Betrayal's Echo: A Husband's Reckoning

I shifted my weight, the familiar ache in my right leg a dull, constant reminder of my p

fixed on the screen. "I can't seem to fin

's a joint savings, with my wife, S

ly, "but the account lists her as Sarah Mil

ll

hysical blow. Not a comm

" I said, my voice tight.

ell you what the system says, sir. The account holder

my team into an ambush. The man whose "unfortunate but necessary" call had

lite murmur of the bank

years, a reel of memories play

oyment. Her arms wrapped around me, her scent of vanilla and home chasing away the smell of gunpowd

u, Liam," she had whispered, her te

ges, read to me for hours, and held my hand when the nightmares came. She was the reason I fought t

felt foreign on my body, a relic of a life that was no longer

You're home. You're safe. We have your pension, your dis

wounded veterans," and built a perfect, quiet life for us in our suburban home.

rhythm against my ribs. I pulled out my phone, my h

econd ring, her voice

y, is every

my voice rough.

darling. For the foundation. You

t the Hayes Foundation. A

to come ho

. Captain Miller is about to give

into my bones. "Pu

don't be sill

On. The. Ph

f fabric. A man's voice, smooth and confident,

at can I d

eak. The air

"Look, I'm a bit tied up. Sarah and I are runn

. He said i

neath the perfect surface. I hung up the phone and drove home,

every surface. Her perfume lingered in the air. I walked into our home office, the one

ing cabinet. It was lock

bed a tire iron from the garage and pried the

usehold" and "Taxes," was a folde

A divorce decree, filed and finalized while I was in a medically induced coma overseas. Legal documents reroutin

o place, they slammed together

ring. A moment later, a voicemail notificati

ocket dial. I could hear the clinking of glasses, the murmur of a crowd. A

er voice laced with annoya

e. "He's a broken man, Sarah. He's living in the past. Tha

around the phone,

e sounded..."

sion broke him for good. It was a disaster, sure, bu

ken body. Funded by the men

rds shattered what was left of my heart. "It's just..

His hero status gives our foundation credibility. He's more useful to us crippled and out

ped. There was a

l traces of guilt gone. "Let's go thank our gene

hus

or. I stared at the marriage certificate, at their smiling faces in a photo tucked inside the

t. All I felt was a vast, cold emptiness. The life I had, the woman I loved, the

on the floor. A

wrapping up. I'll be home soon. I'll

the words.

replaced by something harder, something sharper. I pick

"Liam? I was just textin

I said, my voi

hat do y

our voicem

end of the line. I could almost hear her m

k. The marriage certifi

. "Liam... I c

g her off. "There's

a deep

to say... con

ss inside me starting to fill with a purpose I hadn't felt since I

to find out how