MALAKAI’S POV

“I am not stupid. It’s kindness, an inexistent word in your life!”

"Kindness?" I let out a dry, breathy laugh, tilting my head as I looked down at her. "Is that what you call it?"

"Yes," Clarabel said, her chin lifted high, her pale blue eyes flashing with that stubborn glare. "Not everyone in this world is a scheming, paranoid monster like you, Malakai. Stop projecting your own twisted view of people onto a starving man who can barely hold his head up."

I scoffed, shaking my head as I took a half-step closer. "You really are that naive, aren't you?"

"I am not naive," she snapped, her...