“Perche ti terro sempre d’occhio”
Juliette blinked her eyes when what she saw was not a sentence in Japanese like the previous two sentences, but rather another language that she completely didn’t understand. Was it time to open the translation app or Google on her phone? Answering the question that crossed her mind, Juliette’s fingers moved quickly to type the sentence into the search engine. Her brow furrowed as she saw that the sentence was written in Italian and meant, “because I will always keep an eye on you.”
The furrow in Juliette’s brow deepened as she pondered the meaning of the sentence. What was that psychopathic man trying to convey? Then she remembered the previous two sentences.
“When you look at the sky… You will see me.” Juliette swallowed hard and muttered softly, “… because I will always keep an eye on you.” Juliette’s breath caught when she realized the meaning of all three sentences.
“The F*ck!” Instantly, fragments of the past resurfaced in her mind.
“Don’t be sad, Julie, we can still video call; besides, I won’t be gone forever.” Juliette rolled her eyes at Robbin’s words. She stood up and hugged her tall, muscular brother. Juliette wanted to cry because the chair next to her would be empty tomorrow. However, that didn’t matter because she would soon be leaving this mansion anyway. “Remember what I told you?”
Juliette thought for a moment, and then a small, sincere smile appeared on her lips.
“I remember.” She hugged her half-brother again and murmured, “When you look at the sky, you will see me, because I will always keep an eye on you.” Juliette looked up and beamed at Robbin. “I will miss you, my super protective brother.”
Robbin laughed and released Juliette from the embrace. “What can I do? My sister is so beautiful, and many men will be interested in her. I don’t want you to be taken advantage of by them.”
Juliette took a few steps back before falling to the wooden floor. Her entire body trembled. Slowly, Juliette lowered the piece of paper in her hand before opening the sealed envelope with a symbol she recognized very well. With trembling hands, Juliette opened the envelope and read its contents.
‘Good job, you are indeed destined for me. Now, close your eyes and say you love me.’
Juliette took a shaky breath and refused to close her eyes. One by one, the clues returned to Juliette. Robbin’s gaze, Robbin’s presence coinciding with Master D’s, everything came to her one by one, making her increasingly certain of the culprit’s identity. Who was Master D, who was obsessed with her and always terrorized her?
Juliette considered all the possibilities regarding who the perpetrator could be while the actual perpetrator stood beside her, acting like an angel who cared for her so much. It turned out that all of that was just an alibi and a lie. Her back suddenly tensed when her hearing picked up the sound of rustling from the living room, the place where darkness lay. Juliette stood up and walked out of the room. Her hands clenched the paper so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
When she reached the hallway, Juliette’s steps halted. Her eyes, although unable to see the darkness, caught the silhouette of someone sitting on the sofa that had previously been empty. Juliette bit her lower lip to stifle a sob. She couldn’t believe that the man who had been her motivator, the man she had come to regard as family, was the same man who was also terrorizing and mentally hurting her.
Juliette took a breath once more, trying to calm her racing heart. Then, with courage, she whispered, “Robbin.”
Clapping echoed, and suddenly, the dark atmosphere surrounding them turned bright. A man in a black suit and a familiar mask sat on the sofa, just as she had suspected. The man continued to clap before finally stopping. Juliette could see the dark glare filling the dark pupils peeking through the eye holes of the mask. Those dark eyes she had stared into five years ago, the ones she looked at when that man touched her on Anthony’s funeral night-Oh God! Why hadn’t Juliette realized all of this?
And the events on the night of Anthony’s funeral… Oh God, did that man give her something?
Slowly, the man’s hand moved to remove the mask from his face-the mask Juliette had held in Leo’s apartment. Then, a realization struck her again. The man had planned this; somehow, the mask had ended up with Dion, and Dion had given the mask to Leo, making Juliette suspicious. And when the man wanted to retrieve his mask, he also took Leo with him. Juliette’s eyes widened, and she took a step back. “Robbin. Why?”
With his gaze fixed on Juliette, Robbin stood up and sneered. “I told you to close your eyes, but it seems you chose to defy me.”
“Why? Why did you do all this to me? What did I do wrong?”
This time, Robbin gave Juliette a lazy look as if responding to her was the most unimportant thing to do. He adjusted his suit and pulled the corner of his lips into a smirk. “You look so beautiful today, Kitten.”
Both of Juliette’s hands clenched again, her fingernails digging into her palms. “What do you want from me? Isn’t it enough that you destroyed my life? Have you forgotten that I’m your family too?”
“Hmm… family? I never thought we were family.”
Juliette’s breath caught in her throat. “So all this time… you… you…” Robbin remained silent, giving Juliette a flat and cold expression like ice. “What did you do to Leo? Answer me!”
