I sat motionless while my own mother looked a judge in the eye and swore that I had never served my country. She called my scars fake, claimed I had bought my medals online, and insisted my entire military career was nothing more than an elaborate lie. The courtroom believed every word—but while they celebrated my downfall, I was silently counting the minutes until the people who could destroy their lies walked through those doors.

The horrific truth of my father’s recorded message echoed violently in the small underground bunker.

My own mother was the supreme leader of the very terrorist network that had nearly killed me countless times.

Every single combat mission I had ever survived overseas was actually orchestrated directly by her.

She had intentionally sent me into highly deadly ambushes, hoping I would be eliminated naturally in the line of duty.

When my combat skills kept me alive, she resorted to the elaborate courtroom fraud to destroy me domestically.

I stared at the frozen computer screen, completely abandoning my original plan to wipe the massive offshore accounts.

I rapidly executed a different command, downloading the massive encrypted ledger that contained the identities of her entire global network.

I secured the small, priceless flash drive securely into the hidden zipper pocket of my tactical vest.

I grabbed a heavy sniper rifle and a surplus tactical shotgun from my father's extensive hidden armory.

I knew exactly what I absolutely had to do to end this massive nightmare permanently tonight.

I drove the stolen sedan fiercely toward the private, heavily guarded airstrip located on the rural edge of the city.

The airstrip was brightly illuminated by massive halogen floodlights, revealing a sleek, dark private jet waiting on the tarmac.

Dozens of heavily armed mercenaries patrolled the perimeter, wearing highly advanced tactical gear stolen directly from my father's company.

I parked the sedan deep in the dark tree line and carefully assembled the heavy sniper rifle in complete silence.

I peered intently through the high-powered thermal scope, scanning the tarmac for any sign of my mother.

She was standing confidently at the bottom of the private jet's mobile stairs, holding a sleek silver briefcase.

She was casually negotiating with three men wearing expensive suits, completely unaware that her empire was about to fall.

I aimed the crosshairs of the heavy rifle directly at the private jet's massive front landing gear tire.

I slowly exhaled a deep breath and gently squeezed the delicate trigger of the powerful weapon.

The loud, suppressed gunshot completely shattered the front tire, immediately grounding the expensive aircraft permanently.

The heavily armed mercenaries panicked instantly, raising their automatic weapons and firing blindly into the dark tree line.

I quickly abandoned the sniper rifle and sprinted aggressively through the thick shadows toward the chaos on the tarmac.

I needed to secure my mother alive to ensure she faced maximum federal justice for her massive global crimes.

Suddenly, massive armored SUVs violently crashed through the chain-link gates of the private airstrip.

Dozens of heavily armed FBI agents poured aggressively out of the vehicles, screaming loudly for everyone to drop their weapons.

I smiled in pure relief, heavily believing that Agent Vance had finally brought the necessary federal cavalry.

“Which daughter is yours?” should have been a harmless question

The first wineglass shattered at 8:07 p.m

The moment the mafia boss’s wife called me “an illiterate servant,”

The lead FBI agent aggressively pointed his tactical rifle directly at me, completely ignoring my mother standing right behind him.

He loudly ordered his agents to open fire, screaming that I was the highly dangerous terrorist leader they came to kill.

Chapter 9 - The Decoy