Chapter 101 You don't get answers
Carlino's POV
The word hit, harder than I'd ever felt. But not how he expected. Not confusion. No immediate reaction. Just… stillness. Because that didn’t make sense. Not even a little.
Traitor?
To him?
Impossible.
I had never thought of betraying him, talk less of acting on my thoughts.
Not even once.
Turned my back on Malder. Not in childhood. Not in blood. Not in loyalty. We didn’t operate like that. We were on the same side. Always. Nothing ever went wrong.
So what was he talking about?
My gaze hardened slightly. “Careful,” I said quietly. “You’re starting to sound delusional.”
His eyes darkened further.
“Delusional?” he repeated, almost laughing again. “You really want to play that game?”
I didn’t respond. Because I wasn’t playing anything. I was waiting. Observing. Measuring.
“Say it clearly,” I continued. “Because from where I’m standing, you’re the one who was supposedly burnt down in that flame in the warehouse. You’re the one who came back from the dead and started a war.”
A step forward. Now we were closer. The air between us—
Tense.
Sharp.
Ready to snap.
“And you’re calling me the traitor?” I finished.
Silence stretched.
For a second—
Two.
Then Malder shook his head slowly. Almost like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “That’s crazy,” he muttered. “You really don’t see it.”
“I see enough,” I replied coldly.
“No,” he snapped suddenly, his voice rising for the first time. “You don’t see anything.”
The shift was immediate. Controlled anger breaking through.
That’s where mistakes happen.
“You stand there,” he continued, stepping closer, “after everything—and you ask me why?”
I didn’t move. Didn’t try to step back. Didn’t flinch.
“Then explain it,” I said.
A challenge. Direct. Clean.
His jaw clenched. His fists tightened at his sides. And for a moment, it looked like he might actually attack. But he didn’t. He held it. Barely. Struggling.
“Explain?” he repeated, voice low again.
Dangerously low.
“You want me to explain betrayal to you?”
I held his gaze. Unshaken. “Yes.”
A single word. Firm. Final.
Because if he believed that, if he truly thought I had betrayed him, then something had gone very, very wrong.
And I needed to know what.
Malder stared at me.
Long.
Hard.
Like he was searching for something. Something that wasn’t there. Then his expression shifted again.
Colder.
Sharper.
Final.
“You don’t deserve an explanation,” he said quietly.
My eyes narrowed slightly.
“Try me.”
A beat.
And then—
He smiled.
Not like before. Not amused. Not mocking. This one was dark. “You will understand,” he said. “Soon enough.”
I didn’t like that. I didn’t like the certainty in his voice. I didn’t like the fact that he believed that.
At all.
“Start talking,” I said, my tone dropping further.
But he just shook his head. “No,” he replied simply.
And then—
His eyes locked onto mine again. Cold. Unforgiving. Burning with something that had no place between brothers.
“You don’t get answers,” he said.
Silence.
“You get consequences of your actions,” He said, eyes still cold and hard.
What was he going on about? What betrayal have I done?
Silence fell again. It was heavy, thick, unsettling. And for the first time since this entire thing started—
Since the moment I walked into that factory—
Something unfamiliar settled in my chest.
Not fear.
Never that.
But something close to it. Because whatever Malder believed, whatever he thought I had done—
It was enough to bring him back from the dead.
Enough to start a war and enough—
To look at me like I was the enemy.
My jaw tightened slightly. And my voice, when I spoke again—
It was quieter. But far more dangerous.
“Then you better hope,” I said slowly, “that your reasons are worth it.”
His expression didn’t change.
“They are,” he replied.
A beat.
Then his lips parted again—
And his voice cut through the space like a blade.
“Because when I’m done—”
His gaze sharpened.
Focused.
Final.
“You won’t be standing there asking questions anymore,” His words were cold and deadly. They didn't sound like a mere threat, but a claim. A certainty. A declaration.
“You’ll be begging for answers.”
And just like that, a new war had started, whereby I know nothing of the root. The war I thought ended with Kailen. It restarted with Malder. And this time, it was worse than before.