The Dutiful Son

The panic room was silent. No alarms triggered. The motion sensors remained green. Yet, the heavy steel door hissed open. His son walked in, drenched in blood, weeping uncontrollably. "They were coming for you, Father... but I stopped them. I killed them all." The old man looked at the pristine, undamaged lock, then at the silent security panel. He didn't ask who "they" were. He didn't thank his son. He simply took out his signet ring and handed his entire empire over to the weeping boy.