Chapter 54

• *ALBERT’S POV*
• As I entered the study, I was met with an unexpected and unsettling sight. The room, once a familiar space from my childhood, now felt foreign and intimidating. The faces around the room were startlingly familiar, yet they brought with them a weight of anticipation and complexity that I hadn't anticipated.
• My father, seated behind his imposing desk. The sight of him, usually so composed, unsettled me. Beside him was someone I hadn’t expected to see, Garvin Clifford, Nora's father. He was a stout man with a thick beard and sharp, calculating eyes. His presence was both authoritative and comforting, a stark reminder of the old alliances and rivalries that had defined my childhood.