Chapter 310: Did he ... catch her in any of her lies?
Adelyn was about to ask, but then she shook her head.
What was she even thinking?
None of this was real.
How could any of it possibly be true?
He was probably just humoring her —trying his best to make everything feel real.
After all, during the time she had known Dylan Warren, she had come to understand one thing about him.
Not only was the man god-forsakenly handsome, but he also carried a deeply rooted sense of responsibility.
After what had happened between them, this was probably his way of fulfilling that responsibility.
Thinking of it that way, everything suddenly made sense and gradually steadied her heart.
Yet ...
When she looked at how gently he was treating her wound, she still couldn’t stop the warmth blooming inside her.
Everything around her seemed to fade into silence.
For a long moment, all she could hear was the steady beat of her own heart —not frantic, but loud enough for her to notice.
"Brother, you—" Karl was about to speak when Dylan finally lifted his gaze toward him.
"I do treat you and your sister-in-law differently," he said without the slightest hesitation.
Karl immediately pointed an accusing finger at him. "You finally admit it! Hah... and you’re not even guilty about it?"
"Guilty?" Dylan repeated, looking at him calmly before getting back to the wound on Adelyn’s hand. "Why should I be?"
Karl blinked.
None of this had been scripted, yet he had never expected his brother to admit it so openly without showing even the slightest remorse.
Did his brother really not care about them?
But he was his younger brother.
Shouldn’t he treasure him too?
Maybe not as much as his sister-in-law, but surely more than everyone else.
Karl wasn’t emotional. But he had never seen his parents. The only family he had ever truly known were his brothers.
Naturally, he had always looked to them for the love and care a parent would normally give.
Felix and Jasper spoiled him whenever they could. Dylan, on the other hand, had always been cold and indifferent.
Karl had long since accepted that as part of their family dynamic.
But today ...
Watching that same cold, indifferent brother carefully tending to his sister-in-law with such unbelievable gentleness, he couldn’t help but crave that warmth too.
His lips trembled slightly. He wanted to argue. But somehow, he couldn’t find the words.
"You ..."
"A man who can’t treat his woman and child differently from everyone else should be embarrassed," Dylan said matter-of-factly. "As for me ... I’m not embarrassed at all."
Karl was momentarily dumbfounded. He instinctively parted his lips to argue. But after thinking about Dylan’s words, he couldn’t actually find anything wrong with them.
For a man ...
Wasn’t it only natural to cherish his wife and child more than anyone else?
Didn’t that simply mean his Big Brother was doing exactly what he should?
Karl slowly nodded to himself.
But the next second, he suddenly stiffened.
No, something was still not right.
If everything his brother said was right, then why did he still feel so wronged?
Right shouldn’t make anyone feel wronged.
He looked at Dylan again, his brows knitting together with genuine grievance.
"But Big Brother ..." he said pitifully. "I’m your brother too. Shouldn’t you care about me as well?"
Dylan heard him but didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he carefully wrapped the bandage around Adelyn’s hand, making sure it wasn’t too tight and that it wouldn’t irritate her wound.
Only after finishing did he finally look back at Karl.
"You think I don’t care about you?"
Karl immediately reasoned. "You have never treated me the way you are treating sister-in-law now. Then doesn’t it mean you don’t care for me the same?"
Dylan stared at him for a second before finally saying,
"If I didn’t care about you, do you think you’d still be standing here alive?"
His words left Karl completely baffled.
"Why wouldn’t I be standing here alive?" he asked in confusion. "What did I do?"
Dylan didn’t answer directly.
Instead, his gaze slowly shifted toward Adelyn’s freshly bandaged hand.
Karl immediately caught the implication behind that look. At once, he hurriedly defended himself.
"Big Brother, you’ve got it wrong! That wound on Sister-in-law’s hand has nothing to do with me."
He quickly turned toward Adelyn.
"Sister-in-law, tell my brother! It wasn’t me. Or ... better yet, tell him exactly how you got hurt."
He looked at her expectantly.
"You wouldn’t have gotten hurt because of me ... would you?"
His voice was filled with urgency as he desperately tried to clear his name.
Adelyn turned to look at him. Her eyes slowly swept over him from head to toe, slightly pointed.
Karl froze under that gaze. He instinctively shook his head, silently denying something he wasn’t ready to face.
But Adelyn merely pressed her lips together, confirming what he feared.
It was him.
This wound ...
It had happened when Tressa’s first strike had forced her backward across the arena.
At that moment, the uneven balance of Karl’s sword had twisted her wrist, causing Tressa’s blade to scrape across her palm while she struggled to stabilize herself.
She had long since grown accustomed to injuries like this. So, back then, she hadn’t even noticed she had been cut. Nor had the injury implicated her skills later.
And that was why Karl hadn’t seen it either. So he genuinely hadn’t known. And now that he finally did, his expression immediately filled with guilt.
Such a noticeable injury ...
And it had happened because of the duel he had dragged her into.
Without another thought, he dropped to his knees, ready to admit his mistake.
But before he could say a single word—
Adelyn calmly turned toward Dylan.
"I got this wound while training today," she said naturally. "It has nothing to do with him."
She then glanced at Karl before continuing,
"I only met him outside the house after I returned. So don’t blame him. He isn’t at fault. He has got nothing to do with this."
Karl looked at her with watery eyes.
"Sister-in-law... I’m sorry. I—"
"You ..." Adelyn said, her words gritting through her teeth. "What are you apologizing for now?"
She shot him a meaningful look.
"I already told your brother that it wasn’t because of you. Or do you want your brother to think I have a habit of lying?"
Karl immediately understood what she meant. He hurriedly shook his head. "No ... no. Sister-in-law didn’t lie."
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly before sighing.
"I just feel like I was too careless. How did I not notice Sister-in-law had been injured? I should have ... tended to her earlier."
Adelyn smiled faintly and nodded. "It’s alright. I don’t blame you."
She spoke gently.
"You couldn’t have known. After all, we only met outside."
Karl was just about to nod again when Dylan suddenly spoke.
"You met him outside?"
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
Adelyn immediately turned toward him and nodded without hesitation.
"Of course." She met his eyes confidently. "After all ... I don’t casually lie. Especially to you. I cannot bear to lie."
"You can’t?" Dylan slowly raised a brow.
Adelyn paused.
Her heartbeat skipped.
Did he ... catch her in any of her lies?
Was that why he was looking at her with such quiet suspicion?