The General's Secret WifeChapter 3

When I got home, Eason handed me two plane tickets.

"The earliest flight tomorrow. Take Lily and go south for a few days."

"Come back after my wedding with Anna is over."

I stared at the cold glint of the star on his shoulder, my voice eerily calm. "Eason, Anna and I met at a field hospital on the border. She took a bullet for me."

"So, since you're willing to lie to me for six years just to marry her, you had better treat her right."

"If you ever hurt her, I swear I will expose everything and make sure she leaves you."

Eason stared at me for a long moment, a ghost of a mocking smile on his lips. "Done with the theatrics? This marriage with Anna has been two years in the planning. I will not allow for any accidents."

"That includes you."

He paused, his gaze turning complex. "You can have whatever you want as compensation. A promotion to head of surgery, shares in the military hospital, even... I could retire from the service."

I froze.

For Anna, he would even give up the stars on his shoulders.

So he was capable of sacrificing everything.

It was just that the impulse had never been for me.

"This is the only thing I'm asking of you," Eason said, seeing the stunned look on my face. A rare note of weary pleading entered his voice. "Take Lily on vacation. Once the wedding is over, I'll arrange everything. I'll compensate you and our daughter properly."

He said compensate, as if the scraps left over from his grand wedding could erase six years of deception and betrayal.

I was silent for a long time before I asked a question I never thought I would have to ask.

"Eason."

"When you decided to marry her, did you ever, even for a second, think about what would happen to Lily and me?"

He turned his face away, his jawline clenched tight. It was a long time before he spoke. "I did. But I was more afraid that if Anna found out, she would never forgive me."

Seeing him, ready to throw away his entire future for another woman, the fire that had burned inside me for six years suddenly went out.

"Fine. I'll take Lily and go."

Eason visibly relaxed, the tension in his eyes easing. "I'll change the tickets to the first flight out tomorrow. Your accommodations will be arranged according to the highest standards for military families."

"Don't bother," I said with a faint smile. "General Pierce, I wish you a happy marriage."