My Stepbrother Wants Me-Chapter 201: No Way!
Julian’s POV
The hallway was frozen in a state of total and suffocating silence. The air was heavy, it was like the oxygen had been sucked out of the corridor the moment Gabriel walked away.
I stood there, my chest heaving, the taste of blood from my split lip coating my tongue. I watched Richard’s confused stare and waited for him, for the explosion that would follow.
What Gabriel did really left his mouth hanging open. Richard had always never been the one to handle defiance well, and he certainly did not handle being spoken to like a subordinate in front of his household staff. But the explosion didn’t come. Instead, he remained uncharacteristically quiet, his eyes fixed on the empty space where Gabriel had just stood. It was far more dangerous than his shouting. I could see his ego bleeding out in real-time, his face pale and his jaw set so tightly that the muscles were pulsing.
He finally snapped. He didn’t look at me first; he raised his head and locked eyes with the huddle of servants who were hiding in the shadows of the stairs and hallway. His voice came out in a very cold and sharp way, the edginess slicing through everyone’s ears.
"What are you all standing there for?" he demanded, his voice trembling with a lethal rage that he was trying to suppress. "Do you have nothing to do? Is this a museum? Get back to your stations before I find people who actually want to work for their keep!"
The staff scattered instantly, their footsteps frantic as they disappeared into the back corridors. Once the hallway was cleared of the witnesses he deemed beneath him, Richard turned his gaze to me. He didn’t ask if I was alright. He didn’t acknowledge the fact that my face was beginning to swell or that my shirt was torn. He looked at the blood on my chin with a level of disgust that made it clear he viewed me as a stain on his floor rather than his flesh and blood.
"Gabriel has never acted so unruly," he started, his voice dropping to a low, cold vibration. He stepped closer to me, his presence looming and oppressive. "He has always been the one with a level head. He has always been the one who understood the stakes of this family. For him to react like this... for him to lose control and assault you in this manner... it means that whatever it is you have done must be very serious, Julian."
He was already putting the blame on me, not like he was wrong though but at least... he could have given me the benefit of the doubt. In Richard’s world, Gabriel’s outburst wasn’t a result of Gabriel’s own choices; it was a symptom of my corruption. He was looking for the source of the rot, and he had decided it was me.
During this time, Lucy saw her opening. She stepped forward, moving like a snake through dry grass. I knew what she was about to do... to become the center of attention, pretend in front of Richard, to position herself as the glue holding the fractured Vaughn pieces together. She walked over to me, with that stupid expression a mask of manufactured sympathy. She reached out, her fingers extended as if to touch the bruise forming on my cheekbone.
I flinched away before she could make contact, my lip curling in a snarl. The last thing I wanted was her hands on me.
"Julian, please," she whispered, her voice honeyed and fake. She turned toward Richard, shifting her tone to one of deep, performative concern. "Richard, don’t blame him. No matter what the reason behind this was, what Gabriel did was incredibly disrespectful. Not just to Julian, but to you. To this house. In front of your servants. He made a scene in front of the workers. He has to be ’reminded’ of his place. He can’t think he can just walk out on a conversation with you and face no consequences. He can’t speak to you like that either."
She looked at me, giving me a small, conspiratorial nod as if we were on the same side. "I think it’s time we re-evaluate his standing. Gabriel should be stripped of his position in the family trust until he learns how to behave like a good son again."
She thought she was currying favor with me. She thought that by attacking my brother who had just beaten me, she was winning me over. She didn’t realize that her voice was like nails on a chalkboard. I looked at her, and the sheer ugliness of her opportunism made the bile rise in my throat.
"Shut your mouth, Lucy," I snapped, my voice raw and harsh. "It’s better for everyone if you just keep it shut. Every time you open that trap of yours, it just shows exactly how ugly your heart is."
Lucy gasped, her hand flying to her chest. She recoiled as if I had physically struck her, her eyes wide with shock. She looked at Richard, her lower lip trembling as she tried to play the victim. I could almost hear her internal monologue screaming about how she was only trying to help me and this was the thanks she got.
Richard didn’t defend her, but he didn’t disagree with her point about Gabriel either. He was too deep in his own humiliation to care about Lucy’s hurt feelings. He looked at me, his eyes cold and devoid of any paternal warmth.
"She’s right about one thing," Richard said, ignoring my outburst. "Gabriel has crossed a line that cannot be ignored. The only way he will be spared from the consequences of tonight is if he comes back here, looks me in the eye, and apologizes for his insolence."
The threat was clear. Richard wasn’t just talking about a lecture or a temporary suspension of funds. He was talking about a complete excision.
As Richard turned to leave, Catherine’s mom, Lisa, appeared at the far end of the hall. She was standing perfectly still, her face pale, watching the wreckage of her family with a haunted expression.
"I just got back from the market and heard there was a fight in this house? What is going on?" Her voice wasn’t high but it was audible enough for us to hear.
Richard didn’t even look at her. He walked right past her as if she were a piece of furniture. Exactly the type of man he was. Exactly how he constantly disrespected my own mother. How can these women tolerate such an evil man?
He stopped beside Lucy and placed a heavy, possessive hand on her shoulder. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
"Come with me, Lucy," Richard commanded, his tone shifting into something more focused and transactional. "...To the study. We need to work on the ongoing project. We can’t afford any more distractions tonight."
Lucy straightened her robe, casting a spiteful glance at me before falling into step beside my father. They walked away together, their silhouettes merging in the dim light of the corridor. It was a visual representation of the alliance that was slowly strangling the rest of us.
Richard stopped at the end of the hall and looked back at me one last time. His face was obscured by the shadows, but his voice was clear and cold.
"If Gabriel doesn’t fix this by tomorrow, Julian... if he doesn’t fall back into line... if he doesn’t apologize for this behavior he pulled... I’ll be forced to send him to the place I sent you to years ago."
My blood turned to ice. My heart stopped for a beat before hammering against my ribs in a frantic rhythm. I knew exactly what he meant. He was referring to the private "rehabilitation" facility—the high-security, isolated hellhole he had disappeared me into when I was younger to "fix" my behavioral issues. That wasn’t a hospital; it was a prison for the children of the elite who didn’t fit the mold.
I swallowed the panic in my throat. No way! I wasn’t going to stand and let him do that to Gabriel.
