Claimed By The Mafia Rogue King (Snow and Cupid) novel Chapter 118

Chapter 118

Snowflakes

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“Please remove the chains.” I broke the silence, and tension rose with it. Everyone turned to look at me as if I had lost my mind, but I didn’t care.

Sweet Gossip Feed had been allowed to enter, and the camera was moments from rolling. This session might even be aired live, and I would hate for the public to see him in chains, especially Cupid.

“He is a murderer,” the warden murmured, and I shot him a sharp glare.

“Not until he is proven guilty. Please remove the chains. Besides, he is appealing. He is a suspect, not a culprit, until proven truly guilty.”

Silence followed. The warden turned to the Chief, who stood in the background at a safe distance, and he gave a single nod. The warden moved with the key, and I looked away as the sharp click echoed, followed by the sound of the chains being removed.

Only then did I gather the heart to look at him again. Marlik. He had a pair of amber eyes, but he wasn’t looking at me at all. He simply walked forward and settled into the chair. I watched Eshan take the seat across from him while Vast, his assistant, opened the notebook to begin writing.

The camera setup finished at last, everyone on standby, reporters ready and then Eshan began, his eyes steady on the suspect.

“You want the case reopened. Why?”

It always amazed me how my brother, Eshan, interacted with criminals without even flinching. I had seen his documentaries. How he confronted the worst of the worst and still looked them dead in the eyes. But this time, he stared with a different intensity. And Marlik didn’t seem like the notorious criminal. Or… was I just on Marlik’s side because of Cupid?

The question lingered in the air, but no answer came yet. Marlik kept his gaze on the table, then finally sighed and replied flatly,

“Because I want to be released.” He flicked his eyes up to Eshan. “Why else? Would you choose to live in a fucking place like this forever?”

“Then you shouldn’t have thumbprinted the statement back then.” Eshan countered, extending his hand backward, and Vast placed a worn–out statement in his palm. Eshan set it on the table in front of Marlik. “Why did you thumbprint this when you knew you weren’t the

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Chapter 118

culprit?”

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That was it. The question on everyone’s mind. I waited, studying Marlik, watching every flicker of expression. I tried to pick up his energy, and what came back to me was something else. Determination. But I couldn’t tell where it was directed.

“I know you,” Marlik murmured quietly, staring directly at my brother. “The prisoners say you’re a crazy–ass prosecutor who sees justice to the end. They say you get your facts right, all the time. But it seems you didn’t in my case, did you? Just a statement, and you assumed I’m a fucking murderer. Why? Because I look like one?”

His voice dragged lazily, as though he didn’t even have time for this, and the cuss words made me shift. He didn’t seem to care about the law. He seemed like someone who’d take justice into his own hands if he had to.

“I’m from Downside Rogue Town. A crazy–ass, shitty place. People from there don’t even get the grace to be enrolled in school. I don’t fucking know how to read. You didn’t get that information. You didn’t ask. All you did years ago was ask one bullshit question and ruin my life.”

His words settled over all of us like a cold fog, and silence spread through the room. I watched him sigh, bowing his head. Marlik Rogue. Some of his actions reminded me of Cupid. He stayed quiet, analyzed, then resumed.

“Even if I get out now, that won’t erase the years I lost. Hell, it’s all useless, isn’t it?”

For the first time, I saw something new in Eshan’s expression. He stared at Marlik, and I could see he felt for him.

We had come here unsure whether the case would be reopened, but after hearing Marlik’s words, Eshan didn’t hesitate. He turned to Vast, who immediately handed him the recorder, and Eshan placed it on the table. Then he turned to the Sweet Gossip Feed team.

“The case is officially open. Give us privacy.”

Their part was done. The cameraman detached everything, the reporters jotted their last notes, and they began filing out.

“I’ll give you a call,” Dove mouthed to me. I nodded, watching them disappear through the door. At long last, only the H.O.W.L staff remained. Only then did Eshan stare at Marlik.

“Tell me from the start. Everything.”

At that request, I felt my breath pause. This was it. There was no way around or back from this point.

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18:20 Wed, Jan 21

Chapter 118

53

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Marlik stayed silent for a long moment, then shrugged as if it was just an ordinary day.

“It all started with my relationship with a lady. Rasha, her name. I don’t remember how many years back. I lost track. We hooked up at a club and…”

The story flowed. Vast took notes. Dana from the detective team took notes too. And I only stood there, watching him speak, profiling him carefully, every angle leading me to one single word of truth.

Marlik Rogue is not a killer.

Perhaps something similar to Cupid. A smoker, sometimes took drugs to get high, slept with whores, pocketed small cash when young but that’s where the waywardness and wild life ended.

“It’s Feroz. He’s behind all of it. I know Rasha can’t pull this off alone. She was just taking orders to ruin me. They needed someone to take the fall for a man I don’t even know, and I was the perfect sacrifice. Start from there.” Marlik concluded, and the interview stopped with it.

My brother, Eshan, took the recorder and handed it to his assistant before looking at Marlik again with a nod.

“You’ll be notified soon,M…”

“Just Marlik.” He murmured, staring back before his brows pinched. “I hate to say this because I don’t give a damn if anything happens to you but watch your back. If you have a lover, watch hers too. Feroz is a crazy man. He will draw blood before he goes down.”

That sounded like a warning no one should ignore, and warnings like that were usually things Eshan brushed off. But he nodded once, rose from his chair, and gestured to me that we were leaving.

I sighed and headed out. Our work here was finished but then his voice came, surprisingly polite.

“Can I speak to you, please? Just some seconds… private?” Marlik requested, straightforward, almost pleading. And time stopped with it.

My brother looked at me in awe, then back at Marlik in confusion, as if wondering what he could possibly have to say to me.