My grandfather saw the EBT card in my hand and practically dropped his silver-handled cane in the middle of the supermarket.

Julian didn’t look at the crowd. He didn't look at his mother. His eyes locked onto me, and the hardened soldier melted away in an instant.

He crossed the room in long, desperate strides, pulling me into his arms. I buried my face in his chest, inhaling the scent of him—a mix of jet fuel, starch, and the cedar cologne I had missed for nearly a year. I sobbed into his uniform, my knees nearly giving out.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered into my hair, holding me tight enough to anchor me to the earth. “Lily, I’m so damn sorry. I didn't know. I didn't know anything.”

He pulled back, cupping my face in his large hands. “Where is Mia?”

“She’s safe,” I wept, smiling through the tears. “She’s at the estate. She has your eyes, Julian.”

Julian closed his eyes, a tear escaping his own lashes, before he turned slowly to face his mother.

Beatrice was trembling violently now. “Julian, darling, listen to me. They’ve manipulated you. She’s sick. I did this to protect you! To protect our family’s legacy!”

“You bought off a contractor to extend my deployment,” Julian said, his voice eerily calm, a lethal quiet. “You kept me in a combat zone for an extra three months so you could starve my wife out. You sent me forged psychiatric reports claiming Lily had lost her mind and abandoned our child. I spent the last three months thinking my family was destroyed.”

“I did it for you!” Beatrice cried, stepping forward.

Julian held up his hand, stopping her in her tracks. “You did it for the money. You did it because you couldn’t stand that a woman who actually loved me, and not my bank account, had taken my name.”

“Julian, please,” she begged, realizing the public spectacle she was creating. “Let’s take this in the back. We can fix this quietly.”

“Quietly?” Julian barked a harsh laugh. “You threw my wife and child to the wolves publicly. You will face the consequences publicly.”