Axel sat in silence, his mind a storm of thoughts as everything finally began to click into place. The scattered pieces of the puzzle—K's kindness, Marlon's involvement, —had all formed a picture. A chilling, calculated picture. But he couldn't blame Marlon. No, not even a little. Because even he, someone who had walked in the shadows long enough to know when a smile was just a mask, had once fallen for K's fake warmth.
K hadn't just manipulated Axel. He had planned, studied, and chosen his targets with precision. From the conversation with Marlon, Axel now understood K's game. K had never been genuinely kind to Marlon—far from it. It wasn't kindness at all. It was control. K wanted everything that belonged to Axel, and that included Marlon. And what better way to control Axel's brother than by pulling him into the very darkness Axel had tried so hard to shield him from?
