Chapter 6
Mark was served with divorce papers three days later.
Sergeant Chen witnessed it. He told me later that Mark had been leaving the house, coffee cup in hand, when the process server approached him.
Mark's face had gone white when he read the papers.
Then he'd gotten angry.
Sergeant Chen said he'd started shouting, crumpling the papers in his fist, yelling about how I was making a mistake, how he'd take everything from me.
I just listened, my face neutral, as I fed Grace her bottle.
"Did he say anything specific?" I asked.
"Nothing coherent, ma'am. Mostly threats. He said he'd see you in court."
I nodded. "Thank you, Sergeant."
That afternoon, Mark called.
I almost didn't answer. But Major Carter had told me to document everything, so I pressed record on my phone before accepting the call.
"Anna," he said, his voice tight with anger. "What the hell is this? You filed for divorce? Without even talking to me first?"
"You threw me out of our house while I was in labor, Mark. You brought your mistress into my hospital room. You made your feelings about our marriage very clear."
"That was a mistake! I was stressed! I've been under so much pressure at work, and you were always gone, and then the baby was coming and I just—I panicked!"
"You panicked by throwing me out?" I kept my voice calm, even. "You panicked by bringing Sarah into my hospital room to show off her ring?"
"I was an idiot! Okay? I was an idiot and I'm sorry. But divorce? That's extreme. We have a child together, Anna. We should be trying to work this out, not destroying each other in court."
I almost laughed.
Now he wanted to work things out. Now that he knew I was a general. Now that he suspected there was money.
"What do you want, Mark?"
"I want to see my daughter," he said, and for a moment, his voice sounded genuine. "I haven't even held her yet, Anna. She's my baby too. Let me see her. Just for an hour. Please."
I thought about Grace. Small, perfect, innocent.
And I thought about letting Mark hold her. Letting him into her life.
He was her father. Biology didn't lie.
But he'd also thrown her mother out into the street while she was being born. He'd cheated on me with my subordinate. He'd planned to take my pension and whatever else he could get his hands on.
"I'll talk to my attorney," I said finally. "If she approves, we can arrange supervised visitation. At a neutral location. With a social worker present."
"Supervised?" His voice rose again. "I'm her father! I don't need a babysitter to see my own daughter!"
"Your actions over the past several months have given me no reason to trust you alone with her," I said evenly. "Take it or leave it, Mark. Those are my conditions."
He was quiet for a long moment.
"Fine," he said through gritted teeth. "But this isn't over, Anna. You think you can just push me aside because you have some fancy new rank? You think those stars make you better than me? I'll fight you. I'll fight you for everything. And when I'm done, you'll regret ever crossing me."
He hung up.
I saved the recording and sent it to Major Carter.
He's escalating, I texted.
Major Carter replied within minutes.
Good. The more he threatens, the stronger our custody case becomes. Stay strong.
The first supervised visitation happened the following Saturday at a family services center on base.
Mark arrived ten minutes early, dressed in a nice shirt and slacks, his hair perfectly styled. He looked like he was going to a job interview, not meeting his daughter for the first time.
A social worker named Lisa was there to supervise. She was in her fifties, kind-faced but with sharp eyes that missed nothing.
Grace was asleep in my arms when Mark walked in.
He stopped when he saw her.
All the anger and bluster from our phone call seemed to drain out of him. He just stood there, staring, his eyes filling with tears.
"She's beautiful," he whispered.
I said nothing. I just stood up and carefully placed Grace in his arms, guiding his hands to support her head.
He held her like she was made of glass.
For twenty minutes, he didn't say anything. He just looked at her, tears streaming down his face, whispering things I couldn't hear.
For a moment, I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time.
Pity.
This was the man I'd married. The man I'd loved once, before the lies and the betrayal. And here he was, meeting his daughter for the first time in a sterile room with a social worker watching his every move.
It was sad.
But then he looked up at me, and the pity vanished.
Because behind the tears, I saw something else.
Calculation.
This wasn't just a father meeting his daughter.
This was a man gathering evidence for court.
He was performing.
"I wish we could do this as a family," he said, loud enough for Lisa to hear. "She deserves two parents who love each other. Who love her."
I didn't rise to the bait.
"She deserves parents who treat each other with respect," I said. "And who put her needs above their own."
He looked down at Grace again, and his voice dropped to a whisper that only I could hear.
"You think you've won, Anna? You think because you have the rank and the lawyers and the money—whatever you're hiding—that you get to write the story? I have news for you. I'm going to destroy you. I'm going to take your daughter, and I'm going to take every penny you have, and I'm going to make sure you spend the rest of your life alone."
I stared at him, my face impassive.
"Is that a threat, Mark?"
"It's a promise."
Lisa looked up from her notes. "Is everything okay over here?"
"Everything's fine," Mark said, smiling at her. "Just getting to know my daughter."
I looked at the man I'd once loved, holding my daughter while threatening to destroy me, and I felt something inside me harden.
The last piece of my heart that had still cared about him, that had still hoped for some kind of reconciliation, died right there.
He wasn't just a bad husband.
He wasn't just a cheater and a liar.
He was dangerous.
And he would never stop coming after me and Grace.
Not unless I stopped him first.
When the visitation was over, Mark handed Grace back to me. His hands brushed against mine, and for a split second, he squeezed my wrist. Hard.
A message.
I didn't flinch. I just took Grace and held her close.
"Thank you, Lisa," I said to the social worker.
Lisa nodded, her eyes flicking toward Mark with something that looked like suspicion. She'd seen that squeeze. She'd heard the change in his voice.
"I'll have my report filed by Monday," she said.
Outside, Sergeant Chen was waiting by the car.
He took one look at my face and opened the door without saying anything.
As we drove away, I looked at Grace, sleeping peacefully in her car seat.
Mark had promised to destroy me.
He thought he knew my weaknesses. He thought he could use Grace against me.
But he was wrong.
Grace wasn't my weakness.
She was my strength.
May you like
And if Mark wanted a war, I'd give him one.
He just didn't know yet that he was fighting an enemy who had already won.
