"The sketch."
Shay blinked but obediently handed it over.
Ares examined it again. Lara used different colors to highlight the dress and Shay's facial features, one would not mistake the drawing wasn't Shay.
Then, without asking anyone, he slipped it carefully into the leather document sleeve attached to his briefcase.
Lara frowned.
"That's Shay's," she said lightly. "She might want to keep it."
Ares didn't look at her.
"I'm taking it away. "I'll have it framed."
Shay's eyes widened. "Really, Daddy?"
"Yes."
His gaze lifted from the drawing and settled on Lara.
"And I want the original," he said quietly.
Not a copy, not a scan, but the original.
The request wasn't about the paper. It was about ownership.
Lara met his eyes without flinching. "It is only a quick sketch."
"Even better," he replied evenly. "It means you didn't overthink it."
