They never knew that before I ever became Amelia Hale, I was Captain Amelia Carter, a decorated military prosecutor who had spent years in the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps.
They never knew I had argued multi-million-dollar court-martial cases under combat-zone pressure, dissected fraudulent maritime defense contracts, and mastered the cold art of evidentiary ambush.
I had learned in dusty military tents and fortified command centers that true confidence could completely dismantle an arrogant opponent long before the first civilian witness ever took the stand.
I had kept that part of myself carefully hidden because I had returned from service exhausted by conflict, and all I had wanted was a peaceful, loving civilian marriage.
I had put away my dress blues, my commendations, and my legal war chest because I foolishly believed love meant laying down your weapons.
But now, sitting alone on the cold wooden chair of Courtroom 4B, I was facing the very people who believed they had already buried me alive.
