Chapter 4

Samuel Young was my dad's personal aide in the military, the person he trusted most.

After my dad's downfall, Samuel was implicated in the scandal and forced into early retirement, sent back home.

For three years, I hadn't reached out to him.

It wasn't that I didn't want to; it was that I didn't dare.

I knew how much power Christopher had, and I was scared that a single call from me could get Samuel caught up in something he never asked for.

But today, I finally worked up the nerve to dial that number.

"Samuel, I need your help," I said, not wasting any time.

"Go ahead," Samuel replied, his voice steady and unwavering.

"My dad's case was a total injustice. Christopher was the one behind it all. He orchestrated everything to climb the ladder," I said.

On the other end, Samuel's breath caught.

"I knew it," he said through gritted teeth, his voice shaking with anger. "I always knew Commander Sinclair wasn't that kind of man.

"Christopher rubbed me the wrong way from the start. He always had those shifty eyes and was way too scheming, never having the integrity of a real soldier. Commander Sinclair trusted him too much."

Hearing Samuel say that, I almost lost it. Tears welled up in my eyes.

For all these three years, everyone called my dad a traitor. Samuel was the only one who always had faith in him.

"Natalie, tell me what you need. If it means clearing Commander Sinclair's name, I'll risk my life for it," Samuel said.

"Samuel, I don't need you to risk your life," I said, steadying myself. "I need you to help me reach out to my dad's old crew.

"When he got taken down, they got kicked out of their posts too, and I know they've been holding a grudge all this time. Now's the moment for them to finally let it all out."

I rattled off a few names.

These were the guys my dad had personally promoted, and they were all fiercely loyal to him.

After my dad's downfall, they weren't kicked out like Samuel, but they got shuffled off to dead-end jobs, promotions in name only, but their careers were basically over.

They were the most valuable thing my dad ever left me.

"Alright, I'll reach out to them right away," Samuel replied without a second thought.

"One more thing," I continued. "Do you remember Benjamin, the engineer who handled the technical support during that exercise three years ago?"

"Benjamin? Yeah, I remember him. He was a bit of a tech geek, not much of a talker," Samuel replied.

"Can you find him? I need his testimony," I said.

Benjamin was the one in charge of the critical technical part of that leak incident.

His testimony at the time really put my dad in a tough spot.

But I remembered my dad had praised Benjamin more than once, saying he was a top-notch engineer and a straight shooter.

Why would someone so honest give testimony that worked against my dad?

There had to be something fishy going on.

"I'll give it a shot. I think he got transferred too, but I have no idea where he ended up," Samuel said.

"I'm counting on you, Samuel. If you find him, let him know Richard's daughter is looking for him. If he's willing to meet, have him come to this address." I gave Samuel the hotel's address.

After hanging up, I felt a lot more reassured.

I wasn't fighting this alone.

Now, all I could do was wait.

I stayed in and ordered room service.

I needed to rest up and get ready for the whirlwind that was coming.

Christopher and the White family weren't going to let me have any peace.

Sure enough, trouble came knocking that night.

Out of nowhere, the internet was flooded with scandals about me.

They called me a jealous, crazy woman who faked evidence and went ballistic because my husband cheated.

The posts painted me as a scheming, ruthless bitch who'd stop at nothing to get what she wanted.

They circulated a few photos of me looking "hysterical."

Those were secretly taken at my dad's funeral, when I broke down from grief.

Now, those photos were being twisted into "evidence" that I was mentally unstable.

Then, some so-called "insiders" started spreading rumors, claiming I had a bad reputation back in school, was promiscuous, and begged my dad to pressure Christopher into marrying me.

They kept throwing mud at me.

I stared at those vile posts, my whole body trembling with anger.

I knew this had the White family's fingerprints all over it.

They were out to ruin me for good, to make sure nobody would ever trust a word I said again.

Just then, my phone rang.

It was an unknown number.

I hesitated for a second, but picked up anyway.

"Natalie? This is Victor," came the cold, authoritative voice of a middle-aged man.

"Mr. White, what can I do for you?" I asked coldly.

"Did you see the news online?" Victor's voice oozed arrogance. "That's the beginning. Natalie, you'd better be smart about this.

"Don't risk your future and your reputation. Give me what you've got, and I'll act like nothing ever happened. Otherwise, I won't think twice about ruining you. You'll never get back up again."

That was a threat.

"Mr. White, did you forget I've got some dirt on you too?" I reminded him.

He snorted with contempt on the other end. "You really think a couple of photos and some vague recording are enough? Natalie, you're way too naive. Against real power, your little games don't matter."

"Oh yeah?" I shot back. "What if I've got more than that?"

Victor went silent, then said, "What do you mean?"

"Nothing much," I said, keeping him guessing on purpose. "I only wanted to remind you of one thing, Mr. White. If your daughter can screw up, I bet you're just as capable.

"Like hooking up with the wrong person, in the wrong place, talking about things you really shouldn't."

I was totally bluffing.

But I was willing to bet a guy like Victor had plenty of dirty secrets hiding in the shadows.

I could hear Victor's breathing get tense.

"What else do you know?" he demanded.

"I know way more than you think," I said, making sure he heard every word. "Mr. White, cut the bureaucratic crap.

"If you want to talk, show me you're serious. Otherwise, next time, it'll be your file sitting on the court‑martial's desk."

With that, I hung up.

I'd called it.

Victor was more afraid of having his reputation destroyed than Christopher ever could be.

He was bound to come after me again.

All I needed was to stall for time and wait for Samuel to get back to me.

But I underestimated how shameless they could be.

The next day, a bigger bombshell blew up online.

The Grant family publicly announced that Christopher was divorcing me and suing me for framing him and violating his privacy.

Meanwhile, the White family went all out, declaring that Vivian was getting engaged to Christopher.

They were trying to bury the old scandal with a flashy new wedding.

And they were out to crush me completely, to make sure I'd never get back up again.