Chapter 273:

Julie’s POV

What my eyes were landing on wasn’t just an ugly scene; it was a living nightmare that transcended the limits of the human mind. The gym, once a symbol of strength and activity, had been transformed in the blink of an eye into a human slaughterhouse reeking of the metallic scent of death. Body parts were scattered across the hall with a nausea-inducing brutality; a severed hand lying near the weights, and a leg detached from its pelvis as if it were a piece of meat in a blood-soaked butchery.

I didn’t know where I drew that suicidal courage to take another step, while my feet trembled as if the ground beneath them were collapsing. My gaze stumbled upon a disfigured mass of flesh in the center of the hall... it was a human abdomen, brutally ripped open and tossed there like trash. A bitter nausea tore through my vitals, and a burning in my stomach nearly forced me to vomit, but a lethal curiosity pulled me further in. As I drew closer, the bitter truth struck me; a severed head had been placed with sick care, as if it were a warning message... it was the head of the guard, "Diego." His features, frozen in terror, and his bulging eyes told the story of his final agony.

A thunderous scream erupted from me that I couldn’t suppress, a scream that shattered the silence of that desolate place. I rushed out of the hall, running frantically, not knowing how my weak legs were carrying me as the frailty gnawed at my knees. That hideous sight, and the image of Diego’s head, kept repeating before my eyes as if branded into my memory with fire. I ran upstairs, panting like a drowning person, trying to escape that image... My God! How could a human do this? And why Diego, specifically?

Suddenly, my heart contracted with a force that made my breath stop, and a black terror seized me at a thought that crossed my mind. I whispered in a terrified, trembling voice: "Max!" Could his fate be the same as Diego’s? Had Robert’s madness and harm reached him? I climbed to the floor where Robert’s suite was located, my body convulsing with an unceasing shudder. I pushed the office door open with force, but emptiness was my only answer. I headed with frantic desperation toward his private room.

I pushed the door open and entered. I was greeted by the dog, "Axel," who came running toward me, wagging his tail with a joy that was oblivious to the magnitude of the death surrounding us. I said to him with shortness of breath, my chest heaving violently: "I’m sorry, Axel... we have to postpone this hug for later, I’m not okay." I ventured further inside. Robert was standing before the large mirror, in total calm and coldness, adjusting his new black suit.

He looked at me through the reflection, his features hardening with indifference, then spoke in a deep, resonant voice: "Did I leave the door open for you so you could dare to barge into my room like this?"

I asked him, tears obscuring my vision, my voice trembling like a taut string: "Max... where is he, Robert? Where is Max?"

He said, while adjusting his crisp shirt collar with an irritating coldness: "And why am I supposed to know the location of a guard who works for me every second of the day?"

I shouted at him with a muffled cry filled with oppression: "Answer me, Robert! Did you hurt him? Is he imprisoned in some cellar? What did you do to him? Is he alive?"

He turned toward me slowly, his sharp gaze piercing my flushed face. He said in a skeptical tone: "And why are you so interested in this guard to this extent? What is the secret behind this panic for him?"

I said with pleading and brokenness: "Robert... please, don’t increase my agony... where is he?"

He took a step toward me, pressing his words with sharpness: "You answer first... why do you care about a simple guard so much? What ties you to him?"

I said in a husky voice filled with honesty and despair: "He is my friend..."

He looked away from me with disdain, returned to checking his attire, and said in a definitive tone of dismissal: "I don’t know where he is... Now, get out of my room immediately."

I asked him, the tremors controlling every inch of my body: "Was it you who did that... to Diego?"

He replied with a question as cold as ice, looking into the mirror: "And what took you there in the first place?"

I said in shock and disbelief: "How could you? How could you do that hideous thing to him?"

He said in a terrifying tone, devoid of any shred of mercy, staring directly into my eyes: "Because he is a traitor... and in my world, I hate traitors more than anything else... and the only price for treason is what you saw."

I gave him one last look filled with terror and disgust. I left the room, dragging the tail of my disappointment and brokenness, the cold gnawing at my bones. I had to find Max; I had to make sure he was still breathing in this club that had become a graveyard for anyone who tried to breathe.

