The Soldier He Broke A Betrayal Too Late to Undo

When the James family collapsed, my uncle was diagnosed with ALS.

To save him, I walked away from the military. I took out predatory loans and shouldered the burden of his care alone.

For five years, I lived in hell.

Debt collectors beat me until my ribs cracked, but I swallowed the agony because I couldn't afford painkillers. I collapsed from exhaustion on the way to my part-time jobs, yet I denied myself a moment's rest.

Every cent I earned was blood money used to keep my uncle breathing.

Then came the night I was working as a waitress at the Grand Hotel.

I froze. There, in a private booth, sat the man who should have been withering in a wheelchair at home.

General Sebastian James sat tall in his crisp military uniform, epaulets gleaming under the chandelier, sharing a laugh with his old subordinates.

"General, you've been feigning ALS for five years," one of them said, voice low. "Savannah is being bled dry trying to treat you. Hasn't she been punished enough?"

Sebastian scoffed, swirling the amber liquid in his glass.

"Nearly. If Savannah hadn't been so willful—if she hadn't bullied Stella into severe depression—I wouldn't have needed a staged bankruptcy and a terminal illness to break her spirit."

He took a sip, expression cold. "Stella was transferred to the Capital's Fort Valor Military District to bolster her resume and lift her spirits. She's finally agreed to forgive Savannah. Soon, I'll have the medical team orchestrate a 'miraculous recovery.' Savannah can return to her unit. After this much suffering, she should have learned her lesson."

The subordinate hesitated. "But ALS is incurable, General. Will Savannah actually buy a miraculous recovery?"

Sebastian smiled with chilling confidence.

"That silly girl? I raised her from childhood. She believes every word I say."

He leaned back, tone absolute. "Stella is a martyr's orphan, sensitive and fragile. As the older sister, Savannah needs to learn to yield. I'm doing this for her own good. In the future... I will compensate her."

I lowered my head, tears tracing silent paths down my cheeks.

But Uncle, there is no future, I thought, my heart fracturing.

Your terminal illness is a lie.

But mine is real.

——

The draft from the window bit into my skin, but the cold spreading through my veins was far worse. I stood frozen, a puppet with its strings cut, enduring the slow death of everything I believed.

Five years of devotion, sliced away layer by layer. Each cut drew blood.

Xavier Fox, my uncle's comrade, sighed heavily. "If you ask me, you're ruthless, Sebastian. That's the child you raised with your own hands. The youngest ace sniper in Fort Valor. She quit the moment you asked. She's barely twenty, yet she's worked herself to the bone. Just days ago, to scrape together cash for your imported medicine, she was short eight hundred dollars. She came to me, begging."

Sebastian's face darkened. "Did you lend it to her?"

Xavier shook his head. "You gave a direct order—how would I dare? That girl stood outside my quarters all afternoon. She collapsed from hypoglycemia, and I didn't even dare help her up. She eventually woke and staggered away, using the wall for support."

What Xavier didn't say was that on that day, I had pressed my service pistol to my temple.

Uncle Xavier, I had whispered through the door, there's one bullet left. If you don't help him, I'll pull the trigger.

My uncle's medicine had been cut off for seven days. When he coughed, his lungs rattled with what I thought was bloody foam.

But Xavier had only reddened his eyes, gritted his teeth, disarmed me, and shoved me out the door.

It turned out he didn't refuse because he wanted to—he refused because he had to.

Sebastian sneered, voice cutting through the room. "Listen well. Until Stella returns from the Capital, no one helps Savannah Simmons. I don't care if she kneels, begs, or dies at your feet—you do not look at her. Not once."

"Stella's depression has only just improved. Savannah's five-year punishment cannot be shortened by a single day. Anyone who upsets Stella answers to me."

Dead silence suffocated the room.

Finally, someone murmured, "General, aren't you afraid Savannah will find out the truth and her heart will turn cold?"

Sebastian let out a bark of laughter.

"Her heart turn cold? I raised her. I gave her life—what is this minor grievance compared to that? Stella is different. She has no family, no one to rely on but us. She's suffered enough. It's only right I prioritize her."