Just My Hockey Roommate’s Filthy Desires by Esther Pen novel Chapter 206

Chapter 206

Chapter 206

ARIA’S POV

Chloe looked between us, her eyes wide with lingering anxiety, before she finally gave a tight nod. “Okay, Miss. Aria. I’ll be right outside if you need anything.”

She stepped out of the office, pulling the heavy door shut behind her. The click of the lock felt incredibly loud in the sudden, suffocating silence of the room.

I leaned back into my chair, crossing my arms as I stared at the absolute wreck of a man standing before me. I kept my face entirely expressionless, refusing to let him see the slight tremor in my hands. “What are you doing here, Julian?”

Julian swallowed hard, his bloodshot eyes scanning my face as if searching for a version of me that no longer existed. He gestured weakly to the empty seat across from my desk, his voice barely a rough whisper.” Can I sit?”

I gave a single, cold nod. “Sit.”

He sank into the chair, his shoulders slumping as if the simple act of holding himself up was too much to bear. For a long moment, he just stared at me, his fingers trembling where they rested on his knees.

Then, he cleared his throat, the sound raw and broken. “What is it that Brandon has that makes you so drawn to him?”

I froze, completely stunned by the sheer audacity of the question. I braced my hands against the cool surface of my desk, staring at him. “What are you talking about, Julian?”

“I’ve been thinking about it,” he said, his voice rising slightly as a desperate, manic energy began to take over his features. He leaned forward, gripping the edge of my desk. “I’ve thought about everything, Aria. All I made was one mistake. One. Why do you hate me so much? Why can’t you just look past that and come back to me, come back to us? Why accept Brandon so easily, but treat me like poison?”

A heavy, suffocating silence filled the room. I didn’t yell. I didn’t scream. The anger I expected to feel was replaced by a profound, chilling sense of clarity.

“Brandon believed me,” I said, my voice deadpan and flat, cutting through his desperate rambling. Julian flinched, but I didn’t stop. I leaned forward, forcing him to look into my eyes.

“Five years ago, when the entire world turned its back on me, Brandon was the one who helped me. When Amelia was born premature and I had absolutely nothing, he was there. He took care of both of us, Julian. He protected us, housed us, and kept us alive, regardless of the fact that he didn’t even know who we were.” A bitter, cold smile touched my lips as the memories of my darkest days flashed in my mind. “You, however… you turned your back on me. You didn’t believe the woman you claimed to love. You didn’t even bother to find out the truth. You just threw me away.”

Julian’s face drained of what little color it had left. He shook his head violently, his voice cracking. “I was blind, Aria. I was angry. But I am here now. I’m standing right in front of you now.”

I shook my head slowly, looking at him with nothing but pity. “Being here now doesn’t cut it, Julian. It’s too late. You hurt me, you abandoned our daughter, and you let another man pick up the shattered pieces of my heart. Brandon was the one who rebuilt me. He is the man for me.”

Julian stared at me, his expression freezing as my words settled in. Then, slowly, his features twisted. The desperation in his eyes hardened into something ugly, dark, and entirely unhinged.

He let out a sharp, mocking laugh that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

He stood up from the chair, towering over my desk as he looked down at me, his hands clenching into tight fists.

“Brandon is the man for you?” Julian sneered, his voice dropping into a dangerous, terrifying whisper. “If you

istaken.” think you are going to stay with Brandon,

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Chapter 206

I looked at him and shook my head. “He is my boyfriend, Julian. You can’t change that.”

“Amelia is my daughter,” Julian said, his eyes drilling into mine with a terrifying intensity. “You can’t keep her away from me at all, because I will never allow it.”

I looked at him, completely unmoved by his threats. “Go back to Leonie and have a child with her, Julian. But for now, you need to stay away from my child.” I stood up, resting my palms flat on the desk, refusing to let him hold any power over me.

“Amelia may not be Brandon’s child, but that man has treated her like his own daughter from the very beginning. He was there, Julian. Not you. And that is something that will never change.”

Julian scoffed, a dark, twisted look crossing his face. He didn’t say another word to argue. He just turned on his heel and stormed out of my office, slamming the door hard behind him. But right before he disappeared, his final words echoed in the quiet room. “We will be together, Aría. My family will be complete.”

Throughout the rest of that day, I couldn’t shake him off my mind. His unhinged expression and his parting words replayed over and over in my head like a bad dream, making it impossible to focus on my paperwork.

Around noon, my phone vibrated on the desk. It was Brandon. He called me the exact second his plane landed, just like I had asked him to.

“Hey, beautiful,” his deep voice came through the line, immediately sending a wave of comfort through me.” How are you? Is everything good over there?”

“I’m fine, Brandon,” I lied softly, forcing a cheerful tone into my voice. I didn’t tell him anything about Julian’s unexpected visit. He was already miles away for a massive business meeting, and the last thing I wanted was to worry him or cause him to drop everything and fly back. “How was your flight?”

We talked for a few more minutes before he had to head into his meeting, and though his voice grounded me, the lingering anxiety from Julian’s threat remained locked deep in my chest.

By the time Anthony drove me back to the estate, the sky was completely dark. Heavy, bruised clouds rolled over the city, and the air was thick with the scent of an impending storm. It looked like it wanted to pour down at any second.

When we walked through the front door, Sarah stepped forward to take my bags. She had finished her duties for the day and was preparing to head out, but I looked out the window at the flashing lightning and shook my head.

“Don’t worry about heading home tonight, Sarah,” I insisted gently, stopping her before she could open the door. “The storm is going to be terrible, and it wouldn’t be pleasant at all for you to travel in this. I don’t want you getting sick. Besides, there are plenty of spare rooms upstairs you can use for the night.”

Sarah looked out at the dark sky and gave a grateful smile. “Thank you, Miss Aria. I really appreciate it.” After dinner, I took Amelia upstairs, tucked her into bed, and stayed with her until her breathing went soft and rhythmic. Once she was safely asleep, the quiet of the house only made my racing thoughts louder.

I made myself a warm cup of tea, hoping it would soothe the tight knot in my chest, and walked into my master bedroom.

The wind was howling outside now, rattling the glass panes. I walked toward the balcony doors, stepping out into the cool, damp air to look over the estate grounds.

I took a sip of my tea, and that’s when I saw it.

Down by the heavy iron gates of the estate, a lone figure was standing completely still under the dark, heavy downpour. I squinted through the rain, my heart instantly stopping. It was Julian.

He was standing right outside the gates, completely drenched from head to toe, his wet clothes clinging to his frame as he stared up at the building.

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