“Daisy seems to have spoken before Aldrich silenced that noisy woman,” Robbin said casually as if it were just a conclusion to Juliette’s behavior.
“Robbin!” Juliette stared in disbelief.
“Do you understand the meaning of this game, Kitten?”
Juliette no longer wanted to hear Robbin’s nonsense, which was completely useless to her. The man refused to answer her question and chose to ramble on to another topic as if he wanted to toy with her.
With a sharp glare filled with hatred, Juliette hissed softly, “Do you remember what I said?” Juliette countered.
“I hate him so much, Lou. I hate him so much that I want to kill him with my own hands.” Juliette repeated the words she had said to Robbin the night before.
Juliette was taken aback when his eyes stared at her with rage. She could see Robbin’s jaw tighten. Juliette’s words had made him extremely angry. Robbin quickly walked toward Juliette, but she acted quickly and ran away.
She ran to evade him, searching for a place to hide and something to use as a weapon. Juliette entered the room where Leo was unconscious. She looked for a suitable hiding spot, but there was none. So Juliette decided to hide behind Leo.
For a moment, there was only silence until Juliette could hear her heartbeat and her breathing. Still, moments later, she screamed when her hair was roughly yanked by Robbin’s hand, and she was dragged back into the living room.
Robbin threw Juliette onto the sofa, and that was when Juliette saw the crystal glass lying on the small table near the sofa. “Do you want to know my reason, Julie?”
Juliette sobbed and hugged herself tightly, trying to stop the intense trembling coursing through her body. Robbin grinned and followed Juliette, his muscular frame pinning her down. One hand wrapped around Juliette’s neck, choking her, while his free hand gripped her waist possessively. “Because you are mine.”
A sob escaped Juliette’s lips. “Only I should be able to taste those luscious lips of yours,” Robbin murmured as he brushed his thumb against Juliette’s lips; then, without permission, he lowered his face and kissed Juliette’s lips roughly and possessively.
At first, Juliette struggled and tried to break their kiss, but Robbin pressed his hand tighter around Juliette’s neck, giving her a warning. After that, Juliette resigned herself.
But resignation didn’t mean silence.
As Robbin busily kissed Juliette and groped her body, Juliette reached for the crystal glass, and when the time was right, she swung her arm holding the glass, smashing it against Robbin’s head, causing him to groan in pain. Juliette pushed Robbin’s large body until he fell to the floor, then ran to the room where Leo was.
Juliette breathed a sigh of relief when her hazel eyes met Leo’s blue ones. She ran to Leo and quickly tried to untie the ropes binding him, but her efforts were futile since only a knife could cut the rope.
Suddenly, Leo groaned and moved restlessly. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but the gag covered his mouth.
“Leo, stay quiet… I’m trying to free you!” Juliette continued to pull and struggled to loosen the knot that held Leo captive. Leo screamed and moved his body again. Juliette sighed loudly and, with a rough tug, removed the gag covering Leo’s mouth. “Leo, stop-”
“Julie, behind you!”
Just as Leo said, Juliette felt a cold object pressed against her head. A gun muzzle. Instantly, Juliette raised both her hands and stood up slowly. Then she felt her wrists gripped by someone.
Before long, Juliette saw Robbin walking and standing right behind Leo. A very sharp knife was pressed against Leo’s neck, right over his artery. “You can either fight back, or this man will die in front of you.”
“Robbin… please… let Leo go…”
“Tsk! Do you think I’m stupid, Kitten? I don’t want a coward like him-” Robbin pressed the knife against Leo’s neck, causing a small cut that drew blood. “—to ruin my plan. Oh well, even if he tells the police about this, he would be the one to end up in jail.”
“No…”
“But better to be cautious, right?”
“I’m begging you, Robby… I’m begging you…”
Robbin pulled the knife away from Leo’s neck, then put on a pair of black leather gloves he took from his suit pocket.
“It’ll be more fun to use this stupid man for a while.” Then, after that, Robbin struck Leo’s neck, knocking him unconscious again.
Robbin raised his hand and wiped the blood flowing from the side of his face vigorously, making Juliette wince in her heart as she saw the wound on the man’s temple, but what Juliette worried about now was her safety.
“Now…” Robbin stood directly in front of Juliette and pulled out a syringe from another pocket of his suit. “… I will take you to where you should be.”
Juliette held her breath as the syringe needle was pressed into her neck, and the clear liquid inside the syringe slowly emptied into her body. “What are you-” It didn’t take long for Juliette’s whole body to weaken, and her vision blurred.
The last thing Juliette saw and heard was Robbin’s expression, filled with satisfaction and obsession, followed by the man’s murmur to her.
“Mine. Forever mine.”
…