Chapter 1The Admiral's Secret Wife

For six years, I was the best-kept secret of Admiral Grant Dempsey. To everyone else at Naval Base Coronado, I was just the lovesick surgeon, the woman who couldn’t take a hint, pathetically clinging to a man who would never have her.

He allowed them to believe it. He never once said a word.

It all came to a head at the gala celebrating the successful conclusion of a joint naval exercise. One of the officers’ wives, emboldened by champagne, cornered me by the bar.

“Dr. Ross,” she said, her voice dripping with condescending pity, “everyone knows the Admiral’s fiancée is Victoria Price, the diplomat’s daughter. You should really stop embarrassing yourself.”

I looked over at Grant. He was holding his glass, his gaze as distant and cold as the deep ocean. “Audrey,” he said, his voice carrying just far enough to cut. “Stop wasting your time on me.”

In my last life, I screamed. I pulled our marriage certificate from my purse, my hands shaking, and waved it in their faces. All it earned me was a single word from him: “Preposterous.”

To protect Victoria Price’s delicate sensibilities, he had me thrown in the brig for seven days.

Later, I was deployed on a medical ship. We were attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden. As I bled out on the deck, I managed to send a distress signal. But Grant was busy attending the opera with his fiancée. He missed the window to save us.

Only then, in my final moments, did I understand. I wasn't his secret love. I was a tool, to be discarded when no longer useful.

Now, reborn into this same moment, I looked at his familiar, indifferent face and I smiled. A real smile.

“Of course, Admiral,” I said, my voice clear and steady. “My sincerest wishes to you and Miss Price for a long and happy life together.”

I paused, letting the silence hang for a beat. “On that note, my transfer request was just approved. It’s been a pleasure.”

* * *

For the first time, a crack appeared in Grant Dempsey’s icy facade.

Beside him, Victoria Price’s triumphant smirk froze on her lips. She shot a panicked look at Grant. “Grant, darling, what is she…”

I didn’t give her the satisfaction of a response. I simply turned and walked away.

Last time, I had a hysterical meltdown at this gala, waving our marriage certificate like a lunatic. They all just stared. Then Grant took the red-bordered document and ripped it to shreds in front of everyone, claiming it was a forgery. I was confined to the brig for seven days and came out a ghost of myself.

This time, I didn’t even bother with the proof.

There’s no point trying to win an argument with someone who has already sentenced you.

“Audrey!” Grant’s voice echoed behind me.

I didn’t slow down.

The sound of his dress shoes grew closer, and a second later, his fingers clamped around my wrist. I stopped, but I didn’t struggle. I just turned my head to look at him, my expression placid.

His face was a mask of thunder. “What is this? Another one of your games? This transfer… who approved it?”

He’d said something so similar in my last life, when I’d grabbed his lapels and screamed, demanding to know why he’d left me to die. Audrey, what are you making a scene about now?

I pulled my thoughts back to the present and used my free hand to retrieve a folded document from my clutch.

“Admiral Dempsey,” I said, my voice clinical. “Read it carefully. It’s a direct order from Walter Reed. Your authority doesn’t extend that far.”

His pupils constricted.

I’d earned this transfer. A year ago, I’d performed a life-saving field surgery on the grandson of a very powerful man at the Pentagon. Last time, I asked for nothing in return, but the man insisted he owed me a debt he could never repay. This time, I called in the favor.

Grant snatched the paper from my hand, his eyes scanning the text. His expression shifted from shock to disbelief, and finally settled into a dark, brooding anger.

“Rescind it,” he commanded, his eyes locked on mine. “I won’t allow it.”

I laughed. A short, bitter sound. I pulled my wrist, now red and throbbing, from his grasp and took a step closer.

“On what grounds, Grant?” I tilted my head up to meet his gaze. “On the basis of our marriage certificate that you keep locked in a safe? Or the six years you let the entire base humiliate me while you stood by and said nothing?”

His jaw worked, but no words came out.

I took another step, closing the space between us.

“You mean nothing to me anymore.”

From the end of the hall, the click-clack of heels announced Victoria’s arrival. She positioned herself between us, her face a perfect mask of feigned concern.

“Dr. Ross, how can you speak to Grant like that? After everything he’s done for you… the tolerance he’s shown… you should be grateful…”

“Move,” I said, cutting her off.

“Excuse me?”

“I said, move.”

My voice was quiet, but something in it made her take an involuntary step back. She bit her lip, her eyes welling up with practiced tears. “Dr. Ross, I never wanted to be your enemy. I just love Grant. Is that so wrong?”

“No,” I conceded. “But standing in my way is.”

With that, I brushed past her.

“Audrey!” she called after me. “Without Grant’s protection, you’re just a common surgeon! You’re nothing!”

I stopped and looked back at her over my shoulder.

“Is that so? Well, then I guess I’m just making room for you.”

Victoria’s face contorted with rage. She lunged, her hand raised to strike me, but an arm shot out and caught her wrist. Grant had moved silently behind her, his expression grim.

“Victoria, that’s enough,” he said.

Her tears spilled over instantly. “Grant, did you see that? Did you see how she spoke to me? She has no respect for you at all.”

Grant didn’t answer her. His gaze was fixed on me.

“Admiral,” I said with a small, final nod. “I wish you and Miss Price all the happiness you deserve.”

And then I walked away without looking back.