Chapter 286:

Olivia’s POV

Seven whole months. Seven long months passed without my eyes catching a glimpse of Steve, or my phone ringing with his name on the screen. He had stopped calling me altogether, withdrawing from my life with a provoking calmness, ignoring my existence as if I had never meant anything to him, or as if the days we spent together had simply evaporated into thin air. Even though I was always clear with myself and knew perfectly well that I held no true love or real affection for him in my depths, his absence left a bothersome void; I just needed him around.

He was the only one in this miserable world who made me feel like a desired woman, someone worthy of attention, pampering, and the spoiling that everyone else around me lacked. During this entire stretch of time, he didn’t even condescend to send a single text, nor did he step across my threshold as he used to, which made my pride bleed profusely.

On top of this killing void, I had to endure the weight of a daily hell and face Robert’s madness and mood swings at the club. Although he did his absolute best to feign composure, coldness, and indifference before everyone, his actions and sharp gazes exposed him clearly. To any onlooker, he appeared as a broken man, burning from the inside out just because that disgusting pig, Julie, had left.

Up until this very moment, none of the workers or patrons at the club knew the real reason behind her sudden escape on that cursed night.

At first, I thought she was just a stupid girl who fell in love with Robert and would do anything to please him, but the days proved the exact opposite. It turned out she was just a cheap, manipulative fraud who exploited his blind trust and the safety he granted her to execute her filthy plan, running away and leaving him behind to writhe in his own fires.

I tried repeatedly, through all sorts of twisted and indirect ways, to get closer to Robert in her absence. I wore my finest clothes, feigned comfort to soothe his mind, or used business and its pressures as an excuse to speak with him inside his office. But all my attempts crashed against the wall of his cruelty. He was like a raging, wounded dragon, ready to swallow and destroy anyone who dared approach his perimeter or tried to fill the void she left behind.

Seven whole months of trying to catch his attention to no avail, moving around him like a faded shadow, as if Julie were still lingering there, sitting in his chair and filling the place with her scent... Damn that bitch! Damn her from the bottom of my heart! Even though she departed and vanished, her hideous ghost still haunts me in every corner, standing as a barrier between me and what I want. Every single moment, I wished she was suffering in her life, tasting the bitterness of pain in her hiding place, because I was truly sick of hearing her name and grew suffocated by her invisible presence.

Today, my anger reached its peak, my patience entirely ran out, and I decided I couldn’t wait any longer; I had to move. I knew nothing about Steve except his workplace I didn’t have his home address, I didn’t know where he spent his nights, and I didn’t possess a single thread leading to him other than that warehouse. I got into my car and drove fast through the crowded streets until I arrived near Mr. Carlos’s warehouse.

I parked a short distance away, allowing me to watch without being noticed. I pressed my fingers tightly and anxiously against the leather steering wheel, my eyes locked onto the massive gate, waiting for him to emerge.

After a tedious wait that almost made me lose my nerves, I spotted Steve’s massive frame leaving the gate, looking exhausted. My hand tensed immediately, and a raging urge swept over me to fling the door open, go down to him, and scream in his face. But I backed out at the last second and pulled my hand away... No, definitely not here, not in front of Carlos’s warehouse where the area was bustling with workers and passersby, and any curious eye could see me.

So, I decided to trail him differently. I waited until he hailed a yellow taxi that was passing by, then I drove my car right behind him with extreme caution, keeping a safe distance so he wouldn’t sense someone was tracking him through the intersecting streets. The quiet pursuit lasted for several minutes until the taxi finally pulled over by the curb in front of a dilapidated, old building. I saw him get out and step through the wooden gate. I parked my car quickly on the side of the road and got out without thinking, running with light, muffled steps so as not to make any noise, slipping inside the building right behind him.

I caught a glimpse of his back out of the corner of my eye as he climbed the concrete steps quickly. I stopped at the very bottom, shrinking behind the cold wall, holding my breath and watching in absolute silence to pinpoint which apartment door he would open and enter. The moment I heard the violent thud of the wooden door closing and the echo of the lock in the hallway, I dashed up the stairs, sparks flying from my eyes.

Standing before the weathered wooden door, I suddenly felt my heart hammering with a violent, audible tension in my chest. I took a step back, a wave of hesitation washing over me about raising my hand to knock. After all, I am a woman with pride, and I didn’t want him under any circumstance to think I was running after him or begging for his attention because I loved him or harbored warm feelings. I didn’t want his male brain to start weaving baseless stories and fantasies, seeing himself victorious over me.

