Chapter 313: I’ll grow up on my own.
A cold shiver ran down Karl’s spine.
He quickly swallowed and nodded. Then, without wasting another second, he rushed out of the house.
He only stopped once he was completely outside the chilling radius of his brother’s dark aura.
Karl turned and glanced back toward the house while rubbing his chest with one hand, trying to calm the lingering anxiety from earlier.
"You escaped today, Karl," he muttered to himself. "But you won’t be this fortunate every time."
"Old Demon wasn’t just warning you ..."
"He was giving you one last chance."
"Last chance?" a voice interrupted from behind. "What last chance are you talking about?"
Karl immediately recognized the voice.
"Felix," he muttered under his breath before turning around.
Just as he had guessed, it was Felix ... accompanied by Jasper, both of them walking toward him.
Jasper sized him up from head to toe.
"What did you do this time?" he asked.
Karl frowned the moment he heard him.
"Why do you always assume I’m the one at fault? I’m your brother. You watched me grow up. Can’t you have at least a little trust in me?"
Jasper shook his head without the slightest hesitation.
"That’s exactly why I can’t bring myself to trust you," he replied. "I watched you grow up, so I know exactly what you’re capable of."
Karl immediately pursed his lips.
He wanted to argue.
But unfortunately, he had nothing to argue with.
Lowering his head, he muttered, "Fine. I take the blame. I’m at real fault here. But ... but trust me, I never meant for things to turn out like that. I—"
Jasper and Felix exchanged a glance before looking back at him.
The seriousness on their faces deepened.
"What exactly did you do this time?" Jasper asked sternly.
Even though he still didn’t know what had happened, he could already tell this brat had done something serious.
As Karl’s older brother, he was both worried ... and furious.
Felix felt the same.
Karl was the youngest among them.
Although all three brothers had spoiled him in their own ways, Felix had indulged him even more than Jasper had.
So if Karl had done something wrong, Felix believed he carried an even greater share of the responsibility.
"Karl," Felix said quietly, "don’t make me disappointed."
Karl avoided both their eyes.
Slowly, he recounted everything that had happened, hiding nothing from beginning to end.
By the time he finished, Jasper’s face had completely darkened.
Felix looked no better. His expression hardened as he grabbed Karl by the arm and demanded, "You made her fight on your stance?"
Karl lowered his head guiltily.
"I was going to fight myself," he hurriedly defended. "But Sister-in-law stepped in on my behalf. I ... I couldn’t stop her. And she even got hurt."
"Karl Warren."
Felix’s tone grew colder.
"You’re a man. We may have spoiled you, but we never spoiled you to the point where you’d forget that."
"How could you stand there and watch a woman fight just to protect you from losing some sleazy bet you made?"
"And you even call her your sister-in-law. Is that how you intend to treat her?"
Karl felt utterly ... ashamed.
He truly did.
But what had already happened couldn’t be undone.
His precious sister-in-law had gotten hurt because of him.
In everyone’s eyes, he had already become the villain. And there was nothing he could do to change that.
Even if he explained that he no longer treated Adelyn as his shield, no one would believe him.
Yet that was the truth.
Perhaps in the beginning, he had shamelessly hidden behind her whenever his older brother’s methods scared him.
But somewhere along the way, she had become much more than just a shield against his brother.
Earlier today, when Adelyn stepped into the arena to fight Tressa Maggot, he had genuinely been terrified.
Not because he was afraid of losing his shield.
But because, for the first time, he realized she had become the sister-in-law he couldn’t bear to lose.
"I ... I’m sorry," he muttered quietly, every word carrying genuine remorse.
Jasper folded his arms across his chest.
"You know how to say you’re sorry," he said. "But that’s not enough. You need to learn what it truly means to be sorry ..."
Karl glanced up at him in confusion, almost like he didn’t understand.
"You are not a child anymore," Jasper continued. "Saying sorry are for kids. You need to learn from your mistakes. You can’t just apologize every single time, and still continue to act recklessly."
Karl lowered his head once again. He understood what Jasper meant by that.
Nodding, he said, "I understand. I’ll learn and won’t be reckless anymore." hIs voice was soft and small, but it carried something that gave Jasper a hope.
"You’d better not," Jasper replied immediately. "We aren’t here to spend our lives cleaning up your messes. And Big Brother certainly won’t allow his woman to keep doing it for you."
"So you’d better improve."
Karl nodded again.
This was the first time he had accepted every criticism without trying to defend himself.
That alone caught both Jasper’s and Felix’s attention. But neither of them pointed it out.
Deep down, they genuinely wanted Karl to mature. If this became the turning point in his growth, they would gladly welcome it.
Seeing him still looking guilty to his core, Felix threw an arm around Karl’s shoulders before giving him a reassuring pat.
"Accepting your mistakes is already the first step towards becoming better," he said with a small smile. "I’m proud you took that first difficult step. It means you’re on the right path to improve."
"Really ...?"
Karl looked up at him with hopeful eyes.
Felix smiled and nodded.
"Then ..."
Karl hesitated before asking,
"Does that mean ... if I do something wrong again in the future, you guys will still come protect me?"
Silence.
Jasper and Felix slowly looked at each other once more.
The doubt that had only just faded quietly returned.
Perhaps ...
This brat simply couldn’t be cured.
He had only just promised to improve.
Yet he was already preparing for the next time he messed up.
Jasper shook his head helplessly before turning around.
"Spoil him however you want," he said to Felix. "Just make sure you’re the one taking responsibility for it."
"Because I’m done with him."
Karl looked at Jasper with a frown.
"What? I didn’t say I was definitely going to mess up again. I was only asking ..."
"Just asking."
"If that ever happens ... will you two still protect me?"
Jasper had already walked away.
Felix didn’t stay behind to answer either.
He simply gave Karl one last light pat on the shoulder before following after Jasper.
Left standing alone, Karl frowned deeply.
"Was one promise really that difficult?" he called out from behind them. "Hmph ... I’m not asking you two anymore."
"I’ll grow up on my own."
With that, Karl too huffed indignantly before turning and walking toward his own wing of the estate.