Chapter 213
[ 507 words ]
Chapter 213:
“Those titles belong to the Pentagon, and that legacy belongs to you,” Caroline replied, her tone completely indifferent to the power he was waving in her face. “They have absolutely zero impact on how I live my life.”
She was drawing a massive, impenetrable boundary between herself and the Romero empire. She was declaring absolute independence.
The General slowly leaned back in his chair. The hostility drained out of his posture. His cloudy blue eyes studied her face, searching for a lie and finding nothing but solid steel.
He realized, with a shock of adrenaline, that he was actually enjoying this. He hadn’t had a conversation this challenging in a decade. Everyone else just agreed with him.
The interrogation was over. The General shifted his posture, dropping the role of executioner, and prepared to engage her as an equal player on the board.
The heavy silence in the study shifted. The oppressive, suffocating weight of the General’s authority dissolved, replaced by the sharp, electric tension of a high-stakes chess match.
The green light from the banker’s lamp illuminated the deep wrinkles around the General’s eyes. He looked at Caroline, tapping his index finger against the polished wood of his desk.
𝖣i𝗌𝘤ove𝗿 𝘩𝗂𝗱d𝘦𝗇 𝘨e𝗆ѕ 𝘰𝘯 𝗴а𝗹𝘯𝘰𝘃𝗲l𝘴.со𝘮
“Let us play a hypothetical game, Miss Thompson,” the General said. His voice was no longer a bark; it was a smooth, calculating drawl. “If the Romero family were to place a blank check on this desk right now, and ask you to walk out of Jarrod’s life forever… what number would you write on that line?”
It was the ultimate insult, wrapped in a polite hypothetical.
Caroline did not flush with anger. She did not act offended. Instead, she raised her right hand and gently tapped her index finger against her chin, tilting her head as if she were seriously calculating a math problem.
“Well,” Caroline said, her voice perfectly calm and analytical, “I suppose we would have to calculate the current market value of buying out the freedom and the marriage contract of an active-duty Department of Defense colonel.”
She looked directly into the General’s eyes. “What do you think, General? Is there a standard going rate for that sort of treason?”
The General froze. He stared at her for three seconds.
Then a massive, booming laugh erupted from his chest. It was a genuine, deep belly laugh that echoed off the leather-bound books lining the walls. It was the first time he had truly laughed in months.
She had taken a degrading, insulting question and effortlessly flipped it into a sarcastic joke about Jarrod’s ego.
Caroline didn’t stop. A small, sharp smile touched her lips.
“Besides,” Caroline added, her tone dropping into a dry deadpan, “from what I have seen of Jarrod’s temper, if he found out I sold him to you, that blank check wouldn’t even cover my reconstructive surgery bills.”
The General shook his head, wiping a tear of mirth from the corner of his eye.
“You are entirely correct,” the General conceded, his voice rich with amusement. “Jarrod is a wild wolf. He always has been. He does not take kindly to being managed.”
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