Chapter 309: They should belong to you alone.
Karl watched carefully.
For a second, he thought he was seeing things. He even rubbed his eyes.
But no matter how many times he rubbed them, the scene before him remained exactly the same.
His Old Demon Brother was tending to his Sister-in-law with unbelievable gentleness.
Was this ... actually real?
Since when had his brother been capable of being this soft?
Karl had never witnessed this side of Dylan before.
Not even three years ago, when he himself had suffered horrific injuries and had barely survived the night.
He still remembered it vividly.
Back then ...
He had gotten into a fight.
Several bones had been fractured. His ligaments had been torn. And his entire body had been covered in wounds.
When Dylan came to visit him at the hospital, Karl had nearly cried from relief.
He had thought his Big Brother had finally come to comfort him. So he cried. He complained about the pain.
He told Dylan how those people had bullied him. He had poured out every grievance in his heart.
Dylan had listened quietly from beginning to end.
But after hearing everything, he hadn’t even stayed. Instead, he had simply looked at the doctor and asked in his usual cold voice,
"Will he survive?"
When the doctor nodded, Dylan had just turned around and left.
He never came back.
Back then, Karl’s heart had gone cold. For a long time, he had believed his eldest brother simply didn’t love him.
Afterwards, he had cried miserably to Felix and Jasper. Only then had they told him the truth.
Although Dylan hadn’t remained by his bedside, he had avenged him.
Every person responsible for Karl’s injuries had suffered pain ten times worse than what Karl himself had endured.
As for their families, they had disappeared from Ashvale overnight. No one knew where they had been sent.
They simply ceased to exist.
Only then had Karl’s heart warmed again.
From that day onward, he believed one thing wholeheartedly. His older brother simply wasn’t good at expressing tenderness. But he still loved them in his own way.
Yet now ...
Watching Dylan treat Adelyn with such unbelievable care, Karl suddenly realized something —
He had been deceived.
It wasn’t that his brother didn’t know how to be gentle. He simply had never bothered being gentle with them.
He could obviously be this soft.
This patient.
This tender.
It was just reserved entirely for his Sister-in-law.
If this wasn’t betrayal ...
Then what else could it possibly be?
"Brother..." Karl suddenly pointed an accusing finger toward Dylan. "You betrayed us."
Adelyn was seated on the sofa while Dylan sat in front of her, carefully tending to the wound on her hand.
Beside her, Eira stood quietly, holding onto Adelyn’s other hand.
Her little eyes remained fixed on the injury, as though she feared missing even the slightest change in Mama’s expression.
Watching the father and daughter together had almost made Adelyn forget there was another person in the room.
Only when Karl spoke did she finally turn toward him. She looked at him suspiciously.
What was this brat planning now?
Karl waited confidently for Dylan to defend himself. He even deliberately met his brother’s direction with a challenging look.
But Dylan never even bothered lifting his head.
His attention remained entirely on Adelyn’s injured hand.
Carefully, he used a cotton pad to wipe away the dried blood around the edges of the cut.
Every movement was astonishingly gentle.
So careful ...
It was as though he were walking across shattered glass, afraid that the slightest excess of force would only break it further.
"Oh?"
That was Dylan’s only response.
Then, without looking up, he calmly asked, "How exactly did I betray you?"
Karl immediately pointed toward the hand Dylan was gently holding.
"You obviously know how to be soft like this!" His voice was filled with grievance. "But you’ve always been so cold to us."
"Isn’t that a betrayal of our brotherly bond?"
He became more and more emotional as he spoke.
"You are willing to treat your wife so well, yet you never bother treating your own brothers the same way." He crossed his arms. "Don’t tell me that isn’t favoritism."
Adelyn’s pupils instantly widened.
She knew Karl was always up to no good. But she hadn’t expected him to drag her into the middle of this yet again.
He was accusing his brother, while using her as the shield.
How shameless.
She shot him a warning glare.
Karl noticed it immediately and hurriedly explained, "Sister-in-law, don’t misunderstand!"
He waved both hands innocently.
"I don’t blame you at all. You deserve every bit of tenderness in the world. But ..." His finger immediately swung back toward Dylan again.
"I’m blaming my brother."
"So let me hear his explanation."
He pointed toward the hands Dylan still held.
"Look! He clearly knows how to take care of someone. So why can’t he care for us the same way?"
"Why is he so biased?"
"Aren’t I his brother?"
"Aren’t Felix and Jasper his brothers too?"
"Aren’t we family?"
"Then why is there such a huge difference?"
Adelyn suddenly felt the urge to smack him on the head.
But before she could—
A warm breath lightly brushed across the skin of her injured hand.
She shivered almost instinctively. Her eyes immediately turned back and dropped down to look.
Only then did she realize, Dylan was gently blowing over the wound while applying the antiseptic.
The cool sensation eased the stinging almost immediately.
Her cheeks flushed crimson. Embarrassed, she instinctively tried pulling her hand back.
However—
Before she could move—
Dylan’s fingers tightened ever so slightly around hers, firmly stopping her.
When he finally lifted his eyes to meet hers, she hurriedly spoke. "Mr. Warren, it’s alright. You really don’t have to—"
She attempted to withdraw her hand once more.
But Dylan still didn’t let go.
"Don’t." His voice remained low. "You’ll only reopen the wound."
Adelyn felt stuck in a difficult position. She was clearly doing it for him. So that the brat doesn’t go sour in jealousy and blame him more recklessly than he already had.
Getting blamed for her — wasn’t worth it.
"But I ..."
Before she could continue—
Little Eira gently held onto her arm.
"Mama, let Dada do it." Her tiny face was filled with concern. "Don’t hurt yourself."
Faced with such innocent persuasion ...
What could Adelyn possibly say?
She could only stop resisting.
Dylan gently steadied her hand once again. His brows remained slightly furrowed as he examined the cut carefully.
After making sure everything looked fine, he finally looked back at her.
"You don’t have to listen to him."
His voice remained calm. Yet every single word carried unmistakable certainty.
"You’re my woman. My love, my care, and my tenderness ... they should belong to you alone."
Adelyn’s breathing stopped for a second —not merely because of what he said, but because of the way he said it.
His eyes never left hers; neither could hers.
She wanted to look away, but couldn’t.
The way his gaze held hers was like forcing her to face something she was running from.
For several silent seconds, she completely forgot to breathe.
This ...
Was he saying that for real?
Or ...
Was he ...
Her lips parted slightly.
"Mr. Warren, you ..."