Chapter 97 The man who refuses to break
Lina’s POV
The room changed the moment the preparations began.
No one spoke at first. The silence thickened, stretching across the space like a heavy curtain. The only sounds came from movement—boots scraping against the concrete floor, the dull rattle of chains being dragged closer, metal clinking softly as tools were laid out on a narrow table near the wall.
Every small noise felt louder than it should have. My chest tightened as I watched them work.
One man rolled a tray closer to the center of the room. Another adjusted the ropes binding the old man to the chair. A third opened a metal case, the hinges creaking softly before revealing rows of cold instruments that glinted faintly in the daylight.
My heart slammed violently against my ribs.
But the thing that terrified me the most… wasn’t what they were preparing.
It was him.
Silvio Lacentra. He sat perfectly still in the chair.
His back remained straight, shoulders squared despite the restraints biting into his wrists. His silver hair was slightly disheveled, his suit only wrinkled from the struggle earlier.
And his face—
God.
He looked calm.
Not nervous. Not angry. Not afraid. Just calm. Almost bored. Like this entire situation was nothing more than an inconvenience interrupting his evening.
My stomach twisted.
How could someone sit there like that?
How could he look at all of this—chains, tools, men preparing to hurt him—and show nothing?
The thought of what he had said earlier kept spinning inside my head like a broken record.
Travien betrayed the syndicate.
The words refused to settle. If he was telling the truth… Then Kailen had built his entire life around a lie.
But if he was lying— Then everything happening here today was nothing more than revenge finally catching up.
Either way, something about it felt wrong.
Very wrong.
“Stop,” The single word cut through the room before anything else could happen.
Kailen.
Everyone froze immediately.
The men paused where they stood, tools hovering in their hands. Kailen slowly stepped closer to the chair, his limp faint but noticeable as he moved across the floor. His eyes never left the old man in front of him.
For a moment he just stood there. Watching. Studying.
Then he spoke.
“You’re going to answer a few more questions first,” His voice was calm. Too calm.
Silvio’s lips twitched faintly. “Curious now, are we?”
Kailen’s jaw tightened. “Proof,” he said flatly. “You claim my father betrayed the syndicate. I want proof.”
Silvio tilted his head slightly. “You think I carried documents in my pocket when I dealt with him?”
“Don’t play games with me.”
“I’m not.”
Kailen stepped closer until he was standing directly in front of him. “Who else knew?” he demanded. “Who was involved in this supposed deal with the authorities?”
Silvio remained silent for a moment.
Then he shrugged faintly.
“Several men inside the council suspected it.”
“Names.”
Silvio smiled faintly.
“You’re not in a position to demand those.”
The tension in the room tightened instantly.
Kailen’s voice sharpened. “Does Carlino know?”
That question made my pulse jump. Silvio’s gaze flickered briefly before returning to Kailen.
“No.”
Kailen’s eyes narrowed. “No?” he repeated.
“It was buried too deeply,” Silvio said calmly. “By the time everything was uncovered, the matter had already been handled.”
“Handled,” Kailen repeated darkly.
Silvio leaned his head back slightly against the chair.
“You’ve spent years chasing revenge,” he said quietly. “Years building hatred around a story you never fully understood.”
The words landed like knives. Kailen’s breathing changed. Slower. Heavier.
“You expect me to believe that?” he asked.
Silvio’s gaze was almost amused now. “Revenge blinds people,” he continued calmly. “It makes them feel righteous. Powerful.”
His eyes darkened slightly.
“But mostly… It makes them stupid.”
One of the men near the table shifted uncomfortably. Even they could feel it. Kailen’s patience was cracking.
“You built your life around a ghost,” Silvio continued. “A story told to grieving children who never bothered asking the right questions.”
Kailen’s fingers curled slowly at his sides.
Silvio leaned forward slightly despite the restraints. “Tell me something, boy,” he murmured.
Kailen didn’t respond.
“Did you ever once ask yourself why your father suddenly started moving money in secret?” Silvio’s voice softened.
My breath caught.
Kailen’s eyes flashed. “What did you say?”
Kailen stared at him, unmoving.
Silvio’s gaze shifted suddenly. And landed on me. I stiffened instantly.
For a moment he just studied me.
Then he spoke.
“You.”
The word made my stomach drop.
“How did you think you came into this world?”
My heart skipped.
“What?”
Silvio tilted his head slightly. “How did your mother end up pregnant with you?”
Something inside me went still.
He looked back at Kailen instead. “Your sister’s mother,” he said slowly, “was one of the trusted women working inside the empire.”
