My father sold me to the Mafia King novel Chapter 137

Chapter 137: 137/Toxic Gratefulness

Chapter 137

Julie’s Point of View

I rose from the bed, my body trembling with a frail weakness. I headed out looking for Max; I needed a sane voice to salvage me from this labyrinth.

In the hallway, Olivia cut off my path.

She approached with confident strides, her eyes scanning my face with a toxic curiosity, and said boldly: "What happened last night? Did you and Robert have sex?"

My body stiffened, stunned by the sheer audacity of her question: "What?!"

She didn’t care for my bewilderment and pressed on: "I know about the aphrodisiac. Tell me what happened."

I asked, trying to gather my scattered thoughts: "Who told you?"

She said with a coolness that left me speechless: "I was the one who told Robert."

My mind couldn’t process what I just heard. Olivia? The one who tried to drown me, slapped me, and nearly killed me, was the one who saved me from that guard? I muttered in shock: "I thought you hated me."

She answered brusquely, averting her gaze: "I do hate you."

I couldn’t help myself; in an involuntary motion, I threw myself into her arms and gripped her back tightly.

I felt her body turn to stone under my hands, but I didn’t let go. I said with a lump in my throat: "Thank you, Olivia... you’ve done me a favor I won’t forget."

I saw her features flicker and shift, and she pried herself away from me quickly, saying: "Fine," then ran down the hallway.

I wondered why she didn’t shower me with her usual questions about Robert, but I ignored it and went down to Max’s room.

I pushed the door open without knocking and froze. Max was locked in a deep kiss with the nurse. He pulled away in a panic, while the nurse shot him a sharp look and walked out, deliberately slamming her shoulder into mine.

I said with embarrassment, touching my shoulder: "I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to."

Max exhaled in frustration, straightening his clothes: "Don’t you know how to knock?"

I said: "I didn’t mean to barge in like this."

He said, wiping his face with his hand: "Forget about it, but now she’ll think I’m cheating on her with you."

I knit my brows in disbelief: "What?!"

He waved his hand as if dismissing the thought: "Don’t worry about it... where have you been? And why haven’t you shown up for training?"

I stepped toward him and sat on the edge of the seat, saying in a heavy tone: "Max... if you only knew what happened, you wouldn’t believe it."

He gestured with his hand: "Close the door and come here."

I closed the door and sat before him, starting to recount everything: the party drugs, the fake escape plan, all the way to the aphrodisiac. Max remained silent for a long time, interlacing his fingers, then said: "Alright... I don’t think I’ll be able to wrap my head around all this, Julie."

I nodded tiredly: "Me neither, Max, believe me." I hesitated for a moment and added: "I didn’t tell you something else."

He raised his head and asked: "Is there more?"

I said, fiddling with the hem of my shirt: "Carlos confessed to me today that he likes me."

His brows drew together in shock: "Carlos Mendoza?"

"Yes... he said he’s attracted to me and sees me as different."

He asked, leaning his body toward me: "And what was your response?"

I answered simply: "I told him ’okay’."

He slapped his palms together: "That’s it?!"

I said helplessly: "What could I say? I couldn’t find an answer."

He looked directly into my eyes and asked: "And do you like him?"

I went silent, trying to probe the depths of my heart, then said: "I don’t know, Max... don’t forget that I’ve never been attracted to anyone before. I don’t know this feeling."

He asked me: "Fine... does your heart thrum when you see him?"

I answered him naively: "The heart always thrums, Max, what kind of question is that?"

He exhaled with forced patience and focused on me: "Julie, focus... do your heartbeats change? Do they get significantly faster when you see Carlos?"

I tried to recall those moments; I hadn’t felt a shiver or a race in my chest. I said: "No, that didn’t happen... I don’t really remember. I’ll have to check next time."

He whispered thoughtfully: "Mmm... alright."

I asked eagerly: "What? Am I attracted to him?"

He shrugged: "How should I know?"

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