Chapter 54
Julie's Point of View
At that moment, I felt as if the hands of the clock had frozen, and time itself had ceased to flow.
My gaze was fixed on him; he stood in his brown suit, which I could distinguish from a thousand others, standing in the middle of the room that had become my private prison after he had pocketed the price of my freedom.
Words vanished from my mind entirely, as if I had never uttered a syllable in my life.
A heavy silence prevailed a silence that screamed with the muffled cries inside our chests.
Robert broke this stillness with a tone poisoned by malice, watching my confusion:
"No hug? No kisses? Not even a bit of longing?"
I shot him a sharp look; he was a master at playing the chords of my pain, mocking my brokenness.
But my vocal cords were completely paralyzed.
Every time I tried to muster my strength to melt the ice in my throat, I failed.
Finally, my father spoke.
