The mission failed.

She stood in front of Sebastian Vale, hands at her sides, face empty. No apology. She knew it wouldn’t help.

Sebastian looked at the screen in front of him a few seconds longer than necessary, then turned it off.

“Target alive,” he said flatly. “Asset missing.”

He raised his eyes.

“You know,” he continued calmly, “I didn’t take you from that street so you could learn how to hesitate.”

Silence tightened the room.

Sebastian leaned back slightly in his chair.

“I picked you up from something far more brutal than this,” he said evenly. “A place where people like you aren’t given second chances— or first ones.”

He paused, making sure the words settled.

“What you’re facing now,” he went on, voice still level, “is mercy.”

Their gazes met. There was no emotion on Sebastian’s face—only certainty.

“You’re still here,” he added. “That isn’t because of compassion.”

He leaned forward just enough.

“It’s because I haven’t decided yet… whether I was wrong to think you were already finished being shaped.”

The room fell silent again.

And for the first time, the failure felt complete— not as a mistake, but as a reminder of where she came from and how easily she could be sent back there.