I stepped back another foot, on the verge of turning around, leaving, and returning to where I came from. But I clenched my fists until my knuckles turned white, forcing myself to be brave. I muttered to myself, fueling my pride: I’ll knock on this bastard’s door, and whatever happens, happens. It won’t kill me.

I raised my hand with resolve, struck the wood several times in a hard, rapid succession, and then stepped back, adjusting my clothes, waiting for him to open with a shocked face. But as the inner handle moved and the door slid open slowly, the blood froze entirely in my veins. All my defenses crumbled, and my mouth dropped open from the sheer, paralyzing shock. If the entire world had gathered and sworn to me that I would find Julie living in this miserable place, I wouldn’t have believed a single word!

My eyes locked in total paralysis, my throat went dry as I took in her form standing before me... But the greatest disaster, the shock that made my brain stop functioning altogether, was her prominently protruding belly beneath her clothes... Oh my God! What a disaster! She is pregnant... pregnant beyond a shadow of a doubt!

Julie finally spoke, her voice trembling, her eyes wide with sheer terror and shaky gazes: "O-Olivia!"

My own voice forced its way out from between my tensed lips with difficulty, packed with a shock that shook my entire being and made me stagger: "Julie!"

Julie recoiled two steps back, retreating into the dimness of the apartment. Her entire body shook and trembled like a tiny bird shivering in a fierce wind. Not a second passed before she raised both hands in an instinctive, defensive motion dominated by pure terror, cradling her swollen belly as if trying to hide it from my eyes. In that insane moment, a sharp scream erupted from her throat, her eyes staring at me with a terrifying, panicked wideness: "What are you doing here in this place?! Tell me, how did you find me?! Did Robert send you after me?! Answer me... did that bastard find out my location and decide to send you to drag us back to his hell?!"

At the echo of her continuous, hysterical screaming that filled the place, Steve rushed out from the inner room with hurried, anxious steps that almost made him trip. The moment he crossed the small hallway and his eyes landed on me standing at the threshold, he froze in his tracks, his limbs stiffening completely as if struck by lightning. The man was hit with an absolute bewilderment that paralyzed his features. Soon, the blood drained from his cheeks, leaving his face as pale as the dead, and the words came out from between his lips in a shocked, cracked tone overflowing with helplessness: "Olivia...! How did this happen? How did you know the address and get here?!"

Julie didn’t give him a chance to hear a reply, nor did she even look at his gazes. Instead, she started screaming again, turning around herself in a childish panic while clutching her locks of hair. Her breath was rising and accelerating in her chest with an audible sound, as if she were facing a severe asthma attack. She spun toward her brother, rushing: "Steve! Listen to me, I have to run away right now, this very second... everything is over, he found me! I swear to you, Robert found me and he will take me!"

Steve lunged toward her with lightning speed, crossing the distance between them. He grabbed her shaking, trembling shoulders firmly with his wide palms, trying to stabilize her fleeing body and soothe her panic with rapid, low words whispered into her ear to halt her eruption. Meanwhile, I remained standing there, frozen at the wooden threshold like a paralyzed woman, entirely unable to move my body or comprehend this surreal scene unfolding before my eyes.

The features of my face were completely distorted, and my mind was spinning in a vicious circle, a vortex of consecutive shocks that defied logic: the shock of her huge belly indicating her approaching delivery, and the shock of her secret presence here, in Steve’s apartment of all places, and under his personal protection!

In that stormy moment where thoughts clashed in my head, memories of that old, tense day in the corners of the club suddenly flashed. Back when they stood before me, aggressively justifying their suspicious closeness, confidently and brazenly claiming they were merely old childhood friends brought together by elementary school days and nothing more... How incredibly stupid of me! How did I buy that naive lie?!

I swallowed hard with extreme difficulty, feeling a harsh dryness tearing at my throat, while a cold, piercing shiver ran down my entire spine, making my limbs tremble. I shifted my sharp gazes, filled with suspicion and rage, directly downward to settle over that protruding belly that Julie was protecting with her palms. Then, I locked my eyes into her pale ones and fired my question in a shaky voice that trembled at the exit of its letters a question I was inwardly shuddering and terrified to hear its true answer, the answer that would change everything: "You are pregnant... tell me right now, who is the father of this child inside your womb?! Is it... is it Robert?!"

[ My birthday is on the 29th of this month. I’ll be turning 28, and I want to celebrate with you all. So, since I’m turning 28, I’ve decided to publish 28 Chapters. I’ve already published 11, leaving 17 more to go, so stay tuned! I’ll be publishing them intermittently, trying to release two or three Chapters at a time.I hope you enjoy the story because we are very close to a major turning point. There are secrets in the present and in the flashbacks, and it seems this story won’t end anytime soon. ]