Nobody moved. The lantern flickered between them, casting long shadows across Richard's face, and for a moment Lily thought Ethan might actually attack his own father, the tension in his shoulders coiled so tight it looked ready to snap.
"Protect this family," Ethan repeated, voice low and shaking with barely restrained fury. "You funded rogue mercenaries. You had them attack a council meeting. You let them threaten Lily, threaten her mother, threaten Dana. Explain to me how any of that protects anyone."
"It wasn't supposed to go that far," Richard said, and for the first time since Lily had known him, he looked genuinely old, worn down by something heavier than age alone. "Sit down. Both of you. Please. You deserve the whole truth, not fragments filtered through Marcus's investigation."
