Luke sighs softly at that, because although he suspects there are complications there he can't even begin to understand, he also doesn't disagree with Alec entirely. Turning away from Jace like she had was a mistake, one he doesn't know can ever entirely be undone. In a lot of ways, he and Maryse have been in the same position, raising one of Valentine's children as their own, and he knows there's nothing Clary could do or say that would ever make him turn from her like that.

Unless, of course, he had to hurt her in order to save her. He can't pretend he knows all of Maryse's intentions, but he can't deny that it's possible she'd been doing the same.

"Valentine's betrayal destroyed your parents' lives in a lot of ways," he says, his voice soft. "Finding out Jace was his son and not Michael's would have come as a blow and sometimes..." He pauses, wondering if he should say it, then decides there's no sense in keeping it to himself. "I only know I would do anything to protect Clary, regardless of whose daughter she really is and I have to wonder if perhaps your mother's thoughts weren't far from my own. I don't know her motivations, Alec, but I do know she loves her children. All of them. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made in order to keep them safe."