Chapter 60: Your Mother Wanted To Rule The Country Herself

Richard settled back into his seat, his expression more serious than it had been during their earlier conversation.

"Before you can understand what happened to your parents, you need to understand Eclipse Concord and how it operates.

Looking at it from the outside, you might think it’s simply an organization that brings powerful families together. That’s not entirely wrong, but there’s considerably more to it than that."

Damon listened without interrupting. He had already learned that the Thornes were among the organization’s founding pillars, but he still knew very little about the people behind it or how they maintained their influence.

Richard continued, "Take our family as an example. The Ashfords were once part of the committee, just as the Thornes were. You may have noticed that we’re no longer involved."

"I did," Damon replied. "I assumed there was a reason for it."

"There was. We chose to leave."

Vivian turned toward her father. Although she knew her family had distanced itself from Eclipse Concord, she had never heard him explain the decision in such direct terms.

Richard rested his hands on his knees before continuing. "Leaving wasn’t as simple as submitting a resignation and walking away.

When a family joins the committee, it brings something to the table that the others consider valuable. If that family later wants to withdraw, it can’t simply take that advantage with it and leave the others to deal with the consequences."

"So what did we have to give up?" Vivian asked.

"Our entire ancestral inheritance."

She stared at him, clearly taken aback. "Our entire inheritance? Dad, what exactly does that mean?"

"Be patient. I’ll explain."

Richard gave his daughter a reassuring look before returning his attention to Damon.

"Every major family within Eclipse Concord possesses an ancestral inheritance.

It’s the foundation of their influence, something passed down through generations that gives them an advantage ordinary people and businesses can’t easily reproduce.

Money and connections can be acquired, but an inheritance like that is what makes these families different from everyone else."

He explained that the Ashford inheritance was connected to manufacturing.

Their ancestors had developed methods that allowed them to produce a wide range of goods while using far fewer resources and spending considerably less money than conventional manufacturers.

Those methods had helped the family build its industrial empire, and their value extended well beyond the Ashfords themselves.

"The factories were only part of it," Richard said.

"The real advantage was knowing how to make things that other people couldn’t produce at the same cost. It gave us a place in industries that mattered to the country, and it was one of the reasons Eclipse Concord wanted us among its members."

Damon could understand why that would matter. A family capable of producing essential goods cheaply and efficiently would hold considerable influence, particularly if its methods couldn’t be easily replicated.

"The other families have their own inheritances," Richard continued.

"Some possess medicinal knowledge, others have methods related to physical strength, and some specialize in military capabilities. Their advantages differ, but the principle is the same. Every family that joins the committee must demonstrate that its inheritance contributes to the country’s overall development."

Vivian had been listening quietly, but her expression had changed. She had always known that her family was influential.

She hadn’t realized how much of that influence rested on something they could never simply replace with money.

"And we gave all of that up just to leave?" she asked.

"Yes. We surrendered the inheritance itself. We kept our existing assets and factories, but we lost access to the ancestral methods that gave us our advantage. It was the price of withdrawing."

For a moment, Vivian said nothing. The decision sounded far more severe now that she understood what it involved, and Richard didn’t try to soften it by pretending the sacrifice had been insignificant.

Damon, meanwhile, was beginning to see how Eclipse Concord maintained its position. The committee wasn’t held together by influence alone.

Each family brought something valuable, and those advantages gave the organization a reason to preserve the existing arrangement.

Richard seemed to recognize where his thoughts had led him.

"On paper, the arrangement makes sense. The families contribute to the country’s development, and the committee ensures that no single family becomes powerful enough to dominate the others.

Without restrictions, one family’s inheritance could eventually give it an overwhelming advantage."

"Isn’t that reasonable?" Damon asked. "If one family becomes too powerful, the balance between the others could collapse. Some restrictions would be necessary to prevent that."

Richard nodded. "They are necessary. I won’t pretend otherwise. The problem lies in how those restrictions are imposed and what the committee is trying to protect."

He explained that the members didn’t want one family’s inheritance to become a tool that could elevate the others beyond the level the committee considered acceptable.

A family that could freely distribute its advantages might strengthen its allies, alter the existing balance, or create a new center of power that the remaining members could no longer control.

As a result, the committee placed limits on how families could use their inheritances, how far they could expand their influence, and how much of their knowledge or capabilities could be shared.

The system encouraged development, but only within boundaries set by the people who already held power.

Damon could see the contradiction. The restrictions might prevent one family from dominating the others, but they also ensured that no family could freely decide how far its own inheritance should take the country.

The committee wasn’t simply coordinating its members; it was controlling the conditions under which they were allowed to grow.

"Still," he said, "that doesn’t necessarily make the whole arrangement wrong. The same rules that limit one family can protect the others."

"That’s true," Richard agreed. "And if every family accepted those limits for the same reasons, there might be little to argue about. But your family was different."

The change in Richard’s tone caught Damon’s attention.

"The Thorne inheritance wasn’t like ours. Your ancestors possessed a medicinal formula capable of improving physical strength beyond ordinary human limits.

It wasn’t merely a way to produce something more cheaply or a resource that gave your family an advantage in one industry. Its effects could change what a person was physically capable of achieving."

Richard paused, allowing the significance of that distinction to settle.

"A formula like that has implications far beyond medicine.

It can affect the military, the balance between powerful families, and the capabilities of the people who gain access to it.

That made the Thornes one of the most important families in Eclipse Concord, but it also meant that your inheritance was subject to some of the strictest restrictions."

Damon understood why the committee would be concerned about something like that.

If the formula could push people beyond ordinary human limits, unrestricted access might transform the balance of power in ways the other families couldn’t easily reverse.

But Richard’s expression suggested that the formula itself wasn’t the end of the story.

"Things changed after your mother became the head of the Thorne family," he said.

"She began enforcing the restrictions much more heavily. Access to the formula became increasingly limited, and the other families could no longer expect the Thornes to share its benefits as they had before."

"Was that why the relationship between the Thornes and the committee deteriorated?" Damon asked.

"Her decisions certainly changed it, but that alone doesn’t explain everything."

Richard fell silent briefly.

Catherine had remained quiet throughout the discussion, watching her husband with a thoughtful expression. Vivian, too, seemed to sense that they had reached something more significant than a disagreement over committee rules.

"Your mother wasn’t satisfied with simply protecting the Thorne inheritance," Richard finally said.

"Her ambitions went beyond that. She didn’t want to remain one powerful family among several, bound by rules that required her to share influence with the others."

He looked directly at Damon.

"Your mother wanted to rule the country herself, not share her power with the other families."