Chapter 4 - The Test
Gregory stepped toward the door.
Ashlynn raised the bat slightly.
He stopped.
“That’s my father.”
“That man framed my unit.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I watched him give the evacuation coordinates to the wrong aircraft.”
Gregory stared at her.
Ashlynn had spent eight years refusing to speak about the mission.
The public record stated that a Marine logistics team disappeared after an unauthorized transport entered hostile territory.
The report blamed Ashlynn.
She was accused of altering flight coordinates, abandoning her post, and causing the deaths of three service members.
Her name was removed from public military databases.
Her benefits were frozen.
Her family was told she died during detention overseas.
Only a handful of people knew she survived.
William Mercer had chaired the classified inquiry.
He offered Ashlynn one choice: sign a sealed confession or allow her younger brother, also a Marine, to be charged as her accomplice.
She signed.
Her brother was protected.
Ashlynn disappeared into a civilian identity.
For six years, she believed William died before she could expose him.
Then Gregory approached her at a veterans’ charity event.
He seemed charming, patient, and completely unaware of her past.
When Ashlynn learned his last name, she stayed close.
At first, she wanted evidence.
Then she began to care for him.
That was her first mistake.
Marrying him was the second.
A metallic click sounded from the door.
Someone outside was trying the electronic lock.
Gregory reached for Ashlynn’s wrist.
She shifted instantly.
He released her.
“I’m not attacking you.”
“You already did.”
His face tightened with shame.
“I was angry.”
“You tried to break my ribs.”
“I thought you married me for money.”
“Who told you that?”
Gregory said nothing.
Ashlynn already knew.
“Your mother.”
“She showed me bank records. She said you were transferring money.”
“I was tracing Mercer Maritime payments.”
Gregory sat down again.
“She wanted me to confront you.”
“She wanted to see which one of us survived the confrontation.”
The lock clicked a second time.
Ashlynn examined the room.
The balcony could not be opened without triggering an alarm. The bathroom had no exterior exit. The cabin door was the only way out.
Gregory looked toward the photograph.
“If my father wanted you dead, why ask me to bring you out?”
“He doesn’t know how much evidence I have.”
“What evidence?”
Ashlynn looked at the champagne bottle.
A tiny waterproof data capsule was hidden inside the decorative foil around its neck.
She had placed it there before the wedding.
It contained account records, flight logs, and part of the audio from the mission that destroyed her career.
Gregory followed her eyes.
The door lock released.
Ashlynn placed the bat in his hands.
He stared at her.
“What are you doing?”
“Finding out whether you’re his son or his weapon.”
May you like
The cabin door began to open.
👉 Gregory had one chance to prove he was more than the violent man his parents had created.
