t go to my father’s house because he would try to sell me again, and I couldn’t go to the house of one of my friends from university because I didn’t have a deep acquaintance with them.

I walked for a long distance until I felt a stiffness in my feet.

I stopped at an old inn, and although it was cheap, I had no money to pay, but I entered nonetheless.

There was a fat man whose face was full of tattoos at the reception, sitting on a chair with dozens of extinguished cigarettes beside him.

I said in a tone I tried to make sound steady: ”Hello, sir.” He looked at me and began to scrutinize me from head to toe, and I felt his gaze piercing my privacy. He said: ”Hello beautiful, what do you want?” I said: ”I want to stay here for today, but I don’t have money.” He replied coldly while exhaling the smoke of his cigarette: ”No stay without money.”

I said with a muffled plea: ”Please, I cannot stay outside, I promise you that tomorrow I will pay you.”

He said as he rose slowly, roaming with his eyes over my body with disgusting looks: ”You can pay in another way, my dear.. you have the ability to pay for a whole month, I won’t lie.” I understood his filthy hint, feeling a disgust coursing through my stomach, and I said sharply: ”Fuck you, you harasser!” and I ran out of that place.

I walked for another distance, then I threw myself onto the stairs; I was on the verge of freezing. I pulled my knees to my chest trying to reduce the area of my body exposed to the wind, until I felt a hand touch my shoulder.

I recoiled and stood up quickly, raising my hands in defense of myself, only to find a woman a bit old in age, looking at me with calm blue eyes.

She said: ”Don’t be afraid, my daughter; I saw you sitting here shivering, and from the appearance of your luxurious clothes, you don’t look like you are homeless.”

I said, trying to gather the fragments of myself: ”I am not homeless, yes.” She said: ”It seems there is a story behind you; come, my house is near here, you will sleep at my place today.”

I worried about her offer, but I looked at my hands, which were turning blue from the cold, and I had no other choice. I said faintly: ”Thank you, madam.”

We rode in her black Mercedes, and she didn’t ask me anything all the way, and I also maintained total silence, leaning my head against the glass. We arrived at a massive building with glass facades, and we entered her luxurious apartment.

I sat on the white sofa, feeling the fur carpet under my exhausted feet, and warmth began to creep into my limbs gradually. She said to me: ”I will prepare some milk and hot chocolate for you; I hope you drink it.” I said with a faint smile: ”Yes, I like it.”

She entered the kitchen, while I remained in the hall, and I closed my eyes for a single second while thanking God that I had finally succeeded in escaping.

The woman came carrying the hot chocolate mug, and the warm scent of cocoa rose to caress my exhausted senses. She offered it to me gently and said: ”Here you go.”

I grasped the mug with both hands, pressing my cold fingers against its warm ceramic surface, feeling that heat coursing through my palms to bring life back into them. I said in a faint voice: ”Thank you, madam.”

She sat beside me on the sofa, leaning her body toward me slightly, then she asked me in a calm tone that carried great weight: ”Yes... what is your story?”

At that moment, I felt as if the air had stiffened in my throat. The same paralysis that had possessed me before the policeman took hold of me; my neck muscles tensed, and my tongue was unable to utter a single letter.

I was looking at the steam rising from the mug while she fixed her blue gaze on my face with clear curiosity, waiting in patient silence for me to begin speaking.