The General’s Ex-Wife Is A Colonel He Can’t Have Chapter 16
Later, I learned that during my operation, Beau’s unit had been conducting field training only three hundred miles away.
He had requested to join the rescue mission, but Joint Command had denied him.
When General Thompson mentioned it, his tone was dismissive.
“His head wasn’t in the right place. A man who can’t manage his own life has no business on a mission like that.”
The day I was discharged, a package arrived from the West Coast.
Inside were the finalized divorce papers, signed, and a small, folded note.
There was only one sentence on it.
I’m sorry.
I fed the note and the envelope into the shredder.
As the paper scraps filled the bin, I knew that marriage was finally over.
Three years later, I became one of the youngest female colonels in the Air Force.
On the day of my promotion, General Thompson personally pinned on my new insignia.
The applause from the audience was thunderous, the camera flashes blinding.
After the ceremony, I went to Arlington alone.
I laid a bouquet of white lilies at my parents’ graves and raised my hand in a crisp salute.
“Dad, Mom, I didn’t let you down.”
The wind moved softly through the trees.
As I turned to leave, I saw a figure standing beneath a tree in the distance.
It was Beau.
He just watched me from afar. He didn’t come any closer.
I met his gaze for a second, then looked away and walked toward the car waiting by the road.
Before getting in, I glanced back one last time at the cemetery.
The sunlight was warm, and everything was peaceful.
This place, like the country my parents had died to protect, was still here.
The car door shut, and the vehicle rolled smoothly away.
There were new missions waiting for me.
And this time, I wasn’t walking toward them alone.