Chapter 100 The ghost with my face
Carlino’s POV
For a moment, everything inside my head went silent. Not calm. Not peace. Just… silence. The kind that comes before something breaks.
Malder.
The name didn’t sit right in my chest. It dragged against something old. Something buried. Something I had sealed and locked away the day my father told me my brother burned alive.
Dead.
Gone.
Finished.
I had accepted it.
I had built myself around it.
And now—
He stood in front of me. Breathing. Watching. Holding on.
No.
My jaw tightened.
No.
This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. Malder died in that fire. Father said it himself. And my father—Silvio Lacentra, does not lie. Not to me. Not about something like that.
So what was this? A trick? A double? A man wearing another man’s dead face?
My fingers flexed slightly at my side, my gaze sharpening as I studied him. The stance. The presence. The weight he carried in the air—
It felt familiar. Too familiar. But I didn’t move. Didn’t speak.Because if I did, I might confirm something I wasn’t ready to accept.
“Oh,” he said casually, voice smooth, almost amused. “Don’t stress your head over it.”
My chest tightened. That voice. That tone. And then—
“Still thinking too much, Rin?”
That name. A name no one else knew. A name that didn’t exist outside of two people. The world snapped back into place—
Violently.
My breath stilled. My thoughts didn’t just scatter, they shattered. Only one person called me that. And he was supposed to be dead.
My eyes locked onto him, something darker settling behind them now. Not confusion. Not fully. Something sharper. Something dangerous. But even then—
Even then, a part of me resisted.
This could still be a game.
A setup.
Someone digging into my past, pulling strings, trying to destabilize me.
It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried. But the precision of it—
The exactness—
It didn’t sit like a lie. It sat like the truth I didn’t want. My gaze flicked, just once, to my father. Father didn’t move. He didn’t speak. But his eyes—
His eyes were fixed on the man standing before us. No confusion. No denial. Just… recognition.
Something cold slid into my veins. Slow. Unwelcome.
Then the man chuckled softly. “Don’t look so shocked, father.”
And just like that—
He reached up, pulled the mask from his face, and tossed it aside. It hit the ground with a dull sound. And the world tilted.
Because there he was.
No distortion.
No shadow.
No illusion.
Malder.
The same gray eyes—sharp, cutting, identical to mine. The same structure. The same brows. The same nose carved into his features like we had been built from the same design—
Because we were.
My brother.
My best friend.
The one person who had ever stood beside me without fear. Without calculation. Without expectation.
Alive.
For a second—
The armor cracked. Not visibly. Not enough for anyone else to notice. But inside—
Something gave.
Emotions I hadn’t touched in years surged forward, slamming into me all at once. Relief. Pain. Disbelief. Something dangerously close to joy. It hit harder than any punch I’d taken today.
“Brother…” The word left my mouth before I could stop it.
My voice—
It wasn’t weak.
But it wasn’t steady either.
“You—” I stopped, jaw tightening as I tried to regain control. “I thought you were—”
Dead.
The word didn’t come out. I didn’t let it. Because saying it made this real. And I wasn’t ready to accept that just yet.
Malder didn’t react. Didn’t soften. Didn’t step forward. Nothing. His face was carved from stone, his eyes cold as they held mine.
“Drop it,” he said flatly. “I don’t have time for this.”
The words hit harder than they should have. Not because of what he said, but because of how he said it. No warmth. No recognition. No brother. Just distance. Just… contempt. My expression didn’t change.
It couldn’t.
But something in my chest shifted. Locked back into place. The armor rebuilt itself in seconds. Because whatever this was, It wasn't a reunion. It wasn't a relief. It was something else. Something darker.
“Then talk,” I said, my voice returning to its usual calm. Controlled. Cold. “You didn’t come here for silence.”
His lips curved slightly. Not a smile. Something worse.
“Finally,” he muttered. “There he is.”
The real me.
Good.
“Let’s get to business.”
Business.
The word echoed. And that’s when it started connecting. Not slowly. Not piece by piece. All at once.
Kailen.
The timing.
The way he moved.
The way he knew me.
The way every step of this war had felt… calculated.
Personal.
The words he had used.
The references.
The precision behind every move.
This wasn’t random.
It wasn’t instinct.
It was planned.
Designed.
Built from the knowledge no outsider should have. My gaze sharpened further as I looked at Malder. And in that moment, everything aligned.
Kailen wasn’t the mind. He was the weapon. The execution. But the one behind it, the one pulling strings, the one feeding him every move—
Was standing right in front of me.
Malder.
A slow breath left me. Not anger. Not yet.
Understanding.
Cold.
Sharp.
Final.
“You,” I said quietly.
His head tilted slightly.
“Yes,” he replied just as quietly.
No denial.
No hesitation.
That was enough.
I stood there for a second longer, then shifted my gaze past him.
“Niel.”
He was already watching, waiting, tense.
“Take them out.”
A pause.
He didn’t move immediately. Of course he wouldn't. Because this—
This wasn’t normal. This wasn’t something you walk away from.
“Now,” I added, my tone dropping just enough to remind him who he was dealing with.
That was all it took.
Niel nodded once.
No argument.
No hesitation this time.
He moved toward Lina and my father, cutting the restraints quickly. Lina barely looked away from me, her expression tight, uncertain—but she didn’t speak.
Good.
This wasn’t her fight.
Not anymore.
My father—
He didn’t say a word either.
But as Niel began to move him away, his gaze lingered on Malder.
Heavy.
Complicated.
And then—
They were gone.
The sound of their retreating footsteps faded into the distance.
Silence settled again.
Just the two of us.
Brothers.
Enemies.
I didn’t move. Didn’t reach for my gun. Didn’t shift my stance. Because I didn’t need to. “Why?” I asked.
One word.
But it carried everything. Every question. Every doubt. Every crack this moment had forced into place.
Malder let out a quiet laugh.
Low.
Mocking.
“You’re asking me why?” he repeated, like the idea itself amused him.
I didn’t react.
Didn’t blink.
“Really, Carlino?” he continued, stepping forward slightly. “Are you that ignorant… or are you pretending to be stupid?”
My expression stayed neutral. Unmoved. But inside—
Something was tightening.
“Answer the question,” I said.
Simple.
Direct.
Final.
His smile faded. And what replaced it wasn’t anger. It was worse. Hatred. Pure. Unfiltered. Directed straight at me.
“Why?” he echoed again, his voice dropping. Then his jaw tightened. And the next words came out like venom.
“You fucking traitor,” He spatted venomously.