My father sold me to the Mafia King-Chapter 129/I Accept Death

Chapter 129:

Julie’s Point of View

I was seething from the inside, and I felt a massive pressure in my chest that was about to explode; I could not bear the thought that I had been subjected to deception in such a loathsome manner.

I had made myself a laughingstock for these lunatics, and while I thought that I had finally breathed a sigh of relief and escaped from this prison, I found that I was merely a naive girl moved by strings held by Robert.

I threw the pillow on the floor with all my strength, muttering with lips trembling from oppression: "You are stupid, Julie... you are stupid." My body collapsed to the floor, and I leaned my tired head against the edge of the bed, feeling a bitter lump in my throat as I asked myself: What did I do in this life for God to punish me in this way?

I wished at that moment if Steve were with me; I missed him to the point of aching.

My memory went back to the last time I saw him, which was two years ago. At that time, a person named "Karl" visited me at my father’s house to tell me that Steve was waiting for me.

On that morning, I jumped out of my bed early and went to the garden; I sat on the wooden chair, interlocking my fingers with tension. The seconds were passing as if they were days, and the minutes as if they were months. He had left me when I was an eleven-year-old girl, and now I am sixteen; five years of wandering in which I did not know if he was alive or dead.

I was lost in my thoughts until a long shadow blocked the sunlight from my face. I raised my head slowly, and found a tall, blonde young man looking at me with his green eyes that looked exactly like mine. I said in a choked voice: "Steve?"

I stood up quickly and threw myself into his arms, hugging him with a strength that made my bones moan. Tears poured from my eyes in abundance; his embrace was the sanctuary I had been deprived of for years, and amidst all this ruin surrounding me, I found paradise with him.

He said in a tender voice while tightening his grip on me: "Julie... my sister, I missed you so much."

I couldn’t reply; my sobs were rising and preventing the words from coming out. He patted my shoulder with a touch that felt like the touch of an angel.

He moved me away from him gently, then wiped my tears with the tip of his thumb and held my face in his palms, saying: "Enough crying, Julie... tell me, are you okay?"

I said, trying to catch my breath: "I am fine... how are you?"

He said: "I am fine."

I rushed with questions like a madwoman: "Steve, where have you been all these years? What were you doing? Why didn’t you come again? And where were you living? And what..."

He placed his finger on my mouth gently to silence my outburst and said: "Calm down, Julie, and take a breath."

I had a lot to know, but a voice interrupted us from afar: "Steve come on, we don’t have time!"

Two young men approached; one of them was Karl, and the other was thin with blonde hair and blue eyes like the sea. Steve said, pointing to them: "Julie, I think you met Karl yesterday, and this is Jake."

Jake extended his hand to shake mine and said in an urgent tone: "Hello, I am Jake... Jake Simon."

I extended my hand hesitantly and said: "Hello Jake, I am Julie."

Steve said: "These are my friends." But Jake interrupted him, looking around in terror: "Steve come on, hurry up, we are in danger!"

My body stiffened and I asked in fear: "What danger? What happened? Is there something wrong? Tell me!"

Steve said, trying to calm me down: "Julie, calm down." Then he pulled a key from his pocket and placed it in my palm, closing my fingers over it firmly: "This key is for a safe that has a lot of money, enough for us to build our lives, and I came to take you with me."

I said in bewilderment, looking at the key: "What? Where did you get the money from?"

He replied with a slight sharpness: "That doesn’t matter now, Julie; the important thing is that you will come with me and we will live together."

I said, doubt gnawing at my heart: "Steve, what did you do? Did you get yourself involved in something dangerous?"

Jake shouted with impatience: "Steve, you are wasting time! If your sister doesn’t want to come, we will go."

Steve rebuked him: "Jake!"

I said, directing my words to Jake: "Did these people involve you with them? Did they make you earn money in illegal ways? What did you do, Steve, to run away? Why is there no time? And where did this large amount of money come from?"

Jake spoke with contempt: "You are ungrateful! He is risking all of us for your sake and you don’t care."

Steve said, pushing Jake away: "Jake, get away, let me talk to my sister." Then he said to Karl: "Karl, take Jake and buy him a bottle of water; his nerves are shot."

Jake walked away while swearing, so I said to Steve, gripping his shirt: "Steve, why are your lives in danger? Don’t lie to me."

He ignored my question and said, pressing on my hand: "Julie, this safe has 3 shares; my share, Jake’s share, and one for Karl. If something happens to me, take my share and give the others their shares."

I said in terror, my body shaking: "What are you saying? Is your life really in danger?"

And before he could answer me, the screeching of the tires of a large black car that stopped violently in front of us rang out.

Armed men came out of it and pounced on Steve, pulling him forcefully toward the car. I began to scream and try to hold onto him, but another man rushed toward me, grabbed me roughly, and put me in the car as well.

They placed a heavy black bag over my head, so my vision vanished completely and I saw nothing but darkness.

