They all sat with the echo of that last, soft confession reverberating between the clinks of cutlery and the murmured refills of wine, as if the room had been paused and someone had forgotten to press play. For a long second, Ego held the silence as both an accusation and a blessing; then he folded his hands together and, with the same immaculate calm that had announced the wedding, unfolded logistics as if reading from an unavoidable script.
"The date," he said, voice smooth. "Should be in late spring. After the Board meeting in May and before the shareholders' retreat in June. It is clean. Victor, coordinate with Legal and Security. Elias, we will assign you a liaison from my office. " The last clause landed with the weight of a promise and the steel of a threat: both parental and corporate.
