CHAPTER 87: SAVED

Julian’s POV

My phone buzzed and I grabbed my phone, checking the caller ID. LUCY

Why was she calling me when we’re practically in the same house?

I accepted the call and the first thing I heard was a high, broken sob, "Julian—"

"Lucy?"

She gasped and let out a sharp cry which made me straighten immediately.

I stood from the bed, hurrying over to her room. "What happened?" My voice hardened, my whole body reacting before my mind could catch up.

Her room was empty. "Where the hell are you?"

"I—I’m hurt," she choked out with a trembling voice. "I think... I think I was attacked."

The world around me froze. I rushed into the living room where Gabriel was.

"Tell me where you are, I’m coming right now," I was already walking to the door before she answered.

"In... in front of your estate," she sobbed. "I’m trying to walk but— Julian, it hurts. Please hurry."

The phone almost slipped from my hand.

"I’m coming now. Don’t move. Don’t try to move," I said, already, rushing over to Gabriel and shoving my feet into his pair of slippers.

"Any problem? Who was that?" he asked.

"Lucy," I replied, turning hurriedly. "She’s hurt."

He blinked, startled. "Hurt? How?"

"I don’t know."

I didn’t care how, not yet. I just needed to find her.

Gabriel moved to follow me, but I raised a hand.

"No, don’t come with me. The people who attacked her could still be there."

He hesitated but didn’t argue.

I flung the door open and jogged to my car. I sped out and only stopped, when I saw Lucy.

I immediately got out of the car and held her with both hands. "Who did this to you!"

She was in so much pain that she couldn’t even answer without spitting out blood or coughing.

"Don’t worry, don’t say anything. Let’s get you home first."

After I dropped her at the back seat and rushed over to my side and drove back home.

We got into the house and the minute Gabriel saw Lucy’s disarranged face and bruises, he sprung to his feet and approached us. "What the heck is this? Who did this to her?"

"Gabriel, I have no idea. Help me call the doctor, he has to come over now."

He nodded and dialed the doctor’s number while I took Lucy to her room. I gently placed her on the bed, meanwhile my blood was boiling.

In no time, a knock came on the door. It was Gabriel and the doctor.

He began to work on her wounds. After he was done, he turned to me and handed me a few drugs. "I have treated the open wounds but she needs to be properly healed. Make sure you give her those drugs."

"Thank you, doctor Luke, for coming over this late."

The doctor waved his hand. "No need to thank me. I owe this family a lot, especially your mother who helped me become who I am today."

Hearing him speak of my mother made my muscles tighten and the hatred for my father resurfaced.

"I’ll take my leave now," his voice came, disrupting my thoughts and just immediately, Gabriel spoke. "Before you leave, can you attend to someone else please?"

Someone else?

"Are you sick?" I asked him and he shook his head. "Not me, Catherine is."

Catherine? Fuck! How did I not know about it? My legs moved subconsciously. "What happened to her?"

"It’s not that serious but she ate something she’s allergic to," Gabriel replied and my jaw ticked.

Something she’s allergic to? And he said it’s not that serious, huh?

I turned to Mr. Luke, "please follow me." My pace was faster than I intended, I had even completely forgotten about Lucy.

We were standing in front of Catherine’s door while I knocked. I knocked twice but she didn’t respond and panic flooded my mind. I quickly ran to get a spare, hoping her door wasn’t bolted from inside. Thank goodness it wasn’t.

My legs moved fast, into her room, after I opened her door and I was met with two figures lying on the bed. One was Catherine and the other, I didn’t know until Gabriel spoke.

"Oh, they’ve slept off."

"Who’s the other person?"

"That’s her new friend from the neighbourhood," Gabriel replied and for some strange reasons, weird thoughts of him knowing so much of Catherine’s life filled my mind.

Trying to take my mind off that, I turned to the doctor and before I could speak, he said, "if she’s fallen asleep, it means whatever she faced was already taken care of."

"True," Gabriel chimed in. "Her friend mentioned something about giving her something like medicine."

"Alright then, I’ll take my leave now."

I shook his hand and Gabriel led him out, while I stared at Catherine for a few seconds, before shutting her door and going back to Lucy’s room to check on her.

"Hey. How are you feeling now?"

Her eyes were teary. "I have no idea, Julian. Except for the physical pains, this brought back memories of my life."

The tears began to fall and I quickly moved to sit on her bed, taking her hand in mine. "I’m so sorry. I should have protected you but trust me, I’ll find who did this to you and have them punished severely."

"They were two," her voice came out low, as she pressed her hand on her rib. "Julian, those people targeted me. They didn’t want me or anything, they wanted to beat me."

"Why would they want to do that? You don’t have any enemies. Besides, you are not a member of this family, and you are new to this City. Who would intentionally want to do this to you?"

She paused for a moment, there was this look in her eyes like she was trying not to say anything.

I shifted back and looked at her. "Lucy?"

"Do you know who did this to you?"

Her eyes tore from mine, turning them to the other side of the room. "I think it’s Catherine."

My eyes widened at once and I sprang to my feet. "What?"

Catherine’s POV

We heard footsteps outside my door and immediately realised that they were coming to my room.

"What’s going on? Do you think Lucy is back? Have they found out that we did it?" Worry etched my voice but Kiera stayed quiet, probably trying to think.

A knock came on the door and my heart almost jumped out of my heart. Kiera pinched me and when I turned to her, she placed a finger on her lips. "Don’t make a noise and don’t open the door. They will leave after a while."

I nodded, even though I found it hard to stop myself from staring at the door and gasping in fear. The knock stopped, just like Kiera had predicted but we were wrong, because we could now hear the rattling sound of a bunch of keys.

"We have to pretend that we are asleep," Kiera whispered. My jaw locked and I immediately turned away from the door and shut my eyes tight.

Then they entered, their voices and their words announcing who they were. My ribs felt like they were knotted by fear. I tried my best to not make a sound or try to turn around. When they finally left, I slowly opened my eyes and found only one of Kiera’s eyes open. She used her eyes to tell me not to move and that’s when I realized that someone was still there. Probably Julian.

It was only after we heard the door click that we sat up. "Gabriel told them about the fake lie," she whispered.

"I think that’s all he told them. They brought a doctor to check on me."

Kiera stood and moved to the door, placing her ear on it, she turned back to me, moving forward. "I think the doctor was called for Lucy and maybe Gabriel decided to mention you were ill, so he would check on you too."

I wasn’t sure of what to say, so I just stared at her.

"Catherine, I have to leave here as early as possible tomorrow. Us not getting caught is up to you. Make sure you do not show them any reason to suspect you."

I swallowed hard. No! No! No! Why was she leaving it to me? What if I end up screwing up? Fuck me! I should have thought about all this before agreeing to it.

"I have never done anything like this, Ki. I’m really scared," my voice was shaky. She gripped my shoulder. "There’s nothing to be scared about. We didn’t kill her. Moreover, that girl has been doing the same thing to you. All we did was pay her back."

"But we took it too far."

She let go of me, shaking her head like she was disappointed. "You are the reason those girls bully you. Stop acting too self righteous, it’s another name for cowardness."

She was right. I knew she was.

"You need to stop feeling pity for the very people who would not think twice about causing you pain. Do you understand?"

"Yes," I muttered. "I promise I will make sure we do not get caught. Enough of considering others."

A smile spread across her lips. "Now, that’s what I’m talking about girl."