Lucas drove in silence.
Not the awkward kind. Not the uncomfortable kind.
The kind that pressed against the chest and dared you to breathe too loud.
Neo sat beside him, back straight, hands folded around the tablet resting on his thighs. He didn't speak again. Didn't ask. Didn't plead. He had already done enough of that in the elevator.
Lucas's eyes stayed on the road, jaw set, grip steady on the wheel. But his mind wasn't there not on the stretch of asphalt ahead, not on the city lights sliding past.
It was already at the estate.
At what would be revealed.
At what would break.
Behind them, Kellan's car cut through the night smoothly, headlights slicing the dark. Silence sat heavy there too until Aiden finally cracked.
"Kellan."
A pause.
"Mm."
Aiden shifted in his seat. He didn't look playful. Didn't smirk. Didn't joke. Whatever Lucas had seen in that video, whatever had surfaced during training it was still there now, coiled and awake.
"I'm sorry," Aiden said. "About earlier. What I said. About you using borrowed power."
Kellan didn't glance at him. His expression remained bored, unreadable, fingers relaxed on the steering wheel.
"Mm," he hummed again. "You were in the moment. People say stupid things when they feel cornered."
"That wasn't.." Aiden exhaled, frustrated. "I didn't mean it like that."
"But you meant it enough to say it," Kellan replied calmly.
Aiden clenched his jaw. For a second, something dark flickered across his face something sharp, something that didn't belong to the unserious man everyone thought they knew.
"I said it because you keep watching us like we're liabilities," Aiden said quietly. "Like we're waiting to explode."
Kellan finally glanced at him then. Just once.
"And yet," he said coolly, "you did."
Silence crashed back into the car.
Aiden leaned his head against the window, eyes hard now, reflective. "You didn't even ask why," he muttered.
Kellan faced the road again. "Because I already know you won't tell me."
The estate gates loomed ahead in the distance tall, iron, unwelcoming. Lights burned along the perimeter like sentinels, waiting.
Waiting for them.
In the first car, Lucas slowed as the gates began to open.
Neo felt it then that shift. The air thickening. The night holding its breath.
This wasn't just a return home.
This was a reckoning.
The gates swallowed both cars one after the other, iron closing behind them with a finality that echoed too loudly in the night. It looked as though the estate itself had been holding its breath. Lights burned across the compound, shadows shifting where people stood still, waiting. Not surprised. Prepared. This definitely wasn't going to be an easy night.
Lucas stepped out first.
His presence alone straightened spines. Conversations died before they could begin. Neo followed a second later, the weight in his chest growing heavier with every step onto familiar ground that no longer felt safe. Kellan emerged from the other car, calm as ever, and then Aiden eyes alert, posture different, like he'd already chosen which version of himself he would be tonight.
Before anyone could call them forward, Neo moved.
He crossed the short distance quickly, caught Aiden by the arm, and dragged him just far enough away to speak without being overheard. Lucas and Kellan noticed immediately. Both men turned, eyes narrowing, attention sharpening as they watched the quiet exchange unfold from a distance.
"So," Aiden murmured, keeping his voice low, gaze flicking once toward the others before settling back on Neo. "Are we telling them everything? From the beginning and all?"
"Yes," Neo replied without hesitation. His voice was steady, but his jaw was tight. "We will."
Aiden exhaled slowly.
"We can't be their weakness," Neo continued. "If something goes wrong if Valerie finds out before they do she'll use it against Lucas for life. And those family members of his?" He scoffed softly. "They don't miss opportunities like this."
Aiden nodded, understanding settling in deeper than fear. "True," he said quietly. "Very true."
Neo's grip loosened. "Let's go. Ready?"
Aiden straightened, shoulders squaring, something dangerous and resolved slipping back into place. "Mmhm. Let's clear ourselves."
He paused, then added, almost casually, "If they choose to let us go after this… no problem. We'll accept it."
Neo held his gaze for a long second.
"Okay."
They turned back together.
Across the space, Lucas watched them approach, expression unreadable, thoughts already several steps ahead. Beside him, Kellan's eyes lingered just a moment longer than necessary, sharp and calculating.
