At that moment, Maddox looked up at me, his voice breaking. “Dad made us call Nadira ‘Mom.’ He said you weren’t coming back.”

I pulled him close. “But I did come back. I always will.”

Brinn whispered, “Daddy said you don’t love us anymore.”

Tears blurred my vision. “Sweetheart, every day I wore your photos inside my helmet. I chose the Army for you to keep you safe, to make you proud.”

On speakerphone, Derek’s lawyer finally conceded. “We’ll accept her terms. All of them.”

Six months later, the divorce was final. Derek walked away with nothing. Nadira left the day the money dried up, screaming that he had lied about the life he promised.

Outside the courthouse, Derek spat venom: “You prepared this all along. You knew I’d betray you.”