As I was staggering through the hallway like a drowning person looking for a straw of salvation, I saw Ron walking with calm, confident steps. I hurried toward him, catching my broken breath with difficulty, my voice coming out shaky: "Hi Ron... please, do you know where the guard Max is? Is he okay?"

Ron replied with a deep calm that didn’t entirely reassure my heart at first: "He’s working upstairs, in the restaurant... he has a guard shift there."

Finally, I breathed a sigh of relief. I felt a heavy mountain of worry lift off my chest; the idea that Max was still breathing was the only thing connecting me to reality now. I said with genuine gratitude: "Thank you, Ron... thank you so much." I walked away from him, drowning in the whirlpool of my thoughts. Steve... my only brother, he must be wasting away with worry for me now. I missed him to the point of pain; I missed his warm embrace, which was my only fortress against the cruelty of this world.

The sound of my thoughts was interrupted by a voice dripping with poison and malice a voice I knew well and never liked to hear. Olivia was approaching me with a mocking smile carefully drawn on her face. She said in a sarcastic tone: "Oh, Julie... look who’s here! Finally, Mr. Robert has released you from your golden cell."

I turned to her, my body automatically tensing in a defensive stance. I said curtly and coldly, trying to hide my weakness: "Olivia."

She said, raising her eyebrows in a disgusting triumph, her eyes gleaming with malice: "Didn’t I tell you before that he would tire of you quickly, Julie? It was only a matter of time, and your time has already run out."

I looked at her, and despite my deep hatred for her and her games, I found myself breaking down before her. Despair was stronger than my pride, so I said in a low voice: "Since you hate me and want to be rid of me... you will help me escape from here then... isn’t that what you want?"

Olivia was stunned by my sudden frankness. She took a step back, looking at me as if I had lost my mind. She said mockingly: "Me? Help you? I don’t have that authority, nor do I dare play with Robert."

I gripped the edge of my shirt so hard my knuckles turned white. I said in a base plea: "Please, Olivia... you’re the only one who can do it."

She replied with a stone-cold stillness: "Don’t waste your time begging because I couldn’t do it even if I wanted to... and besides, why would I help you? I want you to stay here to see how you turn into just a cheap commodity, Julie... I want to watch how men enter your room one after another to fuck you every day for money."

I froze in my place. I felt a piercing coldness sweep through my limbs as if I were buried alive under ice. I couldn’t even imagine this hideous scene. Could Robert the man who whispered of love to me yesterday really do this to me? Would he sell my body like any piece of old furniture? I said, my voice trembling in desperate denial: "What is this nonsense you’re saying? You’re crazy!" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

She said, moving closer until I felt her poisonous breath touch my ear, whispering with a devilish malice: "I thought at first that Robert was truly infatuated with you, but it turns out he’s smarter than I imagined. He knew how to break your pride and destroy your virginity, and now that he’s had what he wanted, he will make you a fallen whore that customers buy from him to enjoy your body."

Her words were tearing me apart, driving poisoned daggers into my heart. I felt a desire to scream until my throat exploded. I said in bitter denial: "You’re lying! You just want to see me broken!"

She continued in cold blood, enjoying the sight of tears gathering in my eyes: "You were just an exciting challenge to him; a rebellious girl trying to protect her honor and her stubborn virginity.

He saw you as something unusual and decided to take your virginity himself and fuck you in the most violent ways to enjoy your screams... but, as usual, he got bored quickly after you became available and surrendered."

I couldn’t believe what she was telling me. I was trying with all my might to convince myself that she was only trying to manipulate my mind. Yes, she wants me to believe this so I’ll collapse completely at her feet. I said, trying to gather the remains of my shattered courage: "I’m not stupid enough to believe you, Olivia... Robert isn’t that bad."

She replied with a confident look full of mocking pity, walking away with a swaggering stride: "Because you think you’re smart... you will soon discover that every word I said is the bitter truth that awaits you, Julie... get ready for your new visitors."