I was learning how to walk again at Walter Reed when my mother-in-law told me to sell my Army medals for her daughter’s wedding, but the one dollar I sent back exposed a betrayal my husband had been hiding for weeks...

While my career was taking a major leap forward, Mason's life was systematically collapsing under the weight of his own actions.

Without my income to subsidize his lifestyle and with the court-ordered asset freeze in full effect, Mason was forced to sell his luxury sports car and his boat at a fraction of their value to meet the restitution deadlines set by the civil court.

To make matters worse, the financial audit conducted by Captain Lin had revealed that Mason had misused funds from his own accounting firm to cover personal credit card debts he had run up while entertaining Victoria Vance in Naples.

One rainy Tuesday afternoon, while I was finalizing the lease on my new apartment near Fort Belvoir, I received a call from David Ross.

"Nora, you might want to read the news coming out of Fairfax County court today," Ross said, a slight chuckle in his voice.

"What happened?"

"Mason was formally fired from his firm this morning," Ross explained. "They conducted an internal review after receiving our subpoena for his financial records. They found he had been falsifying expense reports for over a year. The managing partners decided not to press criminal charges on the condition that he resign immediately and forfeit his remaining equity."

"And Victoria?" I asked.

"As soon as the money dried up and the firm booted him, she wiped her social media accounts and moved back to Miami," Ross said. "Word is, she took the designer bags and jewelry he bought her with your money and blocked his number."

I looked out at the rain washing over the pavement. Six months ago, I would have felt a sting of pain or betrayal at hearing those details. Now, I felt nothing but a cool, distant sense of justice.

"And Carolyn?"

"Carolyn had to take out a second mortgage on her home in Florida to help him pay off his immediate debts," Ross added. "They’re currently arguing over who gets to live in her guest house."