Charles POV
I followed one principle while growing up in the Grayson shadow: Loyalty is not noisy. It is demonstrated in quiet.
When my face appeared in that security video, mirrored in the window behind Kara and Zack, the silence I had strived to maintain shattered like thunder throughout the Grayson estate.
At that moment, I found myself in the subterranean briefing room—without windows, without sunlight, without scrutiny. Only the faint glow of conflict, shimmering along my back.
They had all witnessed it by this point.
The expression on Cleff’s face when the video distorted and I showed up and he remained silent, made no direct accusations, but his quietness conveyed everything. It wasn’t rage. It was a letdown.
And that pained even more.
"Will you explain it?" Ethan's voi
