On the livestream, Jaxon, the clout-chasing pop idol with bleached blond hair, was lounging inside the cockpit of a heavily armed stealth fighter jet. He smirked at the camera, bragging to millions of viewers that his CEO sugar mama had gifted him this magnificent beast, and he was about to take her for a joyride. My blood ran cold. One glance was all it took to recognize the classified prototype parked on my private military tarmac. Furious, I dialed my wife's number. The call went straight to voicemail. How dare she hand over top-tier military hardware to a glorified pretty boy? He did not even deserve to breathe the same air as that machine. I did not hesitate. I immediately contacted Central Command, flagging the incident as a Level One security breach and theft of classified assets. By the time the tactical strike team swarmed the hangar, Jaxon was still fumbling clumsily with the control panels. A split second later, a masked operative ripped him out of the cockpit, tossing him onto the unforgiving concrete of the runway like a sack of garbage. Hundreds of thousands of viewers watched it happen live. The chat exploded into a frenzy of panic. "Oh my god! Did they just send the actual Special Forces?!" "Jaxon is so done..." I glanced at the tactical watch on my wrist, a dark scoff escaping my lips. Unauthorized access to a military-grade fighter jet carried a shoot-to-kill authorization. If he wanted to play stupid games with national security, he was going to win the ultimate prize. Some lines are drawn in blood, and anyone who crosses them pays the toll. 1 Jaxon's eyes were wide with a pathetic mix of terror and disbelief, yet he still had the nerve to run his mouth. "You can't do this! My stream is still live!" "Are you seriously going to assault me in front of millions of fans?!" I let out a cold laugh, stepping forward to press the heavy sole of my combat boot against his arrogant mouth. "Too bad your account just got permanently nuked for broadcasting classified military intelligence." "You still don't get it, do you? I have zero patience for trash like you." The moment the words left my mouth, a dozen heavily armed tactical officers raised their rifles in unison, the laser sights painting red dots across Jaxon's forehead. All the blood drained from his face. He began to whimper, his words tumbling out in a garbled mess. "Tony! Are you out of your mind?!" "If you touch a single hair on my head, Victoria will destroy you!" Even with guns pointed at his skull, the brat was using my own wife as a shield. My eyes turned glacial. I racked the slide of my sidearm, the metallic clack echoing sharply in the tense air. "Tony Kingsley! Put that down right now!" The hangar door violently slammed open as Victoria barged in. Her usually elegant, untouchable demeanor was gone, replaced by a mask of blazing fury. "Do you have any idea what you are doing?! You are going to take his life over a stupid airplane?!" I found the whole situation downright hilarious. Whenever Jaxon was in trouble, she always managed to show up with perfect timing. The tactical commander picked up on the toxic energy radiating between us. He gave my shoulder a brief, solid pat. "Handle your domestic issues, Colonel. We will drag this punk to the holding cells." "Victoria, save me!" Before Jaxon could even finish his pathetic wail, he was shoved brutally into the back of an armored transport vehicle. Victoria's brows knit together. Her eyes swam with agonizing pity for him and absolute venom for me. "Are you happy now, Tony? Pulling a stunt like this?" I met her raging stare with absolute deadpan calm. "Who told you to decline my call?" Victoria looked at me like I had just sprouted a second head. Her trembling finger pointed straight at my chest. "You humiliated Jaxon in front of hundreds of thousands of people just because I sent you to voicemail?!" "Do you have any idea how hard he has worked to get where he is? How could you ruin him so viciously!" "You should be thanking yourself for letting him trespass onto my tarmac and break into a classified jet. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had the legal right to do a damn thing." I stared her down until she guiltily averted her eyes. "Victoria, do you comprehend the federal penalty for attempting to hijack a military aircraft?" That struck a nerve. Her pupils dilated in sudden fear, but she quickly masked it with stubborn defiance. "Who says he stole it?! The jet is sitting right there, completely fine!" "You are just jealous that I spoil him, so you are abusing your military authority to crush him!" Realizing she was completely divorced from reality, any desire I had to reason with her evaporated. I turned to walk away, but she lunged forward, her manicured fingers digging into my wrist. "Tony, stop making things worse. You are going to march down there right now, clear his name, and get Jaxon released." Her tone shifted from panicked to outrageously demanding. "You know how cutthroat the entertainment industry is! Jaxon just landed a pilot role in a blockbuster movie. He just wanted to use your plane to practice getting into character!" When I did not even flinch, her voice pitched into a hysterical screech. "A billionaire heir like you could never understand! Jaxon grew up starving in a filthy orphanage! He hustles day and night just so he can donate to kids who suffer like he did." "Is