Gala Dinner. My Dress Slipped. "She's Half A Woman At Best." The Table Burst Into Laughter. The Decorated Four-Star Admiral Dropped His Glass And Walked Straight Toward Me. The Room Went Dead Silent. "Babe, Sit Down. He's Coming To Reprimand Her!" The 78-Year-Old War Hero Dropped To One Knee. / Chapter 37 / 50

Chapter 37 - The Trial of the Century

Three months later.

The Senate Armed Services Committee hearing room in Washington, D.C., was packed to capacity. Flashbulbs went off in blinding waves as the heavy mahogany double doors swung open.

I walked down the central aisle, wearing a tailored navy-blue silk suit. The left sleeve had been deliberately altered—cut cleanly at the shoulder, revealing the gleaming, custom-fabricated titanium and matte-black carbon arm underneath. I wore no gloves. I hid nothing.

Beside me walked Admiral Vance, decorated in his full four-star service dress, medals clinking softly with every measured stride. Behind us sat Liam and Julian, carrying three heavy steel lockboxes containing the decrypted files of Project Leviathan.

In the defendant's row sat the remnants of Halston Maritime's executive board, flanked by a dozen high-priced defense attorneys. Derek Halston sat in the center, his arrogant smirk long gone, replaced by a hollow, sunken expression. His hair was disheveled, his multi-thousand-dollar suit hanging loosely on his frame.

Senator Margaret Holloway slammed her gavel down with the force of an executioner's axe.

"The committee will come to order," Holloway declared, her piercing gaze falling directly onto Derek Halston. "We have reviewed the forensic naval telemetry submitted by Chief Engineer Eleanor Vance. The evidence shows beyond any shadow of a doubt that Halston Maritime deliberately installed obsolete, defective cooling valves on eleven nuclear-powered vessels, resulting in forty-eight preventable deaths—to maximize private corporate dividends."

Derek’s primary counsel leapt to his feet. "Objection! Miss Vance was dismissed from Halston Maritime for mental instability! Her testimony is biased and—"

"Sit down, counselor," Admiral Vance’s voice cut through the microphone with such terrifying command that the entire room froze.

The Admiral stood, leaning his heavy hands against the witness table.

"Twelve years ago," Vance spoke, his deep voice carrying through every speaker in the chamber and broadcast live across every news network in the nation, "my granddaughter was left to die in the flooded compartment of a sinking submarine because Derek Halston prioritized his quarterly margins. She lost her arm saving the lives of seven junior officers. She was slandered. Blacklisted. Humiliated at public tables."

Vance turned his gaze directly toward Derek, his eyes burning with righteous fury.

"You called her 'half a woman,' Halston. But you aren't even a man. You're a parasite feeding on the courage of people who actually serve this country."