Chapter 80. Scars Don’t Blink

“Director Quinn, your silence is being interpreted as evasion.”

The council room didn’t echo, but it pressed in.

Harper stood at the center of the circular chamber—no screen barrier, no augmented field. Just herself. Knox wasn’t at her side. Not today.

Lilah Vance’s voice held the same sharp timbre as a surgeon preparing for incision.

Harper tilted her head slightly.

“I’m not silent,” she said. “I’m listening. You should try it.”

A few councilors twitched—not in support, but discomfort.

Lilah continued, “Your mother’s link to KnightFade was omitted from public record. Your father confessed. Are you claiming no further responsibility?”

“I’m claiming,” Harper said, voice even, “that trauma doesn’t make you complicit. And lineage doesn’t make you guilty.”

Selene, seated behind the privacy barrier, stirred. The Third Heir watched, face unreadable.

Lilah leaned in. “And yet you activated a classified protocol your own mother enc