“Vera,” Sterling said, awe in his voice, “you’ve outmaneuvered him completely. He thinks he set a trap, but you built the battlefield.”

That night I stayed at my grandmother’s. She had already documented Nadira’s car in my driveway, photographs of her using the garden I’d planted with my children. She even knew the school had labeled me as having “abandoned” my family—lies Derek fed to justify his actions.

My heart shattered hearing that Brinn cried daily, Maddox picked fights at school, and their counselor told them I’d chosen the Army over them. Derek’s betrayal wasn’t only marital. It was psychological warfare against my children.

“Execute Protocol 7, Grandma,” I told her. The emergency custody petition. She agreed without hesitation.

Meanwhile, Sterling froze joint accounts, filed emergency motions, and launched a forensic investigation into every dollar Derek had squandered.

The next morning, Derek’s fury exploded through texts and missed calls: