Just My Hockey Roommate’s Filthy Desires by Esther Pen novel Chapter 320

Chapter 320

JULIAN’S POV

The room underground was cold and smelled like damp concrete.

I sat alone on the edge of a narrow metal cot, staring at the screen of my phone as it vibrated in my palm. My mother’s name flashed repeatedly across the top of the display.

I stared at it for a long moment before sliding my thumb across the glass to answer.

“Julian,” my mother’s voice came through the speaker, high, strained, and trembling with tears. “Where are you? Please, Julian, come home. Your father and I are worried sick.”

“I cannot come home, Mother,” I said, keeping my voice low so it would not echo down the hall.

“Julian, please listen to me,” she begged, her breath hitching over the line. “Everything is gone. The company collapsed days ago. Brandon Sterling bought up all our debt and crushed the board. We had to give up the main house. We have retreated to the old family cottage in the countryside just to keep a roof over our heads.”

A sharp surge of white–hot rage flared in my chest. I clenched my jaw so hard my teeth hurt, adding that loss to the long list of things I was going to make Brandon Sterling pay for with his life.

“He destroyed our legacy, Mother,” I muttered into the receiver.

“Forget the legacy, Julian,” she cried softly. “Just come back to the countryside. We can start over as a family.”

“I cannot do that,” I replied, my voice turning dead cold. “I am sorry, Mother, but I cannot live without Aria and Amelia. I am not coming back without them.”

Before she could beg me again, I ended the call and switched the phone off. I felt immense pain and guilt for what had happened to my family but I couldn’t stop now. Not when I was sure I was close to getting Amelia and Aria back in my life again.

I sat back against the wall, staring at a small video clip I had saved on my device. It was a video I had taken months ago, long before my life spiraled completely out of control.

In the clip, Aria was sitting on a couch, holding little Amelia on her lap and teaching her how to recite a poem. They were my entire life. Everything I had done was for them, yet I had lost them both to a man who did not deserve them.

I closed my eyes, old memories rushing back into my mind like sharp glass. I remembered how hesitant Aria had been to stay at my apartment back when we were still at the university.

After Luca had broken her heart so terribly, she was looking for a new place to stay, and I had offered her my extra room. I wanted to protect her back then.

Then came the day everything fell apart. I remembered the look of pure pain on her face when I refused to believe her over the rumors spread across the internet. I remembered the harsh words that came out of my mouth. I had called Amelia a bastard right to Aria’s face.

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My Hockey Roommate’s Filthy Desires

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I remembered every single detail. I had chased her away, yes, but I was angry, hurt, and deceived by people I trusted. She should have seen my pain.

She should have understood why I reacted the way I did. Instead, she turned her back on me and chose to stay with Brandon Sterling. She did not even give me a second chance to fix things.

That was going to change very soon.

I was still staring at the screen when the heavy iron door squeaked open. Gabriel walked inside, his tall frame blocking the dim light from the hallway outside. He looked down at me with those cold, empty eyes of his.

“I have a plan,” Gabriel said, his voice flat and calm.

I set the phone down on the mattress beside me. “It is about time. We have been sitting in this hole for days.”

Gabriel scoffed softly, leaning his shoulder against the rough concrete wall. “Do not forget your place, Mr. Vance. We have a common enemy, but if you want us to keep working together, we have to do everything together. You move when I say move.”

“I am not your servant, Gabriel,” I snapped back, looking up at him from the bed. “I am here because we both want Brandon dead.”

“And you will get what you want,” Gabriel replied smoothly, not bothered by my tone at all. “If you follow my instructions.”

I scoffed inside my head, keeping my face completely blank. I was not stupid. I knew Gabriel had his own hidden motives for all of this. He was using me just like everyone else had used me.

But I did not care about his war with Brandon. If things went south with Gabriel’s plan, I was going to grab Aria and Amelia myself and take them far away to a place where Brandon could never find us.

I did not need my father anymore. I did not need my mother or their broken name. I just needed Aria and my daughter. I had already made plans for that.

“So what is the plan?” I asked, leaning forward slightly. “How do we take Brandon down?”

“I am going to attack Brandon head on,” Gabriel replied quietly.

I frowned, looking at him carefully. “What issue do you even have with Brandon anyway? Why do you hate him so much?”

Gabriel stepped closer, looking me dead in the eye with a terrifying, hollow stare. “The exact same issue you have with him, Mr. Vance.”

“You mean a woman?” I asked, my brows pulling down.

“I mean everything he took,” Gabriel corrected softly, his voice dropping into a dangerous whisper. “If we remove Brandon from the face of the earth, you get Aria, and you get your daughter back. It is that simple.”

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