Chapter 304
Steve's POV
I halted my exhausted frame right before the threshold of the exterior door of the house, having returned from the restaurant with heavy, slow strides saturated with intense fatigue. The work in the kitchen throughout this entire day had been unbearably arduous, the pressure continuous from the sheer torrent of orders.
The time had grown exceptionally late, the clock hands bypassing midnight by a long shot. I pulled the iron door key from my trousers' pocket with helpless, agitated fingers, inserting it into the core of the lock with a trembling hand, spent from overexertion. I turned it slowly so as not to awaken Julie. However, the absolute moment I took my very first steps into the interior foyer of the house, I froze entirely in my tracks, my eyes widening in sheer panic, terror, and absolute horror.