They walked into the house and immediately felt it.
Everyone was already seated in their usual places Kayla with her back straight and unreadable eyes, Matteo calm but alert, Elijah leaning back like he was watching a chessboard, Ethan too quiet for comfort, Elena composed yet visibly tense. No one spoke when Neo and Aiden stepped in. No greetings. No acknowledgment. Just eyes. Too many eyes.
Disappointment lingered there. Curiosity too. Maybe even betrayal.
Lucas moved first, crossing the space with measured steps and taking his seat at the center, authority settling around him like a crown he never had to announce. Kellan followed, sitting just as easily, his presence less loud but no less heavy. When they settled, the imbalance became obvious.
Only Neo and Aiden were left standing.
Neo let out a slow breath and tilted his head slightly, scanning the room like he was counting exits instead of faces. "Are we allowed to sit," he asked lightly, voice smooth but edged, "or have we lost that privilege too?"
The words landed sharper than intended.
"Sit," Lucas said.
One word. Flat. Controlled.
Neo didn't hesitate. He and Aiden moved together, chairs scraping softly against the floor as they sat. The moment stretched again, thick and suffocating. No one rushed to fill it. The silence felt intentional, like pressure meant to force cracks.
Aiden was the first to break.
He cleared his throat, visibly irritated now, fingers tapping once against his knee before stopping. "Are we waiting for someone else," he asked, glancing around the room, "or is there a reason no one's talking?"
Matteo shifted slightly, folding his hands together, calm as ever. "We're waiting for both of you to explain yourselves."
Aiden huffed a short laugh. "Well, you could've said that. What exactly do you want to know?"
Lucas leaned back slowly, eyes never leaving Neo. "Everything," he said. "Whatever you think we don't know. Why you came into this familia. Who sent you. Why there are gaps in your stories. The disappearances. The mysteries."
His voice hardened.
"Everything."
Neo leaned forward then, elbows resting on his knees, gaze lifting to meet Lucas's without flinching. "Technically," he said evenly, "there was never any lie in the first place."
That got their attention.
"Because," Neo continued, eyes sweeping the room once, deliberately, "you never asked for anything beyond the surface."
The shift was immediate.
Kayla's brows furrowed. Ethan straightened. Elena's lips pressed into a thin line. Even Kellan's expression changed, interest sharpening into something more dangerous.
Aiden tilted his head, watching Neo like he was waiting to see how far he'd go.
"So now it's our fault," Elijah murmured, tone deceptively light.
Neo shrugged. "I'm just stating facts."
Lucas leaned forward, forearms resting on his thighs now, authority tightening instead of loosening. "Careful, Neo."
Neo smiled faintly but it didn't reach his eyes. "Or what?"
The room stilled.
For the first time that night, doubt crept in not about Neo and Aiden being suspicious, but about how much control Lucas actually had over this situation.
Aiden leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms, gaze dark. "You asked us to speak," he said calmly. "Just know once we start, you don't get to decide what parts make you comfortable."
Silence crashed down again.
And somewhere in it, everyone realized the same thing:
Whatever Neo and Aiden were hiding…
They weren't cornered.
They were choosing when to strike.
Neo was just about to speak when the doors opened again.
The soft click echoed through the room, sharp enough to cut through the tension, and every head turned at once.
Valerie Shale walked in like she owned the space.
Slow. Deliberate. Heels tapping against the marble as though she wanted each sound to be remembered. She didn't rush, didn't look apologetic, didn't ask for permission. Her gaze swept the room before settling on Neo, a slow, knowing smile curling at her lips.
"Oh," she said lightly, folding her arms. "So the meeting has already begun."
Neo's jaw tightened instantly.
He turned to Lucas, irritation flashing openly across his face now. "She was also invited?"
Valerie laughed softly before Lucas could answer. "Oh no. He didn't invite me." Her eyes never left Neo. "I came on my own. I wanted a front-row seat to see how this little drama would unfold. To see if you'd finally say the truth."
She tilted her head, studying him like a puzzle she'd already half-solved.
"You really think I wouldn't check your information after how bold you were in the parking lot?" Valerie continued, voice smooth but sharp underneath. "Please. I'm not soft like Lucas."