I began to call out frantically: "Steve! Do you hear me?"

He said in a panting voice: "Calm down, Julie." But he suddenly screamed in pain; it seemed that someone had hit him cruelly. Then a coarse and cold voice rose from inside the car: "Shut up, you scoundrel!"

I screamed at the top of my lungs, feeling my vocal cords stretch from oppression: "Leave him alone, you idiot!"

The reply came to me in a coarse voice that shook my being due to its extreme proximity and loathing: "Shut up, or I will throw you out of the car."

Steve did not hesitate, and I heard his voice coming out muffled but sharp as a blade: "If you touch her, I will kill you." He had hardly finished his sentence when the sound of a dull blow echoed, followed by a groan of pain that tore my heart, coming from Steve’s chest.

My stomach contracted and my body stiffened on the car seat, and I forced myself into absolute silence; for every word from me was paid for by my brother’s body.

After a period in which the sounds of the road faded, the car stopped violently. I felt a thick hand grip my arm and pull me outside, while the restraints pressed against my wrists behind my back. I was walking with faltering steps, and the black bag blocked everything from me except the smell of dust and darkness.

Suddenly, the man released me and I heard the creak of an iron door closing forcefully.

I tore the bag off my head eagerly, and I was greeted by a cold concrete room, its walls completely bare.

I began to knock on the door with my bound fists and scream in breakdown: "You monsters! Get me out of here!" I began to call for Steve, my ear pressed against the coldness of the iron door, but the silence was swallowing my call.

I don’t know how much time passed while I was shivering in that corner, until the door opened suddenly.

A man with bronze skin entered, tattoos covering his neck and hands, and golden chains hanging over his chest. His black eyes were terrifyingly empty, and he said in a heavy Mexican accent: "Hello beautiful... do you know that your little lover has taken money that is not his?"

I said in bewilderment, retreating backward: "What?"

He replied coldly while approaching me: "Your lover is a thief."

I jumped up and screamed in his face: "He is my brother, and he does not steal!"

He raised his eyebrow mockingly and muttered: "Hmm... your brother then." Then he pulled me by my hand with a force I could not resist, and we went out to the hallway. I said, trying to free my arm: "Let go of me, you monster! And where is my brother?"

He said while dragging me behind him: "We are going to him, don’t rush."

We walked in a long hallway that smelled of rot, until we reached a wide courtyard. There, I saw my worst nightmare; Steve was tied to a chair in the middle, blood covering his face and staining his shirt. I screamed in a terror that shook the corners of the place: "Steve!"

I released my hand from the man’s grip and ran toward him frantically. I held his bloodied face between my trembling palms and said, while tears burned my eyes: "Steve! What did they do to you? Are you in pain?"

He opened his swollen eyes with difficulty, and looked at me with a broken gaze, saying in a faltering voice: "Julie....."

The man pulled me by my hand again and moved me away from him cruelly: "This brother of yours thought he was a hero and could steal money from us and escape without punishment."

I gathered what remained of my courage and stood firmly before that giant: "I will give you your money."

Steve shouted weakly: "Julie, don’t do it!"

The man asked me, narrowing his eyes in skepticism: "Is my money with you?"

I said strongly: "Yes, it is with me."

Steve yelled, trying to protect me: "Monchies, don’t believe her! She is trying to deceive you."

I turned to Monchies and spoke in Spanish rapidly, a language Steve did not understand: "Listen, Monchies, I will give you your money on the condition that you leave my brother."

The man stopped and showed surprise, looking at me with new interest: "You speak Spanish? That is impressive... my money, where is it?"

I said, fixing my gaze on his empty eyes: "I want a promise first; you leave my brother and you get your money."

He smiled bitterly and said: "This great courage does not suit your situation, little girl."

I said in a sharp tone: "Your killing of him will not change anything, while recovering the money is the most important thing, isn’t it?"

He was silent for a moment then nodded his head: "I agree, I will leave your brother... where is the money?"

I said firmly: "I want you to promise me."

He replied with stillness: "I promise you."

Here Steve shouted in confusion and concern: "Julie! What are you talking to him about in Spanish? Listen, do not return the money to him, don’t you dare!"

I ignored his warning completely, and pulled the key from its hiding place and gave it to Monchies and said: "Your money is here in this safe." But the bitter truth shocked me at that moment; I don’t know its location! I turned to Steve eagerly and pleadingly: "Where is the safe, Steve?"

He averted his face from me and said with a deadly insistence: "I won’t say."

In the blink of an eye, one of the men pointed the weapon toward Steve’s head. I felt the coldness of death coursing through my body, and I screamed in hysterical terror: "Steve! Please, tell me where the safe is?"

He said, his voice coming through clenched teeth: "I won’t say, Julie."

I said, tears collapsing down my cheeks: "You will die!"

He looked at me with steady eyes, and said with a coldness that terrified me: "I accept death."