Chapter 5 - The Decision Nobody Was Allowed To See
The folder sat on the table.
Nobody touched it.
Not even Gordon.
That surprised me.
Because my father had always believed everything could be opened.
Everything could be negotiated.
Everything had a price.
But not this.
The seal represented something he couldn’t buy.
Service.
Trust.
Responsibility.
Nathan looked uncomfortable.
“I think we should leave.”
Nobody disagreed.
The people who laughed minutes earlier suddenly wanted distance.
Funny how quickly confidence disappears.
My mother stayed.
She looked at me.
“I should have defended you.”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
She accepted the answer.
No excuses.
That meant something.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message from General Hale.
“Meet me privately tomorrow.”
No explanation.
No details.
Just an instruction.
I looked at the folder.
Then back at my family.
Gordon noticed.
“What happens now?”
I answered honestly.
“I find out.”
And for once…
May you like
He wasn’t the person deciding what happened next.
📖 Chapter 6 reveals the private meeting General Hale requested and why Claire’s future is connected to a decision bigger than her family. 👇