That did it.
Neo scoffed and stood up so abruptly his chair scraped loudly against the floor. The sound rang through the room, making several people flinch. His gaze snapped back to Lucas, dark now, controlled in a way that felt intentional.
"It's either she leaves," Neo said clearly, every word measured, "or Aiden and I walk out of here right now without explaining anything."
The room froze.
Kayla's eyes widened slightly. Matteo leaned forward. Ethan's expression darkened. Elena inhaled sharply, like she wanted to speak but didn't dare.
Kellan watched without blinking.
"Leave" he said once and sharp like a growl
Valerie turned slowly toward Lucas, disbelief flashing across her face. "Excuse me?" she said. "You're taking his side? After he lied?"
Lucas stood.
The movement was quiet but commanding, his chair barely making a sound as he rose. The air shifted immediately authority rolling off him in waves. His gaze moved to Valerie, cold and unwavering.
"I'm taking no one's side," Lucas said flatly. "I'm trying to resolve an issue."
Then his tone hardened.
"So do the honors," he continued. "And leave my house."
The words hit harder than a shout ever could.
Valerie stared at him, truly stared, shock cracking through her composure for just a second. "You're choosing him," she said slowly, venom creeping into her voice. "Even now."
"I'm choosing order," Lucas replied. "And you're disrupting it."
Silence.
Then Valerie laughed a low, humorless sound.
"Fine," she said, turning back to Neo, her eyes burning. "I'll go."
She stepped closer to neo as she passed him, lowering her voice just enough for him to hear.
"But you'll be seeing me soon," she whispered. "After you're kicked out of here tonight."
Neo didn't blink.
"I'll be waiting," he replied quietly.
Valerie stiffened, clearly not expecting that, then turned on her heel and walked out the same way she'd come, heels striking harder this time, anger no longer hidden.
The doors closed behind her.
The silence that followed was worse.
Lucas exhaled slowly and turned back toward Neo. "Sit," he said again.
Neo did but this time, there was something different in the way he moved. Less defiant. More… deliberate.
"You wanted the truth," Neo said calmly, folding his hands together. "So let's stop pretending this is an interrogation."
He lifted his eyes, meeting every gaze in the room one by one.
"This," he continued, voice steady, "is a test. And whether you realize it or not, you're all failing it."
Aiden shifted beside him, eyes sharp now, posture no longer relaxed. Kellan's gaze flicked to Lucas, something unreadable passing between them.
Lucas said nothing.
He was watching Neo the way one watches a weapon trying to decide whether it was aimed at him… or for him.
And in that moment, everyone in the room understood one terrifying truth:
Neo was in control.
Lucas looked at Neo for a long moment before finally speaking.
"Where are you really from?"
His voice was calm, but his eyes were sharp. "Because your childhood doesn't make sense. You don't fight like someone who picked it up later. You fight like someone who was trained."
Neo leaned back slowly.
"I've never lived in this country," he said. "Not until years later."
The room stiffened.
"I was five when it all started I lived with both my parents and we lived somewhere else. Before Pia was born. Before everything."
He glanced around. "That's why I have four names. Neo Xavier demi D'uther the third name came from that country. Same thing with my sister."
Kayla frowned. "So where were you?"
"Somewhere rough," Neo replied. "A place where violence wasn't shocking. It was normal."
He went quiet for a second, then continued.
"The street we lived on was corrupt. Gangs, dirty cops, blood on concrete like it meant nothing. I got bullied a lot… until I learned how not to be."
His jaw tightened.
"My father always came home late. Drunk. Angry. He beat my mom."
A pause. "I couldn't stop him."
Lucas' fingers curled slightly.
"So he trained you," Lucas said.
Neo nodded. "He wanted power. Always did. He believed power was something you forced out of the world."
His voice dropped.
"He taught me how to fight. How to shoot. How to hurt people before they hurt me."
A beat.
"By six, I knew how to use a gun."
The room went dead silent.
"I've killed someone before," Neo said quietly.
Elijah inhaled sharply.