your heart made of ice, Tony? Why can't you just show a shred of empathy!" "He hustles?" I looked at the woman I had shared a bed with for years, feeling a bone-deep chill. She looked like a complete stranger. "Do you know how many of my brothers are deployed in hostile territories right now? Men who put their lives on the line every single day, who haven't seen their families in years, whose names can't even be carved onto their tombstones if they die?" "In your eyes, their sacrifices mean nothing. The only person who 'hustles' is your little pet idol, the one you've pumped billions of dollars into?" "What kind of nonsense are you talking about..." Victoria's face morphed from pale to a sickly green. She opened her mouth to argue, but I shoved my phone screen directly into her line of sight. It was a gallery of Jaxon's shameless social media flexes. "Shoutout to my CEO goddess for the birthday gift! Just moved into this mega-mansion!" "Wrapped up my new movie, and she rewarded me with a private island! She is obsessed with me!" "Loving the new mega-yacht from my favorite lady!" I erased the last trace of emotion from my face. My voice was a lethal whisper. "Victoria, do you even know when my birthday is?" "Have you ever celebrated it? Even once?" My gaze acted as a scalpel, peeling back her layers of fake righteousness. "Tell me. Who exactly is your husband?" A flicker of genuine panic crossed her features, instantly replaced by defensive rage. "How dare you turn this on me? With your ridiculous military job, you are a ghost! How am I supposed to celebrate your birthday when you are never around!" She grew more frantic, as if years of hidden resentment were finally boiling over. "You are a Colonel, for god's sake, and you are throwing a jealous tantrum over a kid! Don't you feel pathetic acting so insecure and petty?" Listening to her toxic mockery, the lingering ache in my chest finally went numb. I looked at her and genuinely smiled. "You are right. I was acting pathetic. But I won't make that mistake again." Without sparing another glance at her twisted expression, I turned and walked toward the waiting armored convoy. "Tony Kingsley! Stop right there!" Victoria's shrill scream tore through the tarmac behind me. "Do you really think I need you to get Jaxon out?" She was practically roaring now, throwing out a desperate, unhinged threat. "Let me make this perfectly clear. The Ashford family has power in this city! You just wait and see!" My boots paused for a fraction of a second, but I never looked back. 2 By the next morning, the hashtag #JaxonReleased was trending at number one. I frowned, clicking on the attached video. Jaxon looked perfectly disheveled, his blond hair intentionally messy to give him that tragic, victimized aesthetic. He offered the camera a weak, teary-eyed smile. "Thank you to everyone who stood by me. I am safe now." "I was set up. I guess when you shine too bright, people try to drag you into the dark." "Thank god my CEO benefactor believes in me. If it weren't for her, I might have been..." He let a single tear slip down his cheek right on cue. The comment section went feral. [Our baby suffered so much! Thank god Victoria is protecting him!] [It broke my heart seeing him dragged like that. That military jerk abusing his power is pure evil!] [Hah, the guy is just a glorified pilot. Did he really think he could stand up to the Ashford empire? Victoria handled him!] The sheer audacity of it all was nauseating. Victoria was willing to burn the world down for a two-faced actor. I immediately dialed my legal counsel. "Lawyer Bennett. Draft the divorce papers." "And file federal charges against both of them for trespassing on a restricted military installation and tampering with classified assets." Hanging up, my eyes landed on the wedding portrait resting on my nightstand. In the photo, Victoria was leaning against my chest, her smile radiant and full of promises. I still remembered our wedding day. A black-ops mission had gone south, delaying my arrival. I had sprinted into the cathedral smelling like cordite and ash, beating the clock by mere seconds. That was when I heard Victoria's unwavering voice. "I know Tony carries the weight of the country on his shoulders. I know his boots can never stay planted in one place for me." "But from this day forward, I, Victoria Ashford, will be his invincible shield back home!" Because of those very words, I gave her everything. I poured my trust, my soul, and the Kingsley family's vast resources into building her corporate empire. The vows still echoed in my memory, but the woman who spoke them was long dead. I packed my duffel bag, ready to head back to the base. As I opened the front door, I nearly collided with Grandpa Ashford, who was dragging Victoria inside by her arm. She was still wearing yesterday's clothes, clearly having spent the entire night pulling strings to get Jaxon out of federal custody. "Tony, my boy," Grandpa Ashford greeted, forcing a warm, apologetic smile. "Victoria acted out of line. I have already given her a piece of my mind." "She only did this because she loves you so much. She just wanted to make you a little jealous." "Sit down, talk it out. There's nothing a husband and wife can't fix." Before I could even process the absolute absurdity of that statement, Victoria pointed a manicured finger at my face and shrieked. "You are