Sebastian Hawthorne’s eyes were still wide open.
They bulged outward, fixed in a frozen stare, as if he were desperately trying to comprehend what had just happened—yet there was no longer any opportunity for him to answer Dylan Brooks’s question.
The blade had pierced cleanly through the left side of his chest.
Straight into the heart.
There was no deviation, no hesitation, no wasted motion. The strike was precise, ruthless, and final. Life drained from his body almost instantly, his strength vanishing as though something fundamental had been violently torn away. A moment later, Sebastian Hawthorne collapsed heavily onto the ground, his body hitting the stone floor with a dull, hollow sound.
That single scene sent a visible shudder through everyone present.
Dozens of senior official
