A few hours after my husband’s funeral, my mother looked at my eight-month pregnant stomach and told me my sister’s wealthy husband would be taking my place, so I could sleep in the freezing garage. My father rolled his eyes and said my crying was killing the mood. I just looked at them, smiled once, and said, “Okay.” They thought they were dealing with a broken widow. Then the next morning, armored military vehicles and a Special Forces detail arrived to take me out of that house, and every smug look on their faces disappeared.

I put down my fork.

The room went quiet.

“Did you?” I asked.

My father stared at me.

I kept going. “Yesterday, you sent your pregnant daughter to sleep in a freezing garage because your other daughter wanted her room.”

No one at the table moved.

Chloe started first. “You’re being dramatic.”

General Sterling didn’t even look at her. “Ms. Phillips,” he said, “you should conserve your energy.”

Then he turned to Julian.

“Your position at Apex Dynamics,” he said mildly, “has been terminated.”

Julian blinked. “What?”

“Apex was acquired this afternoon.”

The words hit him hard.

“By Vanguard,” Grace added from the far end of the table.

Julian went white.

“I just bought a house,” he said, like that mattered.

I leaned back in my chair. “Then I hope you kept the garage clear.”

Chloe made a broken sound. My mother reached for her water with a shaking hand. My father looked at me like he was seeing me for the first time and hated what that cost him.

No one finished dessert.