My Stepbrother Wants Me-Chapter 123: Lucy, The Manipulator

Julian’s POV

I was drifting in the space between sleep and wakefulness when my phone buzzed. It had been ringing and I had tried to ignore it but the person wasn’t giving up.

My eyes felt like they had been glued shut. Every muscle in my body ached with exhaustion. I reached out blindly, my hand fumbling across the nightstand until my fingers closed around the cold glass of my phone.

I didn’t check the caller ID. I didn’t care. I just wanted the noise to stop, so I picked with the pace of a thief trying to flee from the police.

"Who’s this?" I rasped, my voice sounding like it had been dragged over gravel.

"Oh, so you’re alive," a sharp, high-pitched voice crackled through the speaker. It was Lucy. And she wasn’t just upset; she sounded like she was raging in fury. "I was beginning to think you’d died or maybe got paralysed. Well, it seems like it’s even worse than I imagined. You’ve decided that I am not worth the effort anymore."

I sat up abruptly, the sheet sliding down my chest. "Lucy, what’s the problem? You need to calm down. What’s all this you are saying? I told you I’d—"

"You told me you’d take care of me!" she shrieked, her voice still blowing through the phone. I winced, pulling the phone away from my ear. "You dumped me in this godforsaken hotel room like a piece of trash you wanted to hide from the curb. Do you have any idea what it’s like sitting here? Watching the news? Seeing you and that... that girl attending parties while I’m stuck here?"

I rubbed my hand over my face, trying to clear the fog from my brain. "A lot has happened, Lucy. Richard returned earlier than expected. You know how my relationship with my dad is? I have been trying to handle a lot of things here. Besides, it’s just one event we attended."

"One event?" she let out a jagged, hysterical laugh. "So that makes it okay to dump me in a place I have no idea of? It’s obvious you’ve abandoned me because of Catherine. I still can’t understand why that girl has so much effect on you."

"Lucy? Stop it. What does Catherine have to do with any of this? I know you are problem with her but you need to stop blaming her for everything."

"Oh please," I could hear the irritation in her tone. "If Catherine was in my condition, you would never have abandoned her. I’m not stupid. I’m the one who stayed by you when everyone else looked abandoned you. I’m the one who came to stay with you when you were screaming having a hard time at the asylum. I listened to you and believed your truth..."

The mention of the asylum hit me.

"...When no one else believed you. I stayed by your side, made sure you were okay and fought anyone that dared harassed you. Not even Catherine would have stood by your side if she was in your life then."

"That’s enough," the words sounded like they were coming from my throat. "Leave Catherine out of this."

"Why? Does it hurt to tell the truth?" her voice softened, but it was the softness of a blade. "I was your only friend when you were at your lowest. I risked my own happiness for you. And now you’ve replaced me with that little social climber. You think she can sacrifice half of what I’ve sacrificed for you?"

I closed my eyes, counting to five. I knew she was speaking from a place of bone-deep hurt. I should have visited or called her but I didn’t because I clearly forgot about her existence, so yeah... she was right to be mad.

"I haven’t replaced anyone," my voice came steady and low. "And I haven’t abandoned you. I’m doing everything I can to keep us all above water. You need to trust me, Lucy."

"With you actions, you have no right to ask me to trust you," she snapped. "You have three hours, Julian. If you aren’t at this hotel in three hours, I’m taking matters into my own hands and you sure as hell won’t like what I’ll do."

"Stop Lucy, stop trying to act out a personality that’s not yours. I’ll be there," I promised. "Within three hours. I’m sorry for not checking in."

I ended the call before she could say anything else, sitting there in silence, wondering whether I needed ti let Catherine know that I was going ti see Lucy or not. I didn’t want to do anything that would get her upset.

Three authoritative raps on my door made me jump. "Julian, are you in? Open the door," Richard’s cold voice boomed from outside.

I shoved my phone under my pillow and stood up, pulling on a silk robe as I moved toward the door.

Richard stood in the hallway and he looked as if he’d been awake for hours. My eyes hovered around his suit, and even though this was his usual style, I could tell that he was prepared for something huge. Without waiting for an invitation; he stepped into my room, his gaze sweeping over the unmade bed and the clothes scattered on the floor.

"You missed breakfast," he said, his voice a smooth, dangerous purr.

"Yeah.... I overslept," I replied, crossing my arms. "The Gala was a long night. I didn’t realize there was a mandatory roll call this morning."

Richard’s lips curled into a faint smile. "There’s always a roll call when the stakes are this high, Julian. We have a press conference at ten. The Sterling endorsement has given us a momentum we can’t afford to waste. I want you there, front and center. The hero of the hour."

I asked in a high tone, feeling irritated. "Ten? Richard, it’s too soon. Yesterday was an endurance test. I’m not a politician; I’m a human being. We all need a minute to breathe before you parade us out there again."

Richard took a step closer, his presence filling the room. He was taller than me, broader, and even now. I could feel the ingrained instinct to shrink away from him.

"Too soon?" He bent his eyes to his wrist. "It’s still a few minutes past 7, you have three hours to prepare. You are a Vaughn, act like one and stop making excuses to avoid being seen. As long as you are under my roof, there’s no room for rest. As a Vaughn heir, you don’t ’need rest,’ especially when you are an important face of this campaign’s integrity."

He wasn’t giving me any room for arguments. I nodded my head, hoping he would just get out already.

"Never question my decisions again. Whatever I say in this house stands! Now, be a good son, by going into your closet and picking the best suit. I need you to look like the golden boy the public thinks you are."

I let out a jagged scoff of defiance. Was he intentionally trying to rub salt in my wound? He crossed the line! I couldn’t take it.

"Stop trying to own me, Richard. You bought the Sterling endorsement, not me. If you keep treating me like a puppet on a string... I might just snap. And we both know I’m not very good at being a good son when I snap."

The air in the room turned real cold. Richard didn’t flinch. He didn’t shout. All he did was let out a low, mocking laugh that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. He leaned in, his face inches from mine, his eyes boring into my soul.

"Snap?" he repeated, the word sounding like a death sentence. "Is that a threat, Julian? Because I seem to remember the last time you decided to ’snap.’ Do you remember what I did to you then? How it felt to be stripped of everything? Your voice, your happiness sound, your life and your sanity?"

My jaw tensed so hard I thought my teeth might crack. Images flashed through my mind; the cold floor of the isolation cell, the weight of his boot on my chest, the way he’d looked at me with utter boredom while I begged for mercy. My hands drew into tight fists at my sides and my knuckles wanted to badly connect with his face.

I wanted to hit him, to tear that smug, superior look off his face. But I knew that was exactly what he wanted. He wanted me to prove I was "unstable" so he could justify putting the leash back on.

"I remember," I squeezed the words out through my teeth.

"Good," Richard said, patting my shoulder with a fake smile that made my skin crawl. "Then we understand each other. Dress up in your best suit, look responsible, be ready by ten and do not forget to smile always. I’d hate to have to remind you of your place again."

He turned on his heel and walked out, the door remaining open behind him like a gaping wound.

I stood there, trembling with a rage so deep it felt like it was cracking in my bones.

Walking over to the door, I whispered, "three hours," before slamming it shut. "Three hours."

I remembered I assured Lucy that I’d see her within three hours. Now that Richard ruined my plans, she’d have to wait.