My Stepbrother Wants Me-Chapter 128: What Deal Did You Make With Her?

Julian’s POV

I balled my hand into a fist and knocked on the door of Richard’s study.

"Who is it?" His tone was filled with joy.

"It’s me," I said, steadier voice.

"Come in, Julian."

I pushed the door open and walked in. He didn’t look up. He continued to sign a stack of documents on his desk.

I didn’t wait for him to acknowledge me. "What did you and Lucy talk about? Why did she leave here looking like she’d just won the lottery?"

The scratching stopped. Richard placed the pen down. He finally looked up, his pale eyes catching the light. He leaned back in his leather chair, his fingers steepled under his chin.

"Take a seat, Julian," he said, gesturing to the chair opposite him.

I hesitated. Sitting down felt like a concession. I wanted to remain standing, but I knew Richard—he would sit there in silence until I complied. I pulled the chair out, the legs scraping against the rug, and sat on the very edge.

"Who is Lucy?"

I blinked, taken aback by the unexpected question. "You know who she is. She’s the girl who just crashed your press con—"

"That’s not what I mean, Julian," Richard interrupted, his voice dropping into a low register. He leaned forward, the shadows shifting across his sharp features. "What I’m asking is... who is she to you?"

"She’s a friend," I said, keeping my tone as calm as possible. "From the asylum."

Richard tilted his head, his gaze boring into mine. He didn’t blink. He just watched me, waiting for the rest of the sentence. When I didn’t offer anything else, he let out a short, huffing breath that might have been a laugh in a kinder man.

"A friend," he repeated, the word sounding like an insult in his mouth. "That’s all? You seem to have gone to a great deal of trouble for a ’friend,’ Julian. You risked quite a lot of our family’s reputation for this girl."

I didn’t really understand what he meant by that last sentence but I didn’t dwell on it either.

"She helped me when I was at my lowest," I snapped, my tone rising before I could check it. "She was the only person in that hellhole who treated me like a human being. So yes, she’s my friend."

Richard’s lips curled into a smirk. He began to slowly swirl his chair from side to side, and it made me feel more on edge. "Just a friend," he murmured again.

Hmm. What was going on in his head? Did Lucy tell him otherwise?

He stopped the chair suddenly and leaned over the desk, placing his large palms flat on the desk.

"She’s quite a pretty woman, isn’t she?" Richard said, his tone shifting into something unnervingly casual. "And... she has a certain fire. A certain desperation that makes a woman very attractive."

I felt a surge of disgust. "What are you talking about?"

"I’m saying," Richard continued, his smirk widening, "that I can see why you’d be drawn to her. You’ve always had a soft spot for the broken ones, Julian. It’s your greatest weakness. But looking at the two of you together... I couldn’t help but think you’d look quite cute together. A matched set. The mad prince and his loyal servant."

I was completely taken aback. The air seemed to leave the room. My mind raced, trying to find the angle. This was very off. Besides, Richard didn’t care about "cute." He didn’t care about my romantic life and so, it made every word out of his mouth weird.

"Since when did you start taking an interest in my relationship life, Father?" I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "I thought my only purpose was to look good in a suit and stand three paces behind you."

Richard’s expression didn’t change. He just stared at me with that same, calculating smirk, refusing to respond.

"You haven’t answered my question," I pushed, trying to regain the lead. "What did you two talk about? Did you perhaps offer her a kind of deal because she walked out of here with a huge smile on her face?"

Richard let out a long, slow sigh and reached for his pen again. He pulled a new document toward him, the conversation clearly over in his mind.

"I can’t answer that right now, Julian," he said, his eyes already dropping back to the paper. "But don’t worry. You’ll find out soon enough. Very soon."

"Soon? Richard, if you’ve done something to—"

"Leave," Richard said. He didn’t shout. He didn’t even look up. The command was flat, and final. "I would like to get back to what I was doing. We have a campaign to run, and I’ve already wasted enough time on this ’family’ drama today."

I stood up, my chair screeching again. I wanted to reach across the desk and grab him by his silk tie. I wanted to force the truth out of him. But I knew that would only cause problems and Catherine would be very pissed if I made that move. Also, if I pushed him any further, I would lose whatever ground I had left. Richard didn’t give up information until it was time to use it as a weapon.

"This isn’t over," I said.

Richard didn’t even acknowledge I’d spoken. The scratching of his pen resumed.

I turned and walked out of the study, my footsteps heavy against the floor. As the door clicked shut behind me, I stood in the hallway for a moment, trying to control my raging breath and heaving chest.

I looked down the hall to check if Gabriel was waiting with Catherine and saw only Catherine waiting by the stairs.

I started walking toward Catherine, my mind already spinning with things to tell her that would settle her mind. She got into all this mess because of me and so, I felt the need to protect her and keep her from overthinking.

"Hey. Did you succeed?" Catherine asked as soon as her eyes caught me.

I shook my head in a way that showed it was negative and her jaw tightened, her lips becoming a thin line.

"Don’t worry about it. I can ask Lucy," I added immediately I noticed the worry etched in her face.

"Like she’s going to tell you," Catherine’s angry tone came low and before I could say a word, she walked out, her shoulder brushing against my arm.