She crossed her arms immediately. Defensive.
“You always said your work was classified.”
“Because it was.”
“Harper,” she scoffed, “you were a logistics officer.”
Daniel actually smiled at that. Very slightly.
I noticed Derek watching the exchange carefully now. His arrogance was cracking. And underneath it, something uglier was emerging.
Fear.
Not fear of the government. Fear of losing power.
Because men like Derek survive by choosing targets nobody will defend.
And for years, I had been the easiest target in the family.
The weird cousin. The divorced veteran. The woman who sat quietly during holidays and disappeared before dessert.
He never imagined there might be reasons I stayed quiet.
