CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 4
I did not confront Diane and Tyler that day.
Men like Tyler wanted anger.
They wanted shouting.
They wanted one ugly moment they could twist into proof that I was unstable after deployment.
So I gave them silence.
My attorney filed emergency petitions before dinner.
The house transfer was frozen.
The business accounts were locked.
Tyler’s new corporation was flagged for fraud review.
The bank suspended every transaction tied to forged authorization.
By 8 p.m., Tyler stormed into the living room waving his phone.
“What did you do?”
I looked up from the couch where Emily sat beside me, wrapped in a blanket.
“I came home.”
His face reddened. “You think you can just take everything back?”
“I think you can explain fake signatures to a judge.”
Diane stepped in behind him, elegant and cold.
“Careful, Jake,” she said. “You’ve been gone a long time. People know Emily was lonely.”
Emily went still.
I stood.
“Say one more word about my wife.”
Diane’s smile flickered.
Tyler lifted his wrist, showing my watch again.
“You’re too late, soldier.”
I looked at the engraving.
Always come home.
Then I looked at him.
“No,” I said. “I’m exactly on time.”
The doorbell rang.
Detective Harris stood outside with two officers and a court order.
May you like
Tyler’s face changed.
Diane’s champagne glass slipped from her hand and shattered against the floor.
