but you're somebody else

Valentine slowed to a halt as Rhyme began to speak. He gave no sign that he heard what his son was saying but of course he was listening. He could see where his son was coming from as he justified all the actions that had led to Valentine's decision, but just because he thought he understood where Rhyme was coming from didn't mean he agreed with him. Yes his son had made his choices and taken things as was his right, but he had always chosen poorly. They were supposed to be strong, to strive to be better and to make the family better. Rhyme had chosen the Destructions, who were - and would always be - an emotional and weak family over the strong and capable Imperialis. He had chosen a slovenly weak women to squirt bastards into. He had been so foully, stupidly in love with the drink that he had struck up an incestuous relationship with his cousin - and gotten inbred children as a result. Choice after choice had demonstrated that Rhyme wasn't a capable decision-maker. To protect the family Valentine had thought it best to separate him from the Imperialis name. He stood by that decision.

He turned around to look at Rhyme. There was no malice in his gaze as he quietly studied him. "Good." What was Rhyme expecting, that he would be hurt by his revelation? Because the opposite was true. Valentine wanted Rhyme to get past it. To be a man for once. And...if he could admit it, he wanted both of them to get past it. Valentine had never intended to cut Rhyme out of his life entirely. Perhaps he had been naive to not consider how big the fallout would be, but he hadn't thought Rhyme would go so far as to reject his mother.