"That's why," Neo continued, eyes steady, "when I fight, I don't lose control. I learned very early what happens when you do."
He looked straight at Lucas.
"My father didn't raise a son. He raised a weapon."
The room was still. Every pair of eyes, every pulse, seemed to hold its breath, waiting. Neo's gaze swept over the family, over Lucas and Kellan, and settled on the floor as if grounding himself.
"My father…My father worked for a branch of the Familia," he said.
The reaction was instant.
Elijah leaned forward.
Matteo's expression hardened.
Kayla's brows pulled together.
Even Kellan's posture shifted, sharp attention locking in.
"What branch?" Lucas asked.
"Not this one," Neo replied. "Not even this country, nor this era"
Aiden remained silent beside him, shoulders squared, eyes straight ahead.
Neo's gaze dropped briefly to the floor before lifting again.
"I didn't know it was the Familia back then," he said. "To me, it was just men with money and guns. Men people didn't ask questions about."
Lucas didn't interrupt. He didn't blink.
"My father wasn't a monster," Neo went on. "He was… desperate. He wanted more than the life he had. More than the way they treated him."
"How did they treat him?" Ethan asked quietly.
Neo let out a breath that sounded almost like a laugh except there was no humor in it.
"They broke him," he said. "Slowly. Publicly. And when they couldn't touch him anymore… they found another way."
A pause.
Lucas's voice dropped.
"What way?"
Neo swallowed. "They used me."
The words hit harder than shouting ever could.
"They humiliated him through me. Orders he couldn't refuse. Lessons he couldn't decline." Neo's hands clenched together. "If my father failed, I paid. If he spoke back, I paid. If he couldn't let it out in my mom I paid"
Kellan leaned back slowly, eyes narrowing.
"You're saying he trained you."
"I'm saying he turned my childhood into a weapon to destroy them, even though he was mostly at fault." Neo began, voice low, almost like he was speaking to himself rather than the room. "Everything you think you know about me… it started with him. From the day I could barely walk, he was shaping me. Teaching me. Not anyone else just him."
Lucas leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowing.
Neo swallowed. "We didn't live here, from the beginning that's why there're gaps and all" he said, his words deliberate. "Not me, not Aiden either. We both lived somewhere else… somewhere rough. Dangerous. Streets where kids like me got hit, got cornered, and either learned to fight or got eaten alive. That's where we grew up. And that's where he my father decided I couldn't be weak."
"Your father taught you to fight those that bullied you?" Kayla asked, incredulity creeping in.
Neo's eyes glinted. "No," he said slowly, "he made me fight. Made me understand power. Made me understand fear. Made me understand control… from a very young age."
"Five was when you learnt how to really fight or you we're already good at it?" Matteo's voice was barely audible. "I was already good at it just by watching him even before we started training"
Neo's lips twitched with a humorless smile. "At six, I could hold a gun, throw a punch that'd break bones, and not flinch. I didn't want to, but he… he demanded it. Every day. Every night. 'You protect yourself,' he said. 'You protect me. You obey. You survive.'"
He paused, letting it sink in. His hands flexed unconsciously. "He didn't… he didn't just teach me how to fight. He taught me how to kill. How to watch someone's life slip away and feel nothing. How to bury the chaos inside you while the world sees a child."
Elena's hand twitched against her leg. Lucas's jaw tightened.
"There was a boy," Neo continued. "The son of the man my father worked for he was my age the same as me that time"
Aiden's fingers twitched beside him.
"He was playing towards our street and my father was angry at his father over something I didn't know or maybe just his Normal fury acting up," Neo said. "Just like that my father told me to kill him. And one night…."
Lucas's knuckles tightened.
"he told me to do it," Neo said. "he said if I loved him, I'd prove it."
"The first time…" Neo's voice faltered slightly. "…I killed for him. I hated him for it. I cried. I screamed. But he… he didn't care. He said I had to understand loyalty, obedience, control. He said a man who can't follow orders is a man who can't survive."
Aiden shifted, glancing at Neo. Silent, but steady. He knew the memories Neo carried like weapons.
