My Parents Left Me Off the Guest List — Then a 4-Star General Saluted “Welcome. Admiral Sophia.”

I stood up instantly, my posture snapping into a rigid line.

“What is the meaning of this, Agent Brooks?”

“She contacted us, Admiral,” Brooks said quietly.

“She asked for immunity.

And she specifically requested that you be present for the proffer agreement.”

Victoria wouldn’t meet my eyes.

She stared at the steel table, her hands trembling violently as she clutched a small, leather-bound book to her chest.

The sheer desperation radiating from her was palpable.

The golden child of the Montgomery dynasty had finally realized that the ship was sinking, and she was violently shoving her parents out of the lifeboat to save herself.

“Victoria,” I said, my voice steady but laced with a cold authority.

“What are you doing here?”

“I couldn’t take it anymore, Sophia,” she whispered, her voice cracking.

She slowly placed the leather-bound book on the table and pushed it toward Agent Brooks.

“Mother is going insane.

Dad is frantically burning documents in the fireplace of that awful Queens apartment.

He’s talking about fleeing the country.

He has a private charter scheduled to leave out of Teterboro Airport tonight.”

Brooks snatched the book, quickly flipping through the handwritten entries.

His eyes widened.

“Account numbers.

Offshore routing codes.

Cargo manifests for the ghost fleet.

This is it.

This is the nail in his coffin.”

“I brought you the book,” Victoria sobbed, finally looking up at me.

Her eyes were red-rimmed and pleading.

“I did what the agents asked on the phone.

You have to protect me, Sophia.

If Dad finds out I took this, he’ll kill me.

He’s not the man we thought he was.

He’s cornered.”

“He is exactly the man I always knew he was,” I corrected her coldly.

“A selfish, narcissistic coward who would burn the world down to keep his bank accounts full.

You just chose to ignore it because he bought you diamonds.”

“Please, Sophia,” she begged, reaching across the table.

I instinctively stepped back, refusing to let her touch my uniform.

“I have nothing.

I’ll go into witness protection.

I’ll do whatever they want.

Just don’t let him hurt me.”

“Agent Brooks will handle your protective custody,” I said, turning my attention entirely away from my sister and locking eyes with the FBI agent.

“You said Charles is trying to flee via Teterboro tonight?”

Brooks checked his watch, his jaw tightening.

“If her intel is correct, his flight leaves in less than three hours.

We have federal marshals on standby, but Teterboro is a massive private hub.

If he slips through, he has the offshore resources to disappear forever.”

“He won’t slip through,” I stated, pulling my secure comms unit from my belt.

“Because I am coming with you.

I want to be there when the cuffs go on.”