Yes, I understand you had considerable personal investment in the matter.

[ Remember your 2-day engagement. Lex Luthor does. He delivers it flatly, not smugly, and with no judgment attached. Just a stated fact. ]

I suppose you could say my father inspired me. [ A tight smile finds its way to his lips. He relaxes his hands on the arms of his chair. ] He believed that greatness had a cost, and that I would disappoint him with my refusal to pay that price with the lives of those he deemed lesser.