Neo's gaze met Lucas's now, sharp and burning. "After that night, I… I wasn't just a child anymore. I wasn't just me. I became his shadow, his weapon, his reflection. And I obeyed, because he was… he was all I had."
"Your father's name," Lucas said quietly, the kind of quiet that makes a room feel like it's closing in.
"Demi Raymond d'Uther," Neo said, voice low but unwavering. "And if you've heard of him… yes, he was feared. Not because he wanted to be. Because the world around him was cruel. And he… he protected us the only way he knew how."
Elena's lips parted. Recognition, fear, something else awe? swirled in her eyes.
Lucas's fingers drummed against his chair. "And Aiden?" he asked. "How did he come into this?"
Neo's gaze softened, flicking to Aiden. "He was there the night I… I crossed the line for the first time. He didn't know me, but he didn't run either. He stayed. We buried the evidence together. And then… my father trained both of us after I came home with Aiden and explained everything to him, from then he decided he'd train us both.Not anyone else. Him. Just him."
Every head in the room shifted. Every thought scrambled. Neo's history, his skills, his unshakable control, his dangerous instincts now they made sense. And they were all because of Demi Raymond d'Uther.
Neo didn't lift his head immediately. It was like saying his father's name had unlocked a door he'd spent years barricading, and now everything behind it was pressing forward at once.
"After Pia was born," he continued, voice quieter but heavier, "my mother broke."
Kayla shifted in her seat. Elena's eyes softened, instinctively bracing.
"She wanted more," Neo said. "Not money. Not status. Just… air. A life where her children didn't sleep with fear breathing down their necks. A life where she didn't flinch every time a door opened." His jaw tightened. "She begged my father. Told him this place this country we were in was poisoning us. That it would swallow us whole if we stayed."
Lucas watched him closely now, unreadable.
"He refused," Neo said simply. "Said danger was power. Said fear was respect. Said he was going to become the most dangerous man among them all… and that when he did, the world would kneel." A humorless laugh slipped out of Neo's throat. "He said he'd come back for us."
Silence rippled across the room.
"My mother didn't want that," Neo went on. "She'd suffered enough for his dreams. Enough bruises. Enough nights wondering if he'd come home drunk or bloody or not at all." His fingers curled against his thigh. "So she left. Took me and Pia and ran before he could stop her."
Elena inhaled sharply.
"We moved here," Neo said. "New names. New routines. New rules. We started over." His eyes finally lifted, sweeping the room. "And I made a choice."
Aiden straightened beside him.
"I convinced Aiden to come with us, before we left there" Neo said. "Told him to talk to his parents. Told him if they stayed behind, they'd lose him one day either to the streets or to my father's world." His voice softened slightly. "Aiden's parents since he was their only child they always wanted the best for him Infact they would have burned the earth for him. They agreed. Packed their lives and followed us here."
Aiden nodded once, jaw tight.
"We promised," Neo continued, "that whatever we were before… we buried it. No past. No skills. No stories. Just two boys trying to be normal."
Lucas leaned back slowly. "Then why come to the Familia?" he asked. "Revenge?"
Neo laughed. It was sharp, incredulous. "Revenge?" He shook his head. "That man stopped haunting me years ago. I buried him with everything else." His gaze locked onto Lucas. "I didn't even know the Familia was connected to him. I just wanted a job. To help my mother. To live."
Kellan's eyes narrowed.
"I only realized," Neo went on, "the night you brought me to the estate for the first time." His eyes flicked briefly to Kellan. "You mentioned a name. Casually. Like it meant nothing." His throat bobbed. "But I remembered it. The man my father worked for. The one who broke him. The one he tried so hard to become."
Understanding dawned slowly, dangerously.
"That was when I knew," Neo said quietly, "I'd walked into a trap without meaning to."
Lucas's fingers stilled. "And the café?"
Neo exhaled. "The texts didn't start that day. They started long before I joined the company. Unknown numbers. Short messages. Warnings." His gaze darkened. "Aiden and I thought we were paranoid. Thought maybe the past was just… echoing."
Aiden leaned forward now. "And also the time we were attacked at a supermarket months ago," he said flatly. "Two groups clashed Not one. That wasn't random."