so utterly despicable, Tony! If you hadn't gone crying to Grandpa, he wouldn't have frozen all of Jaxon's contracts!" I could not help but laugh. "Crying to him? Or did your massive PR circus to bail out a criminal make so much noise that the board of directors noticed?" The icy contempt in my eyes hit her like a physical blow. Her eyes went bloodshot with rage. "You bastard!" She grabbed a heavy, die-cast model jet off the console table and hurled it directly at my head. I dodged instinctively, but a jagged piece of the metal wing grazed my jaw, drawing a thin line of blood. "You ungrateful wretch!" Grandpa Ashford roared, his cane slamming against the hardwood floor. "How dare you raise your hand against your husband! Apologize to him this instant!" Victoria clenched her fists, panic and toxic pride warring in her eyes. "Why should I apologize?! He forced my hand!" I felt the warm trail of blood slide down my neck, soaking into my collar. The last ember of warmth in my chest died out completely. Taking a slow, deep breath, I looked at her with total detachment. "Victoria. We are getting a divorce." 3 Her eyes widened in absolute shock. "Are you seriously stooping so low as to use the D-word to manipulate me?" "I am warning you, Tony. That toxic behavior won't work on me!" I did not waste another breath. I pulled the divorce agreement from my jacket, signed it with a heavy stroke of my pen, and pushed it onto the table. "Sign it." Her mask cracked. Real panic bled into her voice, making it tremble. "Over a stupid plane? You are throwing our marriage away over a piece of metal?" "Jaxon already got manhandled! Nobody is even pressing charges against him anymore... Why do you have to be so incredibly vindictive?" Watching her drown in her own delusions, I closed my eyes, exhausted down to my bones. "That 'piece of metal' you keep mocking is my lifeline. It represents billions in research and the safety of this nation." "It has kept me alive through dogfights over hostile waters. And you handed it over to a plastic entertainer for a photo op?" Victoria froze. All the color drained from her cheeks. "Airplanes all look the same to me... I honestly didn't know it was that important... Besides, he just took a couple of selfies..." I held up a hand, cutting off her pathetic lies. "The reality is, you bypassed security, gave him access to a lethal weapon, and then burned millions trying to cover his tracks." "We are done." Seeing the finality in my eyes, sheer terror finally seized her. Grandpa Ashford scrambled to do damage control. "Tony, she knows she crossed a line. To show you how sorry she is, she just authorized a fifty million dollar donation in military supplies to your base." "I think you are misinformed, sir. That fifty million was the bribe money she paid to get Jaxon out of a black site. It had absolutely nothing to do with me." The forced smile on Grandpa Ashford's face shattered. He began to shake with volcanic fury. "You absolute disgrace! You funneled Ashford corporate funds to save that gigolo?!" Victoria looked completely paralyzed. Seeing me reach for the door handle, she lunged forward, wrapping her arms tightly around my waist. "Tony, the money wasn't for him! I swear! I felt so guilty, I just wanted to support your unit..." "Please, give me one more chance! I will terminate Jaxon's contract right now. I swear to god, you will never have to look at him again." Her nails dug painfully into my ribs. Her voice was wrecked with desperate sobs. "Tony, please. Just trust me one last time. Please?" I looked down at her tear-streaked face. After a long, agonizing silence, I let out a breath. "You have one week. If you actually sever ties with him, we can talk." She shivered, a look of desperate determination flashing in her tearful eyes. "I promise! You will see!" Surprisingly, she kept her word. That very afternoon, Ashford Corporation issued a brutal public statement, terminating Jaxon and effectively blacklisting him from the industry. Victoria completely completely changed her tune. She became the picture of a devoted, apologetic wife. She canceled her corporate meetings, moved back into our house on the military base, and stuck by my side every second of the day. She even asked to accompany me to the aviation museum to see the retired fighter jets. "Tony, did you fly this one too?" She traced the glass of the exhibit, looking at me with absolute adoration. "You are so incredible." The golden hour light caught her profile, and for a fleeting second, I saw the girl I had fallen in love with all those years ago. In that quiet museum, my deadened heart gave a faint, reluctant beat. Even Commander Briggs pulled me aside later to offer some fatherly advice. "Marriage is a battlefield of its own, Kingsley. If she is making a genuine effort to fix her fire, maybe let her back in the trench." Driving back to the base, looking at the soft, hopeful gaze she kept giving me, my resolve softened. Maybe... just maybe, it was worth saving. But the second I stepped into my office, the gate guard rushed in, looking completely panicked. "Colonel Kingsley, sir! Your son is throwing a massive tantrum at the main gate... We don't know how to handle this!" The blood in my veins turned to ice. In all our years of marriage, Victoria and I never had a child. Whose kid was at the gate?
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