Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-Seven
Daniel let out a sharp, bitter laugh.
"Save ?" he repeated. "Tell , Cole... how exactly did anything you did save ?"
Sothing in Cole snapped.
"If only you had waited," he shot back, his voice shaking with restrained anger. "You made my sacrifice worthless. I... Daniel, you have no idea what I..."
"Spare all that," Daniel cut in coldly. "Spare the heroic speech, twin brother. You made no sacrifice. If I had waited for you, I would’ve died in that filthy hole. While you were eating fine food, wearing expensive clothes, and living in luxury. I was wondering if you were even alive. Imagine if Marco hadn’t found ."
"You think I was happy when he recruited ?" Cole demanded.
Daniel scoffed. "Look at you. Lying straight to my face."
"You don’t know what you’re talking about," Cole snapped. "What do you think a twelve-year-old boy thinks after watching..."
"No," Daniel cut in sharply. "You saw the flashy car, the promises, the power. You jumped in like a starving rat. I saw you. You didn’t even look back."
"Daniel," Cole said, his voice breaking despite himself, "I promised Mum and Dad I would protect you with my life."
"And I promised the sa," Daniel shot back. "Look at us now. If I get the chance, you’ll be dead before you blink."
The threat didn’t scare Cole. What scared him was how easily Daniel said it. How easily he had turned his back on everything that once ant family.
It had broken sothing in Cole the day he realized the cris Demir committed, knowing Daniel stood beside him.
"Marco kidnapped ," Cole said through clenched teeth. "It was or both of us. I followed him because I thought you’d be safer if I did. I hate that man with everything in ."
Daniel’s eyes flashed.
"Tell sothing," Cole continued, stepping closer. "Would it matter if I told you I would still die for you? Even now? Even when all you want is to kill ? I don’t break my promises. You’re my responsibility. Now give the keys."
Daniel laughed again, but this ti it sounded forced.
"What’s the rush?" he asked lightly. "Is your madam calling you to rescue her?"
"Why would she..." Cole stopped himself. "Daniel, listen to . If you lay a hand on her..."
"If I did?" Daniel stepped forward. "What then? I thought you said you’d always save . Maybe I should test that. Maybe I should kill her and see which promise you choose."
The words didn’t just land, they tore through him.
For a split second, Cole saw it. His twin wasn’t just threatening him. It was not a bluff.
Asli’s face flashed in his mind, the sound of her voice, the weight of responsibility he carried for her life settling hard in his chest.
His heart slamd violently, panic and rage colliding until he couldn’t tell them apart. Daniel wasn’t just talking anymore, he was touching sothing Cole would burn the world to protect.
His body moved before his mind could catch up. He grabbed him by the collar before he could stop himself.
Daniel didn’t flinch.
"See?" Daniel said quietly. "You feel it too."
"You don’t know how I feel," Cole growled. "Watching you work for them."
Daniel gave a humorless smile. "And you think you’re different because you work for a woman?"
That made Cole laugh as well. It was only short, and hollow.
"I had sothing to lose," he said. "I thought you were still out there sowhere. Working with Asli wasn’t the plan. It was survival. But the day I realized you were inside and no one knew we were related? That was the day I stopped caring about protecting you. It only made angrier."
"Good for you," Daniel replied coolly. "We’re on different sides. When Marco finds out your precious woman is tied to Aht, he’ll kill her. And you’ll fight for her. I wish you luck."
There was a hitch in Daniel’s voice, it was so small most people would’ve missed it. A fraction of a second where the cruelty didn’t sit right, where the threat didn’t carry the weight it was ant to.
Cole caught it.
He’d grown up with that voice. More so, he’d matured learning and paying attention when people spoke. He knew every shift, every crack, every lie wrapped in bravado. That wasn’t the sound of a man ready to kill his brother. It was the sound of soone pushing too hard, reaching for a line he hoped would scare rather than one he ant to cross.
Realization slid in, sharp and grounding.
Daniel was bluffing... when it ca to him, he was only lying to want him dead.
The anger in Cole didn’t fade, but it changed. His grip tightened, not to hurt, but to hold him there, close enough to remind him that Cole still knew him and still saw through him.
"You won’t," Cole said quietly, certainty in every word. "I don’t need luck," Cole said flatly. "That’ll be Aht’s fight. My purpose is to kill Marco."
Daniel’s expression darkened instantly. "How dare you?"
The last thread holding him back finally gave way. All his life, he had carried this alone. Swallowed and buried it, thinking he was protecting Daniel from it the sa way he’d always done. He knew if Daniel knew, really knew, it would shatter whatever was left of him. He would go after Marco and he would end up being killed. And Cole had promised himself he’d never be the one to put him in danger.
But now Daniel stood there, loyal to the wrong man. Defending him, thinking of him as his savior, ntor, and leader.
The unfairness of it burned.
Cole felt it rise from sowhere deep and old. The nights he didn’t sleep. The ti he played the obedient boy so Daniel wasn’t seen. The years being the best soldier. The rage he learned to fold inward because soone had to be strong enough for revenge.
Daniel trusted a lie more than him. That was what finally broke it.
"You know what?" Cole exhaled sharply. "Maybe it’s ti you knew the truth. Marco killed our parents."
"You’re lying."
"I’m not," Cole said firmly. "He wanted the mont he saw . Dad refused. He told him I’d grow up normal. He tried to get us out before Marco found out we were twins and started searching for you too. So he was sending us to different guardians. He thought he could protect you, us that way."
Daniel shook his head.
"My flight was canceled," Cole continued. "I went back ho. That was when I saw him kill them. I ran. I thought you were already gone. But I found you on the street days after. I kept my distance so he wouldn’t notice you but you kept finding . And when that car ca that night, I knew if I didn’t follow him, he’d search the place. He would’ve found you. So I went."
"Stop," Daniel muttered.
"He assigned to his daughter, Asli," Cole went on, his voice unsteady now. "I hated her at first. Hated everything about that Villa. But guess who I would die for now? I thought protecting her would fix sothing broken in . I thought protecting her would be the sa as protecting you. I was hoping you’d never find . But you did.. like you also do. And you ca back standing beside a worse man than that monster is."
"I ca looking for you!" Daniel shouted. "He told I had potential! That I was strong! Mum and Dad always called you the strong one!"
"You want to bla them?" Cole fired back. "You said you were the brains and I was the muscles!"
The words hung between them.
"They only said that because I trained constantly," Cole muttered, but the heat had drained from his voice. "Rember when I always got low marks in school? Our parents told to copy your answers. You didn’t complain. I didn’t complain. We were fine."
Cole’s jaw tightened. They had been boys then. It had never been a competition for him and he thought his brother was fine with it too.
Daniel stepped forward and held out the keys. "I’ll pretend this conversation never happened. Take them and leave."
Cole took them slowly, their fingers brushing for the briefest second.
"If that’s what you want," he said quietly. He glanced around the empty stretch of road. "You sent your n off. Which car are you going with?"
Daniel gave a short shrug, already stepping back. "Don’t worry about . I always find my way."
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