My Stepbrother Wants Me-Chapter 195: Threatening Her

Julian’s POV

I stood in the center of my bedroom, the anger in my head pressing against my temples. My mind was a chaotic mess of deep calculations and hatred. Despite the fact that Catherine and Ethan had made their decision about wanting to play it safe, by waiting for the right moment. Although they chose to keep Lucy off the hook for the time being to avoid Richard’s scrutiny because they were thinking about the long game, about Tessa’s health and the stability of the pregnancy, I couldn’t care less. They were being rational.

I, however, was done with being rational.

Lucy was like a cancer in this house. She was a liability that continued to breathe our air while plotting the destruction of people dear to me. The fact that she was sitting just a few doors down, likely sipping wine and feeling triumphant over almost ruining someone’s life, was something I could no longer tolerate.

I didn’t have a plan. There was no sophisticated blackmail strategy or a clever way to expose her to Richard without causing a huge amount of damage. All I had was a boiling point that had finally been reached.

I walked out of my room with heavy, desperate footsteps, hoping Catherine wouldn’t come out of her room and see me in this angry moment.

I was fortunate enough to arrive at Lucy’s bedroom without anyone seeing me. My teeth clenched hard when I raised my fist and struck the wood with a demanding knock.

"Who is it?" her voice called out from inside, pitched in that high, performative tone she used when she wanted to sound inviting.

"It’s Julian," I replied, my voice was flat and devoid of any warmth.

There was a frantic shuffling sound from behind the door, followed by the clicking of a lock. The door swung open, and Lucy stood there, her hair slightly tousled as if she had been relaxing. The second she saw it was me, a wide, excited glow took over her face. She looked genuinely thrilled, her eyes dancing with a misplaced hope that I had finally come to my senses regarding our "marriage."

"Hey baby," she said, her voice dropping into a sultry coo. "I didn’t think you would come to me so soon. I was starting to think nothing I did would ever gain your attention."

She reached out, her fingers fluttering toward my chest as if she planned to touch me, to bridge the distance I planned to keep between us forever. Before her hand could even graze the fabric of my shirt, I reached out and violently grabbed her wrist. I didn’t just stop her; I squeezed, the bones of her arm shifting under my grip.

The excitement on her face vanished at once and got replaced by confusion. Her eyes searched me and when I knew she was about to open her mouth, I refused her the chance to speak. I shoved my way into the room, forcing her backward, and kicked the door shut behind me. The sound of the latch clicked into place.

"Julian! What are you doing?" she snapped, her voice rising in pitch. She struggled against my hold, her face flushing with a mix of anger and pain. "You’re hurting me! What the hell did I do now?! Let go of my wrist this minute!"

I didn’t listen to her. I didn’t care about the red marks forming on her skin. I let go of her wrist only to move my other hand to her neck. In one fluid, aggressive motion, I slammed her back against the wall. The impact was loud; and it made the back of her head hit the plaster with a dull thud that made her gasp. I pinned her there, my fingers curling around the column of her throat, keeping just enough pressure to let her know that I was in total control of her ability to breathe.

"How dare you try to play with Tessa’s life like that?" I hissed, leaning in until our faces were inches apart. "Did you really think you could send men after her and I wouldn’t find out? Did you think you were that clever?"

Lucy’s eyes went wide, fear finally beginning to seep through her facade of arrogance. She clawed at my hand, her nails digging into my knuckles, but she couldn’t move me.

"I don’t... I don’t know what you’re talking about," she wheezed, her voice thin. "Tessa? What happened to Tessa? And why are you blaming me for it? Stop acting insane. Let me go before I scream and Richard comes here."

"Don’t even try to deny it," I warned, tightening my grip just a fraction. I felt the pulse in her neck jumping frantically against my palm. "I know everything. I know about cars. I know about the men. And here’s the part you didn’t count on, Lucy... the men you hired were the ones who exposed you. They didn’t take long to talk once they realized who they were dealing with. They gave you up in a heartbeat."

Part of that was a lie, but she didn’t know. I saw the moment the lie hit home. The blood drained from her face, leaving her looking sallow and small against the expensive wallpaper of her room. She stopped struggling for a second, her body going limp as the weight of the realization crushed her. She realized the "protection" she thought she had bought with her family’s money was nonexistent.

She swallowed hard, her eyes darting around the room as if looking for an escape route that wasn’t there. When she spoke again, her voice was no longer pretending to be innocent. It was sharp, defensive, and filled with a venomous curiosity.

"So what?" she spat, her voice ringing out despite the pressure on her throat. "What is your business with this girl anyway? Why are you getting so angry over some nobody from the outskirts? What is she to you? Another side piece? Why are you getting angry at your fiancée over a girl like Tessa?"

I felt a surge of protective rage on behalf of Ethan. I wanted to tell her the truth. I wanted to roar in her face that Tessa was the love of my best friend’s life, that she was carrying a child, and that she was a thousand times the woman Lucy would ever be. I wanted to tell her that she had tried to destroy the only family Ethan had left. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

But I couldn’t. I couldn’t risk exposing them. If Lucy knew about the pregnancy, she wouldn’t just send thugs; she would go straight to Richard and the press. She would use that baby as a weapon to dismantle Ethan’s life completely. I had to keep the secret, even if it meant letting her believe a different version of the truth.

"Tessa is my friend," I lied, my voice cold and steady. "And for that alone, I have enough reason to be angry over your wicked act. You don’t get to touch the people I care about, Lucy. You don’t get to hire garbage to do your dirty work and expect to sleep peacefully in my house."

Lucy let out a wheezing scoff, it looked like a sound of disbelief. She looked at me with a twisted sort of amusement, her eyes narrowing as she studied my face.

"You’re lying," she whispered. "You don’t have friends like that. You don’t care about ’nobodies.’ You’re only defending Tessa because she is Catherine’s friend. That’s it, isn’t it? You’ve become her lapdog. You’re doing her dirty work now."

She tried to laugh, but it turned into a choked cough. "Is that what this is? Ohh, how could I not see this in time?"

"Always choosing to live with lies because you can’t stand the truth! Catherine isn’t the reason anyone is so ill mannered..."

"Enough! Just answer the damn questions. She let out a jagged breath, stepping closer. "Did Catherine send you here to bully me? Did she tell you to come in here and play her saviors because she’s too much of a coward to face me herself? You’re pathetic, Julian. You’re being played by a girl who doesn’t even have a last name worth mentioning."

The mention of Catherine being a coward, the implication that I was merely a tool in her hands, sent another wave of heat through my veins. My fingers, which had been relatively loose around her neck to allow her to speak, tightened in an instant.

I saw the light in her eyes change. The defiance vanished, replaced by fear and panic as her airway was suddenly obstructed. She started to fight for air, her hands flailing against my chest, her feet kicking uselessly against the wall. At this moment, her face was burning with a deep red color, and her mouth opened in a silent plea for life.

I didn’t let go. I watched her struggle. I was too furious to care if she would survive or not. A part of me was enjoying the way her power withered when faced with consequences.

"What now, huh? Can’t talk. Why don’t you go ahead and scream for Richard to come to your rescue?" I mocked with a deep cold voice.