Neo nodded. "Someone bumped into Aiden. Slipped a piece of paper into his pocket." He paused. "It had one word on it."
"Run," Matteo said quietly.
Neo looked at him. "Exactly, which was very suspicious actually because either someone was trying to help us make us go into the direction of danger itself."
The room felt colder.
"And then," Neo continued, "they threw something at my feet." His voice dropped. "Metal. Heavy. A symbol carved into it."
Elena's face drained of color.
"A symbol only two people should remember," Neo said. "Me and Aiden."
Lucas's gaze sharpened. "Your father."
"I wasn't sure," Neo admitted. "Not until the café." His chest rose slowly. "That place… that café is where Aiden and I met him for the last time after we moved here. Where he promised to leave us alone."
A beat.
"The man I met there," Neo said, "wasn't him. It was a messenger. Someone who's been following me for a long time now. Watching. Waiting. Trying to drag my family back into a life we escaped."
Silence slammed into the room like a verdict.
Neo finally straightened fully in his chair, eyes steady, voice firm. "We didn't come here to hurt you. Or use you. Or destroy your family. We came here trying to survive without becoming him."
His gaze found Lucas's.
"But my father," he said quietly, "never lets go of what he thinks belongs to him."
Neo exhaled slowly, like he was forcing his lungs to remember how to work.
"Look," he said, voice steady but stripped bare, "we didn't come here to spy. We didn't come here to hurt your family. Or sabotage your empire. I came here for a job. That's it."
His eyes flicked briefly to Aiden.
"And Aiden?" Neo continued. "He just got tangled into this mess because of me."
Aiden nodded once, jaw tight, eyes sharp but honest.
"If you choose to let us go," Neo added, lifting his chin, "it's not a problem. We'll leave quietly. No noise. No resentment."
Aiden leaned forward slightly. "Because it wouldn't be smart," he said calmly, "for your rivals to find something to use against you. Or against your name."
The words settled heavy, deliberate. Not a threat. A warning.
Lucas didn't respond immediately.
Neither did Kellan.
Matteo studied Neo like a puzzle that had just revealed too many edges. Ethan's brows were drawn together, calculating. Elijah hadn't moved at all, his silence louder than anyone else's. Kayla's eyes flicked between Neo and Aiden, something unsettled blooming behind them.
And Elena.....
Elena hadn't moved since the name was spoken.
She sat frozen, hands clasped too tightly in her lap, eyes unfocused, breathing shallow. Like someone who'd just been dragged backward through time without permission.
Kayla noticed first.
"Elena," she said softly.
No response.
"Elena," Kayla repeated, louder now, concern threading her voice.
All eyes turned.
Elena blinked once. Then again. Her lips parted like she was testing whether sound would still obey her.
"I…" Her voice cracked. She swallowed hard. "I know your father, Neo."
The room stilled.
Neo's heart dropped. "W..whaa"
"He… he was here," Elena whispered. "Years ago."
Lucas's head snapped toward her. "What do you mean, here?"
Elena's fingers trembled as she pressed them together. "He worked with us. Not officially never in the light. But he was around. He wanted more. Always more." Her eyes lifted to Neo, filled with something dangerously close to guilt. "He was never satisfied."
Neo's chest tightened.
"He was ambitious," Elena went on, voice steadier now that the truth had started spilling. "Brilliant. Violent when cornered. Obsessed with power." She paused. "And desperate to prove himself."
Lucas stood slowly.
"You're saying," he said carefully, "that Neo didn't bring danger into this family."
Elena nodded faintly. "The danger was already there."
Aiden let out a slow breath.
Neo didn't look relieved. If anything, his shoulders seemed heavier now.
"He said he'd come back, " Neo murmured, more to himself than anyone else. "I just didn't think he'd come like this."
Silence followed. Not the awkward kind. The kind that rearranges loyalties.
Lucas's gaze returned to Neo long, piercing, unreadable.
Neo's breath hitched.
"No wonder," he said quietly, more to himself than the room. His fingers curled into his palm. "No wonder he told me to leave you."
Lucas's head lifted sharply. "Who told you to leave me?"
