The accusation caught Scarlett completely off guard.

It was about her?

Her mind raced with confusion, and just as she was about to vocalize a denial, Sebastian’s voice rang out steady and clear.

"Yes!"

Though Sebastian’s tone remained perfectly level, the absolute certainty underlying his response was undeniable.

Ethan went entirely rigid.

Sebastian no longer paid him any heed, rolling the window back up to cut off his frantic gaze: "Drive."

Seeing the car prepare to pull away, Ethan made a desperate move to chase after it, but the assistant firmly blocked his path: "Young Master Ethan, you had better pray for a miracle."

The driver stepped on the gas, and the vehicle quickly glided toward the estate's back garden.

"We have arrived," the driver announced.

Yet no one inside the car made a move to stir.

An absolute, deathly silence filled the cramped confines of the cabin.

Sebastian's absolute declaration from moments ago still seemed to echo right beside her ears.

Perhaps it was simply due to the lingering effects of the alcohol making him act on impulse.

No matter what wild things came out of his mouth, Scarlett wouldn't find it surprising.

Yet, despite her logical deductions, a subtle warmth bloomed within the quietest corner of her heart.

"Thank you," she said, breaking the suffocating silence.

Sebastian turned his head to look at Scarlett: "Just now, I..."

"I don't mind," Scarlett cut him off smoothly. "I know you were merely using that to shut him up."

"As for Ethan..."

A mask of pure detachment settled over her features as she cut him off once more.

"For him, I harbor nothing but hatred."

Chapter 16

Sebastian’s brow furrowed slightly at her words.

An infinite sorrow flooded Scarlett's heart.

It was not because of Ethan.

It was because of her mentor.

She was an orphan who had entered the Syndicate by mere chance; she had thought she would become nothing more than a cold, ruthless killing machine, until she met her mentor.

Her mentor had taught her what family felt like, transforming her into a normal human being with real feelings and desires.

"Stay safe and sound," her mentor had told her when handing her the jade amulet. "The Syndicate is far too dangerous; you deserve to grow up in peace."

She never expected that shortly after, she would receive the news of his death.

That single parting had become a final farewell, and this jade piece had become her mentor's sole remaining heirloom.

Scarlett touched the jade amulet hanging around her neck; its texture was slightly cool, turning warm against her skin in the next instant, still carrying a faint ghost of her mentor's warmth.

"Let's go." She lowered her lashes, pulling the car door open.

Unbeknownst to her, Sebastian watched her silhouette from behind, the freezing detachment in his eyes melting completely into liquid tenderness.

…

The garden.

Scarlett stared down at the open pit excavated beneath the tree, a profound chill seeping through her entire body.

Beneath the sprawling, lush branches, precisely where the beam of the flashlight illuminated the soil, a pale skeleton glinted sharply in the dark.

She drew closer, shifting through the loose earth and skeletal remains until she unearthed a bone pin.

The bone pin cast a menacing metallic sheen beneath the harsh light.

Peering closer, she discerned the faint engraving of a masked figure emblazoned upon it, alongside a nearly obscured sequence of numbers.

Her heart instantly dropped into a freezing abyss.

It was practically certain that these remains belonged to her mentor.

Because a completely identical bone pin was embedded right inside her own body.

This pin served as the signature mark of a Syndicate assassin, and the mask represented the organization itself.

Scarlett swept up the bone pin, her heart plummeting straight to the bottom of the abyss the exact second she deciphered the serial code.

021—it was her mentor's designation number.

These remains truly belonged to her mentor.

"It's him..." her lips trembled violently, the words tumbling out in a broken shudder.

Her hands clenched instinctively, the freezing bone pin inflicting a piercing, agonizing ache as it bit into her palm, embedding the reality deep into her heart.

An immense wave of despair and hollow desolation enveloped her entirely, causing her hand to automatically reach for the jade amulet against her chest.

The texture felt absolutely freezing.

The jade cast a faint, eerie glow into the dark night, mimicking a flicker of ghostly fire.

Scarlett had always known her mentor was dead, yet why did staring at his remains still bring such an agonizing wave of grief?

