Leah stood in the doorway of Elias's study, pale but steady.
Dante noticed first.
"You shouldn't be out of bed."
"I need to talk to him."
Her voice wasn't loud.
But it wasn't fragile either.
Elias looked up slowly from the file in his hand. He had been expecting this.
"Leave us," he told Dante quietly.
Dante hesitated.
Leah shook her head. "No. He stays."
Dante's jaw tightened slightly, but he didn't argue.
Leah stepped fully into the room.
The door closed behind her.
Silence stretched.
Then—
"What happened to him?"
Elias didn't pretend to misunderstand.
"You'll have to be more specific."
"Don't do that," she said softly. "Not today."
Her hands were trembling, but her voice was steady.
"He didn't leave because he was confused. He left because he believes he's dangerous. That belief didn't appear out of nowhere."
Elias leaned back slowly.
"It's complicated."
"I'm not asking for simple."
Dante crossed his arms.
Leah continued.
"He said he remembered something. A doctor. Files. He went to the archives before he wrote that letter."
Her voice broke slightly at the word letter, but she continued.
"What happened to him before he turned ten?"
The air changed.
Elias was quiet for a long time.
Then—
"My son," he said quietly, "was a man obsessed with power."
Leah frowned slightly.
"Izana's father?"
"Yes."
"What does that have to do with Izana's condition?"
Elias's gaze hardened.
"Everything."
Dante shifted slightly but remained silent.
Leah stepped closer to the desk.
"Tell me."
Elias exhaled slowly.
"His father's name is Caesar."
The name meant nothing to her.
"He believed the Grimshaw legacy should never weaken," Elias continued. "He didn't trust fate. Or genetics. Or natural succession."
Leah's stomach tightened.
"What did he do?"
"He found a specialist. A geneticist operating outside the law. Dr. Kael Virelli."
Her pulse spiked.
"The same doctor Izana mentioned."
"Yes."
Leah's eyes narrowed.
"Why would a mafia heir need a geneticist?"
Silence.
Then Elias said it.
"Because Caesar wanted to build the strongest heir this family had ever seen."
Leah didn't understand.
"Build?"
Dante answered this time.
"He altered Izana's DNA before he was born."
The words didn't register at first.
"…What?"
Elias's voice was calm. Too calm.
"Neurological enhancements. Increased muscle density. Accelerated reflexes. Elevated aggression thresholds."
Leah stared at him.
"No."
"It was experimental," Elias said. "And highly unstable."
"They experimented on him?" Her voice cracked. "On a baby?"
"Yes."
The room felt like it was collapsing inward.
"He was engineered?" she whispered.
"Yes."
Tears flooded her eyes instantly.
"Why?"
"Because Caesar wanted perfection."
Leah shook her head violently.
"You don't modify a child for perfection. You love them."
Elias's jaw tightened.
"My son did not believe love was enough."
Silence filled the room.
Leah's breathing became uneven.
"So the outbursts… the episodes…"
"Are side effects," Elias finished.
She swallowed hard.
"How often?"
"Approximately every four months."
Her hands began to shake harder.
"And on his tenth birthday?"
Elias's eyes darkened.
"The mutation destabilized severely for the first time. Neurological overload. Loss of control. After that day, his brain suppressed everything before it."
"He can't remember his childhood because of that?"
"Yes."
"And you told him it was a curse?"
"We needed something he could survive."
Leah's tears spilled over.
"You lied to him."
"We protected him."
"From what?" she demanded.
"From knowing his own father tampered with his biology."
Her voice broke completely.
"So instead he grew up thinking something was wrong with him."
No one responded.
Because it was true.
Leah covered her mouth, trying to steady herself.
"He thinks he's dangerous."
"Yes."
"He left because he was afraid he would hurt me."
"Yes."
"And all this time it wasn't fate. It wasn't genetics. It was his father's ambition."
Elias didn't argue.
She stepped backward, nearly losing her balance. Dante moved instinctively, but she held up a hand.
"Don't."
Her breathing was uneven now.
"He was a child," she whispered again.
"Yes."
"He didn't choose this."
"No."
"And you all watched him grow up believing he was cursed?"
Elias's voice was low.
"It was safer than the truth."
"For who?" she shot back.
Silence.
The answer was obvious.
Leah laughed weakly through tears.
"He blames himself."
Dante looked away.
"He always has," he admitted.
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"He called himself a weapon."
Elias's expression shifted.
"That's what Caesar wanted."
The words were devastating.
Leah closed her eyes.
"He was never meant to be a son. He was meant to be an investment."
No one corrected her.
After a long moment, she opened her eyes again.
"That doctor," she said quietly. "If he helped engineer this… he knows how it works."
"Yes," Elias said.
"So Izana went after him for answers."
"Yes."
"Can it be controlled?"
Elias hesitated.
"Possibly."
"Or triggered?" she asked.
Dante answered carefully.
"Yes."
Leah's stomach dropped.
"So if Virelli finds him first—."
"It could end badly," Elias finished.
She straightened despite the tears.
"Then you have to find Izana."
"We are trying."
"Faster."
Her hand drifted unconsciously to her abdomen.
Her voice broke.
"He cannot find out everything at once."
Elias understood immediately.
"He won't."
"If he discovers his father did this to him… and then learns about the baby—."
Her voice collapsed completely.
"It will destroy him."
Dante's jaw tightened.
Elias nodded once.
"Yes."
Leah wiped her tears angrily.
"He is not a curse."
"No."
"He is not a malfunction."
"No."
"He is a man who was used."
Elias looked at her carefully.
"You still want him?"
The question wasn't cruel.
It was honest.
Leah's eyes flashed through the tears.
"I want him more."
Silence.
"When you find him," she continued, voice steadier now, "don't tell him I know."
Elias frowned slightly.
"Why?"
"Because if he sees pity in my eyes, he'll leave again."
She inhaled slowly.
"And I won't let him carry this alone."
The fire crackled softly behind them.
Elias gave a slow nod.
"We will bring him back."
Leah turned toward the door, stopping briefly.
"His father tried to engineer the strongest heir."
She looked back at Elias.
"He accidentally created the strongest heart."
Then she left the room.
And for the first time—
Elias felt the full weight of what his son had done.