Chapter 3

Sera didn' t stay quiet for long. She couldn' t fight me directly-my authority was military, absolute in this matter-so she fought me indirectly.

The next morning, the news was filled with her. Not the Sera I knew, the brilliant, driven scientist, but a new version. A sympathetic, wronged wife. She gave a tearful interview from Liam' s damaged expo hall, speaking about an "overzealous military commander" on a "personal vendetta." She didn't name me, but she didn' t have to.

She painted Liam as a visionary genius, a victim of brute force and jealousy. She talked about his dream for a better city and how it was being crushed by "archaic forces who fear progress."

I watched it on a monitor in my office, the sound off. Chloe stood by the door.

"She' s good," Chloe said, her voice laced with contempt. "Spinning it as a clash between old-world military and new-world tech. Making you the villain."

"It' s a smart play," I admitted, my eyes tracing Sera' s face on the screen. She was crying. I knew those tears weren't real. They were a tool, just like the stolen tech.

"The public is eating it up," Chloe continued, holding up a tablet. "Social media is trending with hashtags. #FreeLiamVance. #SupportProgress."

I felt a cold, hard knot form in my gut. It wasn't just my reputation she was attacking. She was trying to sanitize the memory of my men. To erase their deaths from the narrative and replace it with the story of her brother' s victimhood.

The anger that had been a roaring fire inside me now cooled, condensing into something harder and more focused. A pure, cold resolve. She wanted to fight this in the court of public opinion. Fine. I would oblige.

My decision was made. The time for back-channel maneuvers and quiet pressure was over.

That evening, Sera and Liam doubled down. They held a massive public rally and press conference in the city' s central plaza. It was a spectacle. A huge stage, massive screens playing clips of Liam' s drone show, and banners proclaiming his innocence. Sera stood by his side, the picture of defiant loyalty.

From a rooftop observation post across the plaza, I watched them through a pair of high-powered binoculars. Chloe was beside me, monitoring communications.

"He' s about to speak," she said.

On the stage, Liam stepped up to the podium, a carefully rehearsed sad smile on his face. He started talking about his dreams, his vision, how he only wanted to make the world a better place.

Sera watched him, her expression one of pure adoration. In that moment, I saw it with absolute clarity. She was completely blind. She saw a messiah, not the reckless, selfish man-child who had gotten 108 people killed and felt no remorse.

This had to end. Here. Now.

"Let' s go," I said to Chloe, lowering the binoculars.

"Sir?"

"She brought this fight into the public square," I said, my voice hard. "I' m going to end it there."

I turned from the rooftop and headed for the stairs. I was no longer just a commander seeking justice for his men. I was an executioner, and the stage below was my chopping block. I would personally walk onto that stage and dismantle their web of lies in front of the entire world.