Her eyes grew burning and wet, her vision blurring as hot tears began to spill silently from the corners of her eyes.

"My condolences," Sebastian said, his brow knitting as he stepped closer to offer comfort.

Hesitating for a fraction of a second, he reached out and folded her tightly into his embrace.

Scarlett offered absolutely no resistance to his movement, going completely rigid as she allowed him to hold her close.

Sensing the shift, the surrounding bodyguards immediately lowered their eyes and executed a silent retreat.

The entire world seemed to plunge into absolute darkness.

Yet Scarlett remained entirely numb, the radiating warmth of their pressing skin completely unable to reach her parched heart.

Her mentor's remains had been interred right inside the estate grounds where she had lived day and night for years, yet she had been left entirely oblivious.

Beneath the moonlight, a cold breeze swept through the yard, causing the leaves to rustle into a haunting melody, sending a violent tremor through her heart.

No wonder the foliage grew so exceptionally lush here; it had been nourished entirely by her mentor's corpse.

"Scarlett! What the hell are you doing here?" Just as she was drowning in grief, Ethan's voice shattered the quiet.

Sebastian released her from his embrace, his eyes locking onto Ethan with a dangerous, hostile intensity.

Ethan's gaze flashed with malice as he recognized Sebastian, sneering venomously: "No wonder you refuse to drop the charges, Master Sebastian. You've been pull the strings behind my back this entire time, haven't you?"

"Do you truly despise me that much!" Ethan's eyes burned with absolute hatred.

"Heh," Scarlett gritted her teeth so hard they nearly shattered, staring directly at him. "I despise you so much that I want nothing more than to slaughter you myself!"

She fiercely wiped the tears from her eyes and violently flicked her wrist, sending that precise bone pin shooting through the air to slice cleanly across his cheek.

A line of crimson droplets instantly welled up on Ethan's handsome face.

He went entirely rigid with shock, staggering a step back as terror bled into his voice: "You... you're trying to kill me?"

Chapter 17

Slaughter...

Scarlett’s eyes were bloodshot, her gaze stripped of everything but pure, unadulterated pain.

With her mentor's skeletal remains lying mere inches away, the volatile surge of resentment and fury in her heart could no longer be suppressed.

Her hands clenched into tight fists as she advanced on Ethan step by step, a lethal intent completely consuming her mind.

"You murdered my mentor. I will take your life—"

Ethan's eyes widened in absolute horror as a freezing dread raced up his spine. He violently turned around, desperate to flee.

Before he could take more than a few frantic strides, she flicked her wrist, and a piercing shriek shattered the silence of the night:

"Ah—" Ethan’s knee buckled beneath him, and he collapsed heavily onto the grass.

A blinding, tearing agony erupted through his right leg, where a dagger was now embedded deep into his flesh.

Blood instantly gushed from the wound, soaking through his light-colored trousers and pooling onto the garden soil, disappearing into the dark earth.

Only the nearby flowers seemed to quiver slightly, appearing to bloom into a more vivid shade of crimson.

"Scarlett—Scarlett!" Ethan screamed frantically.

When he looked back at Scarlett, his eyes were stripped of everything but pure terror.

His features twisted in absolute agony as he clutched his bleeding leg, shrieking at the top of his lungs, "—My leg!"

"It's merely a single leg..." She let out a quiet chuckle, her stride slow and deliberate as she closed the distance between them, her silhouette swallowed by the shadows like a vengeful specter.

"You slaughtered my mentor. What does a fraction of this pain even matter?"

Ethan snapped his eyes up to lock onto her, his gaze darting frantically, a profound guilt written across his features.

"What mentor? I don't know what you're talking about!" He dug his heels in, remaining stubborn.

Scarlett came to a halt right before him, casually twirling another blade between her fingers.

"Do you truly, honestly not know?" Her voice dropped to a freezing register as she stared down at him.

Ethan was utterly terrified by her demeanor, his eyes darting wildly from side to side. "I only know that he came here to assassinate me..."

Scarlett let out a cold laugh, drawing the blade out completely. "And what else?"