He Forged My Name to Give Away Our Home, So I Gave Away His Chapter 08

He Forged My Name to Give Away Our Home, So I Gave Away His Chapter 08

The next morning, Mr. Davis was gone.

The window of the records archive bore a typed sign: Temporarily Out of Office.

I stood outside the locked door for ten minutes.

Daisy paced back and forth like a caged cat.

“Did they ship him out already?”

Mrs. Higgins had followed us up, her market basket tucked under her arm.

“I told you something was wrong last night. His wife looked like she was packing his bags for an execution.”

As I turned to head toward the family council office, Chloe’s voice echoed down the hall.

“Are you looking for Mr. Davis?”

She was wearing a brand-new wool coat today, a soft cream color that perfectly matched the curtains in the new house.

I looked at her.

“Do you know where he is?”

“He’s been reassigned to a depot station,” she said smoothly.

“What a spectacular coincidence.”

Chloe stepped closer.

“Ava, Ethan is the Major. Managing personnel reallocations and efficiency movements is entirely within his command authority.”

Daisy snapped back instantly. “Oh, so efficiency movements just happen to target the exact clerk holding the physical evidence against him? Fascinating!”

Chloe shot her a cold look.

“You’re a junior hospital assistant, Daisy. Stop inserting yourself into an officer’s family matters.”

Daisy threw her hands on her hips.

“I’m not inserting myself into military logistics, Captain. I’m inserting myself into shameless behavior.”

Chloe’s expression turned utterly frigid.

I stepped between them. “Where is the original copy of my waiver?”

“All official documents have been properly processed into command archives,” she replied smoothly.

I pushed open the door to the archive room.

The interior was hollowed out.

The specific heavy-duty filing cabinets that held the housing applications were completely gone.

I turned back to face her.

“They’ve been transferred to headquarters for secure storage,” Chloe said evenly.

“And who ordered the transfer?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“You never know anything, Chloe, yet you always seem to be standing right on top of the crime scene.”

Her lips pressed into a thin, tight line.

Just then, Mrs. Gable from the family council came hurrying down the corridor, holding an official printout.

“Ava Bennett, what kind of disruption are you causing now?”

“I want to inspect the original waiver,” I stated clearly.

Mrs. Gable let out an impatient sigh.

“The file has been locked by command orders. It is restricted from civilian access.”

“It was here yesterday morning. Now the entire cabinet is missing.”

“Standard administrative reorganization.”

“And Mr. Davis’s reassignment? Is that standard, too?”

Mrs. Gable choked on her words, unable to answer.

Chloe spoke up quietly. “Ava, you already have a photocopy in your purse. Why are you obsessed with getting the original document?”

I looked her straight in the eye.

“What exactly are you afraid I’ll find on the original paper?”

She remained silent.

Mrs. Gable thrust the printout toward me.

“Since you’re here, take this. In light of the ongoing public disruption, command has issued a formal restriction. Your civilian access to headquarters and administrative records areas is suspended effective immediately. Stop loitering here.”

Daisy rushed forward.

“On what grounds?!”

Mrs. Gable shoved the paper into my hands.

“On the grounds of disrupting base operations.”

I looked down at the restriction order. The signature at the bottom was large, bold, and entirely familiar.

Approved by: Major Ethan Miller.

I let out a soft laugh.

Incredibly efficient.

He couldn’t claw back the lockbox last night, so he locks down my physical path today.

Chloe said softly, “Ethan had no choice, Ava.”

“Where is he?” I asked.

“Command brief.”

“Get him out here.”

Mrs. Gable frowned heavily. “The Major is in a closed-door briefing with the base commander. You don’t get to summon him like a servant.”

I pulled my cell phone from my pocket.

“Then I’ll call the state police and report the intentional destruction and concealment of a forged federal document.”

Mrs. Gable’s face changed instantly.

Chloe reached out, her hand tightly clamping over my wrist.

“Ava! Are you actively trying to destroy Ethan’s entire career?”

I yanked my hand back with immense force.

“He destroyed himself the moment he put my name on his crimes.”

Her voice went tight with panic. “Do you have any idea how hard he worked to earn his promotion to Major? How many deployments he endured?”

I looked down at her.

“So I am supposed to lay down my life to pave his highway?”

“You are his wife!”

“A wife is a partner, Chloe. Not a stepping stone.”

Footsteps echoed sharply from the end of the long corridor.

Ethan arrived, flanked by Director Vance and two MPs. He looked at the restriction paper in my hand, his expression entirely devoid of surprise.

“Go back to your quarters, Ava.”

I held up the restriction order.

“Did you sign this?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because you are acting irrationally. You need to calm down.”

“I am perfectly rational,” I said evenly.

He stared at me, his eyes dark with warning. “A rational woman doesn’t drag private marital arguments through every department on this installation.”

“Does forgery constitute a private marital argument, Major, or is it a federal offense?”

He didn’t answer.

I took a step closer to him.

“Where is the original waiver?”

“Secured,” he said flatly.

“Where?”

“You do not have the required clearance to know.”

“I am the individual whose identity was stolen on that paper.”

“Until the formal handwriting results are processed by the base legal team, stop making definitive conclusions.”

I looked up at him.

“When the forensic results come back from the state lab, Ethan… will you confess?”

He remained dead silent.

“Will you confess?” I repeated, my voice echoing off the concrete walls.

Chloe interjected quickly, “Ava, Ethan is giving you a graceful way out of this.”

“I don’t want a way out,” I said. “I want the truth.”

Ethan finally spoke, his jaw clenched tightly. “If the independent board proves the signature was not executed by your hand, I will take full administrative responsibility.”

“And how exactly will you take responsibility?” I challenged. “What’s the plan?”

“I will accept a formal reprimand from command, and the housing council will re-coordinate the property assignments.”

I let out a clear laugh.

“You stole my property, you got caught red-handed, and your solution is to ‘re-coordinate’ the theft?”

His face went incredibly dark.

“Ava Bennett, watch your mouth. Do not use the word theft.”

“Should I call it armed robbery instead?”

A distinct muffled snicker came from one of the junior staff standing by the wall.

Director Vance barked out, “Clear the hallway! Back to your stations!”

I folded the restriction order smoothly into my bag.

“Ethan, you can hide the physical cabinets, but you can’t hide your handwriting style. You can ship Mr. Davis to the desert, but you can’t seal his mouth forever. And as for the furniture receipt Chloe signed two months ago… I’ve already uploaded the digital file to a secure server.”

Chloe’s face turned an immediate, sickly shade of white.

Ethan snapped his head around to glare at her.

“What receipt?”

I didn’t miss the shock in his eyes.

Ah. So he didn’t know everything after all.

The first crack in their perfect alliance had finally appeared.

Chloe stammered out, “It… it was just a preliminary order, Ethan! I was worried the shipping times would be backed up once we moved in.”

I looked at her. “The housing assignments weren’t even approved yet. How did you know with absolute certainty that you’d be moving in?”

She had no answer.

Ethan’s expression sank into something dark and hollow.

I slid my phone back into my pocket.

“I’ll leave you two to align your stories.”

I turned and took a few steps down the hall, then paused, looking back over my shoulder.

“Oh, by the way, Ethan… the moving truck arrives at three o’clock today.”

He snapped his head up.

“Moving where?”

“Out of your life.”

“I do not consent to a separation,” he barked.

I looked at him, my heart lighter than it had been in years.

“Then come try and stop me.”