The moment Damian stepped inside the drawing room, his gaze sharpened. His wife and his mother were seated on the sofa, wearing tense expressions. Across from them sat Elias's wife and her son.
"Your Grace," Elias's wife, Aleesia, rose to her feet the instant she saw him, abandoning all decorum as she rushed forward. "Please, I beg of you, show mercy to my husband. I have been waiting for hours to see you."
She pressed her palms together, weeping as she pleaded for her family's survival. Beside the sofa, her son kept his head bowed, bearing the heavy weight of his father's treason in silent shame.
Damian did not acknowledge her. His cold eyes shifted past the kneeling woman, locking directly onto the head butler standing near the threshold.
"Who permitted them entrance into this residence?" Damian demanded.
The butler immediately lowered his head, unable to meet the Duke's gaze.
