Chapter 164

• I fell to my knees, my breath caught in my throat as I stared at my father’s lifeless body slumped over his throne. The sight was both surreal and inevitable, a moment I had imagined but never truly prepared for. Kenzo stood beside me, his presence steady, his gaze unreadable.
• He crouched down, resting a firm hand on my shoulder. “Are you all right?”
• A bitter laugh almost escaped me. “I... I don’t know,” I murmured. Then, turning the question back on him, I asked, “Are you?”