My phone vibrated again, the screen lighting up with a call from my head of security.

I picked up the device, looking at the tense family dynamic unfolding before me.

The door to the study clicked open, and Audrey Kensington stepped inside, her wedding dress rustling in the quiet room.

She looked at the papers scattered across the desk, then at Garrett’s furious face.

“What is going on in here?” Audrey asked, her voice tight with anxiety. “The guests are waiting downstairs.”

I stepped back, closing my briefcase with a sharp click of the brass latches.

“Your wedding is the least of your concerns today, Audrey,” I said.

Garrett didn’t even look at his fiancée; his eyes remained locked on his mother’s pale, trembling face.

“Answer me,” Garrett whispered to Vivian.

The old grandfather slowly reached for the blue folder containing the debt conversion documents.

He looked at me, a silent, pragmatic question in his eyes.

I met his gaze, showing no weakness, no anger, only the cold resolve of a mother who had survived the dark to claim her light.