Kailen’s expression hardened.
“She was handed to me by my father’s old friend,” Silvio continued. “His daughter. My responsibility,” His voice grew rougher. “My fucking responsibility.”
Something dark flickered across his face.
“But your father…” He laughed softly. “He defied not only the empire… but our friendship.”
My stomach twisted violently.
Silvio’s eyes hardened.
“Before Alyssa understood the mess Travien was creating, it was already too late,” he continued. “She was pregnant. Alyssa knows the truth.”
Kailen’s breathing had grown heavier now.
Silvio opened his mouth to continue. “If you had bothered digging deeper then your—”
“Enough,” The word cracked through the room like a whip. Kailen’s patience had finally snapped.
“Sab,” He called out. One of the men stepped forward immediately.
“Yes, boss.”
Kailen didn’t look away from Silvio.
“Tell Damien to bring me her mother.”
His head tilted slightly toward me.
Sab nodded. “Right away.”
He left the room quickly.
My stomach dropped.
“What?” I said sharply. “What the hell are you doing?”
Kailen finally looked at me.
His eyes were dark, cold. “We’ll verify his story,” he said simply.
My pulse raced. “You’re dragging my mother into this?”
Kailen’s expression didn’t change. “If he’s lying, we’ll know.”
“And if he’s not?” I shot back.
Silence.
For a moment his gaze hardened slightly. Then he turned away. “But in the meantime…”
His eyes returned to Silvio.
“We begin.”
My chest tightened. The men moved instantly. One of them stepped forward with a tool from the table. Another adjusted the chains.
The first blow came fast. A dull sound echoed across the room. My stomach twisted violently. But Silvio didn’t scream. He didn’t even flinch. He just laughed. A dry, unsettling laugh that scraped against the walls. The sound made the hair on my arms stand up.
Another strike followed.
Still nothing.
No begging.
No screaming.
Just that same quiet, mocking laughter.
Kailen stood a few feet away watching silently.
His face was unreadable.
The men continued. The sounds filled the room.
Metal.
Impact.
Heavy breathing.
My stomach churned violently. Bile rose in my throat. “Stop it,” I muttered under my breath.
No one listened. Silvio laughed again. This man was nothing like the man I had met when I first saw him. He seems totally like a different human.
“You call this torture?” he rasped.
One of the men hesitated briefly.
Kailen didn’t react.
But I saw it.
The irritation growing behind his eyes. This wasn’t punishment anymore. It was a battle. A battle of wills. Silvio refused to break. And that only made Kailen angrier.
Another strike landed.
Still nothing.
Just that same dry laugh.
“Pathetic,” Silvio muttered hoarsely.
My chest tightened.
Suddenly—
Kailen raised his hand. The men stopped instantly. The silence that followed felt deafening. Kailen stepped forward slowly. He studied the old man carefully.
Looking for the smallest crack. But Silvio simply lifted his head. Their eyes met.
“You still believe you’re right,” Kailen said quietly. His voice was low.
Silvio exhaled slowly through his nose. A faint irritation crossed his face. “Because I am. Your father betrayed us.”
The words hung in the air.
“You destroyed my family,” he said quietly.
Silvio didn’t look away. “Your father destroyed it first.”
The tension in the room became unbearable. For a moment I thought Kailen might explode. But instead—
He laughed.
A short, cold laugh completely empty of humor.
He stepped back, dragging a hand slowly across his face before looking at Silvio again.
“You know what’s interesting?” he said quietly.
Silvio didn’t answer.
“You keep repeating the same thing,” Kailen continued. “‘Betrayal.’ ‘Law.’ ‘The syndicate.’”
His eyes darkened.
“All these rules you hide behind.”
He leaned closer to Silvio, his voice dropping to a whisper.
“But none of those rules brought my family back.”
A chill ran down my spine.
Kailen straightened slowly.
His expression had changed.
The rage was still there.
But now it looked colder.
Sharper.
“You took everything from me,” he said calmly.
Silvio lifted his chin despite the restraints. “In our world,” he rasped, “justice isn’t about feelings.”
Kailen’s lips curved into a thin smile.
“Good.”
He turned slightly toward his men. “Then let’s continue doing things the underworld way.”
The men stepped forward again. Tools scraped against metal. Kailen walked back to the couch and sat down slowly.
Like he was settling in for a long day.
His gaze returned to Silvio. “You said betrayal signs a man’s death warrant,” Kailen said softly.
His smile widened slightly.
“Today, Silvio Lacentra…”
He leaned back. “…we’ll see how long it takes for that law to finish its work.”