Neo swallowed. The memory surfaced ugly and clear. "The messenger," he said. "The day I met him. He told me to walk away from you, Lucas. From everyone. He said staying close to you would ruin everything."
The room shifted.
Lucas didn't speak immediately. His gaze drifted past Neo, unfocused now, mind racing somewhere far more dangerous than the estate walls.
Everything was aligning.
The missing years.
The shadows that never quite lifted.
The documents.
Darian's basement.
Lucas's jaw tightened.
Those files he had taken from Darian after he tried running with them, they we're written in codes only men raised in blood understood it had carried a name that never quite fit until now.
D'Uther.
He had dismissed it then. Filed it under ghosts. Old enemies. Men who thought they were legends.
But now....
Lucas looked back at Neo, really looked at him. Not the boy who stood in his office every morning. Not the obedient assistant. Not the quiet presence at his side.
But the weapon his father had forged and then abandoned.
"You know," Lucas said slowly, voice low and lethal, "if you and Aiden hadn't walked into this familia when you did…"
He stopped.
Kellan's eyes narrowed. "We wouldn't have seen it coming."
Lucas nodded once. "Not even a little."
The truth landed hard.
Neo's father wasn't reacting to the Luther family.
He was ahead of them.
Steps ahead.
Planning while they were comfortable. Moving pieces while they were blind. Erasing traces while they were busy fighting visible enemies.
Elena's face had gone pale again.
"He always said," she murmured, distant, "that the most effective way to destroy a kingdom was to let it believe it was safe."
Aiden straightened. "That's exactly what's happening."
Lucas turned to Neo, his eyes sharp now, dangerous but not cold.
"You were told to leave," Lucas said. "And you stayed."
Neo met his gaze without flinching. "Because if I walked away," he said evenly, "he wins."
Silence followed.Not disbelief.Respect.
And something darker realization.
Lucas exhaled slowly. "Your father isn't trying to hurt you, Neo."
Neo's lips pressed together.
"He's trying to remind me who he made, he's trying to use the weapons he'd made to achieve what he couldn't" Neo replied.
Kellan leaned back, crossing his arms. "Which means this isn't about recruitment."
"No," Lucas said quietly.
"It's about inheritance."
The word echoed.
Outside, the estate remained calm. Too calm. The kind of calm that only exists before something collapses.
Lucas took a step closer to Neo, lowering his voice so only he could hear.
"You didn't come here to destroy my family," Lucas said.
Neo shook his head. "No."
Lucas's eyes hardened. "But your father did."
And in that moment, the rules changed.
Not because Neo and Aiden were enemies
but because they were standing at the center of a war that had started long before any of them were ready to name it.
Lucas leaned back in his chair, eyes sweeping over the group Kayla, Matteo, Elijah, Ethan, Elena, Neo, and Aiden. The room had held its breath for what felt like hours.
"You both are free to walk away if you want," Lucas said slowly, voice calm but edged with authority. "I won't hold you to anything. But I won't lie… I need both of you. For whatever is to come, only the two of you know how he thinks, how he moves. He might not strike now… who knows what years to come will bring. But before that, we need to be ready."
A weight hung in the room. Eyes met eyes, searching for a signal, a hint of decision. Neo glanced at Aiden, then back to the family sitting there, anticipation and resolve written clearly on his face.
"We're in," Neo said, voice firm, unwavering.
"Not as members," Aiden added, his tone steady but with an edge that made everyone lean in. "But as a weapon for the familia."
Lucas nodded, a small, approving smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
"A secret weapon," Aiden finished, and the words seemed to hang like a promise in the air.
For a moment, the room was quiet, the tension still simmering, but then laughter broke out soft at first, then filling the space. It wasn't mocking. It wasn't relief. It was recognition. Acceptance.
Even Elena cracked a small smile, shaking her head at the audacity of it all. Matteo chuckled, letting the tension unravel. Kellan and Lucas shared a brief glance, both knowing the stakes but also appreciating the courage standing right in front of them.
And just like that, the weight that had pressed down on the room began to lift.
The familia wasn't the same anymore. Not after tonight. Neo and Aiden weren't the same either. But for the first time in a long while, they were all ready… together.