Chapter 3 - The Silent Crowd
A tight, cinematic close-up captured Chloe’s face.
The arrogant, manic smile completely vanished from her lips. The blood slowly drained from her perfectly contoured cheeks.
Chloe finally looked closely at the scars she had just exposed. They weren't from a car accident. They weren't from a careless mistake. The precision of the shrapnel wounds and the massive burn grafting were exclusively, undeniably the result of surviving a heavy military combat zone.
Harper hadn't vanished because she was a failure. She had vanished because she had enlisted in the most dangerous, highly classified branches of the military, while Chloe was busy spending her parents' money on sorority parties.
Captain Richard, a fifty-year-old Navy officer in a crisp white uniform, stepped out of the crowd. He was Chloe’s wealthy father, the man who had paid for the expensive beach club gala.
He didn't look at his daughter with pride. He looked at Chloe with profound, agonizing shame and absolute disgust.
"What have you done?" Captain Richard whispered, his voice trembling as he looked at the terrified server clutching her torn shirt.
Chloe stumbled backward, her expensive gold gown dragging in the sand. "Dad... I didn't know... I thought she was just a waitress!"
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But before Captain Richard could aggressively discipline his spoiled daughter, the crowd of officers suddenly, respectfully parted like the Red Sea.
👉 What towering, legendary figure is about to step onto the sand?
