Chapter 14: Why He Chose Her

We barely made it out through the back entrance before the first car pulled up beside the building.

Zane pushed the door shut behind us.

"Keep moving."

Connor led us through a narrow service corridor and toward the old training yard.

My heart was pounding, but one question was louder than everything else.

Why did Zane choose Sofia?

We reached Connor's vehicle and climbed inside.

Zane took the passenger seat while I sat in the back.

Connor started the engine and pulled away without looking back.

For several minutes, nobody spoke.

Finally, I broke the silence.

"I want the truth."

Zane turned slightly.

"So do I."

Connor kept his eyes on the road.

"Then you need to know what happened six years ago."

I frowned.

"Six years?"

"Before you and Zane officially started dating," Connor said.

"Sofia approached Zane's commanding officer."

Zane's expression changed.

"Connor."

"She told him Elara was becoming a distraction."

I stared at Zane.

"What?"

Connor continued.

"She claimed you were planning to leave the military because of Zane."

"She said you were emotionally unstable and that your relationship was affecting his judgment."

My hands went cold.

Zane closed his eyes briefly.

"I didn't believe her."

"Then why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

He didn't answer immediately.

"Because she gave me a choice."

My stomach tightened.

"What choice?"

Zane finally looked at me.

"She said if I stayed with you publicly, she'd make sure your career was destroyed."

I stared at him in disbelief.

"And you believed she could do that?"

"I knew she had connections."

"But that still doesn't explain why you married her."

Zane's jaw tightened.

Connor answered for him.

"Because Sofia's father had evidence against several people inside the military contracting network."

"He threatened to release it unless Zane married Sofia and protected their family."

I felt like the air had been knocked out of me.

"So the marriage was blackmail?"

"Partly," Connor said.

"But there was another reason."

He glanced at Zane.

"Sofia told Zane that if he refused, she'd release private information that could have ended your military career."

I looked at Zane.

"You sacrificed us to protect me."

His eyes were filled with regret.

"I thought I was protecting you."

I shook my head.

"You didn't protect me."

"You made me believe you never loved me."

His face fell.

"I know."

For the first time, I saw how exhausted he really was.

Not physically.

Emotionally.

As if he had spent years carrying a secret that had become too heavy to hold.

Connor suddenly received a notification on his phone.

His expression changed.

"We have a problem."

He turned the screen toward us.

A news article had just been published.

The headline made my blood run cold.

"Former Navy SEAL Accused of Secret Military Cover-Up."

Below it was Zane's photograph.

And beneath that was my name.

"They know about you," Connor said.

"And they're making it look like Zane disappeared you."

I stared at the screen.

Then another notification appeared.

This one came from Sofia.

"You wanted to know why he chose me?"

"Ask him what happened the night your brother died."

My breath caught.

I had never told Zane about my brother.

Because my brother had died years before I ever met him.

I slowly looked at Zane.

"What does Sofia know about my brother?"

His face went completely pale.