Catherine’s POV
After the Julian scene, Gabriel didn’t feel like playing the piano anymore, so we both retired to bed.
A few minutes later and I still couldn’t sleep.
No matter how many times I turned, how tight I held the blanket, the silence in that big house pressed down like something alive.
I sat up, hugging my knees. My mind wouldn’t stop replaying Julian’s cruelty to me. Even if I tried to mask it, the truth is that I can’t help but worry about my remaining days in this house.
Still lost in thought, faint voices crept into my head. Firstly, I thought I was imagining things, not until I heard then again, the low and muffled voices.
It sounded like two teens were arguing over who would get the girl to prom.
I slipped off the bed, careful not to make a sound, my bare feet touching the cold floor as I moved closer to the door. The voices got clearer and I realized they belonged to Richard and Julian.
I opened my door just enough to peek out. I shouldn’t have moved, I should’ve gone back to bed but something in their tone bit at my curiosity.
I followed the sound, step by step, keeping to the edges of the wall so the floorboards wouldn’t make noises.
The voices led me to Richard’s study, which was half-open. I stopped just outside, hidden by the wall, my pulse loud in my ears.
"...you can’t keep doing this," Richard’s voice snapped in a low but firm way. "You act like a child every time I bring someone new into this house."
Julian let out a sharp, humorless laugh before shooting back. "I’m not a child," his voice was deeper, and rougher. "But maybe you should stop marrying every woman who can stand your face for more than five minutes."
I pressed a hand over my mouth.
Richard’s tone darkened. "You’ll watch that mouth."
"No, I will not let you repeat history," Julian countered. "You have to get them out of this house. You don’t care about her, and you sure as hell don’t care about her daughter."
Richard tapped his forehead, looking like he was tired of Julian. "I can’t keep doing this with you."
Julian laughed bitterly. "You got my mother damaged with all your lies, your last wife hiding in another country, and now this? Lisa is just another prop for your perfect-family act."
"Speak what you know!"
The shout made me flinch, coupled with the sound of a glass hitting something, the table maybe with a loud thud.
I peeked through the small gap in the doorway and saw Richard standing near the desk, gripping a half-empty glass. Julian stood a few feet away from him, his chest rising and falling fast, with his fists clenched.
"You don’t get to talk about my choices," Richard said coldly. "You live under my roof, you get to live off my money, and yet you spit on everything I build."
Julian’s voice dropped lower. "You don’t build anything, you buy it. You buy people, their silence, their loyalty, and that’s exactly what you are trying to do to that lady and her daughter."
Richard’s tone cut like a knife. "That lady is my wife, your stepmother. Address her accordingly!"
Julian didn’t answer right away. His jaw flexed. "Cut me the bullshit, she is not my real mother, I will call her whatever I want."
My chest tightened.
Julian continued. "You parade them around like trophies, and then when it all goes wrong, you move on like nothing happened. You ruin everything you touch, and you think nobody sees it."
Richard slammed the glass down on the desk so hard I thought it would shatter. "The sooner you stop making up scenes in your head, the easier it will be for you to heal. Get a grip on yourself. You’ve been losing it ever since your mom left."
Julian’s voice dropped so low it almost didn’t sound like him. "You really are a monster. Don’t you ever mention my mother."
"Careful, I’m still your father."
Julian laughed under his breath, but it wasn’t amusement, it was disbelief. "You have no conscience. You made mom leave and ever since, you’ve been using women to your advantage. I hate you so much and I hope you die!"
Richard stepped forward until they were almost chest to chest. "You watch your tone. If you can’t deal with my choice, that’s fine but you have to respect it."
"Your choice?" He scoffed. "Dad, you are a sick man, who cares about nothing but himself. You marry these women to look good in your campaign pictures. You are ready to do anything as long as the public gets to see the happy family picture of the perfect mayor, with his elegant wife and children."
Richard’s voice was quieter now, but colder. "Enough, already. You are drunk again and have started talking so much nonsense. "
"No," Julian said, with a sharp and unsteady tone.
The silence that followed was heavy enough to choke on.
I stood frozen, afraid to move. I shouldn’t have been there or heard any of that but I couldn’t walk away either.
Richard spoke again, soft but cutting. "I may have to send you back to the rehab if you keep acting this way."
Rehab? I nearly gasped but I pressed my palm over mouth immediately.
Julian’s reply came low. "You’d love that, wouldn’t you?"
Richard smiled thinly. "It’d save me the embarrassment."
He let out a short, bitter laugh. "Two years ago, you sent me there because I almost ruined your perfect view and lied to everyone that I was crazy," he paused. "I have never seen someone as selfish as you."
"I don’t care what you say," Richard bit back. "But get help, Julian. You are a screw up."
Something in Julian broke. "I rather be a screw up than be you."
"I have entertained you long enough, now get out of my sight," Richard ordered, each word like a slap.
Julian didn’t push further, instead his footsteps turned, heavy and fast.
My heart was beating so fast. I needed to get back to my room before he would catch me. I took a step back but the hallway rug caught under my foot. It shifted, leading to a soft scrape against the floor that sounded so loud.
"Shit." The sound slipped out before I could stop it and a second later, his shadow filled the doorway.
Despite my attempts to run away from there, my legs refused to cooperate. The door swung open wider, and light spilled into the hall.
He halted in front of me, and his eyes met mine.
For a heartbeat, everything went still and then his expression changed to shock at first then recognition.
"Catherine..."