My father sold me to the Mafia King novel Chapter 85

Chapter 85: 86/The Lifeline Under the Rock

Chapter 86:

Julie’s Point of View

As soon as I locked the door behind me, the dam I had built in front of Olivia and Sarah collapsed.

I threw myself onto the bed, feeling a lump tearing through my throat, and burst into bitter weeping; my entire body shook violently as if I were trying to expel the humiliation that had permeated my pores.

I placed my hand on my burning cheek; the pulse in it was strong and painful, reminding me every second of my weakness and helplessness.

She had slapped me twice, and I... I had done nothing but flounder like a bird with a broken wing.

I cursed myself with choked words, muttering between my sobs:

"Damn you, Julie... how could you not even stand up to her?"

I pulled my knees to my chest so hard I felt my bones pressing against each other,

and buried my stinging face in them, trying to escape the echo of the insults that still rang in my ears.

I whispered in a broken voice drowned in my tears:

"Where are you, Steve? Where are you, my brother?"

At that moment, a bitter longing pulled me back to that early morning the day following his escape, which was, for me, a funeral for my soul.

I remembered how I ran toward the garden, where the remains of our buried childhood lay, and headed toward the rock hidden among the thick bushes.

I lifted the rock with trembling hands, and when I found the white paper, I snatched it eagerly like someone grasping a lifeline.

I opened it and began to read lines that bled with pain:

’’My sister Julie, when you find this letter, it means I have left... and believe me, my heart is breaking because I will not see you anymore... I won’t be able to hold you...’’

I moved the paper away from my eyes, which were clouded by a mist of tears, and burst into a resounding sob that choked me.

I threw myself down, collapsing onto the cold green grass, feeling a loneliness that was killing me. After minutes, I gathered myself to finish reading:

’’My circumstances were greater than my staying in that house, Julie... it was never my home, and those in it were not my parents... I always felt like trash they pushed away with their feet, a punching bag my father emptied his anger into, while my mother was just a silent decorative doll... I always asked myself: what is more painful? The beating or the deprivation?’’

I suddenly felt a heavy iron ball sitting on my chest, pressing on my lungs until my breath grew short.

I tried to cry again but I couldn’t; my body had stiffened from the horror of the truth Steve had been keeping secret.

He was always as solid as a stone in front of us even though he was no more than fifteen, and I was only eleven, but we lived a misery that far exceeded our ages.

I finished the last lines with cramped fingers:

’’I am going I don’t know where, but I will find a better place... and I promise you that I will come and take you with me. Don’t forget that I love you, and I will love you forever... Your brother Steve.’’

I closed my eyes tightly in my current reality, the old letter still etched in my memory,

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