Chapter 1
Everyone at Fort Redding thought Private Ava Monroe would quit before sunrise.
She was too quiet.
Too small.
Too calm.
And according to Private Derek Cole, she didn’t belong anywhere near a combat training lane.
He had been saying it for three weeks.
In the barracks.
In the chow hall.
During weapons drills.
Even in front of the instructors, where he smiled just enough to make it sound like a joke.
“Monroe’s gonna get someone killed one day,” he’d say.
The other soldiers laughed because Derek made it easy to laugh.
He was broad-shouldered, loud, confident, and came from a military family with enough medals on the wall to make people look twice.
Ava had none of that.
No stories.
No bragging.
No one from command shaking her hand.
Just a worn pair of boots, a quiet stare, and a small silver chain tucked under her uniform that she never let anyone see.
That made Derek hate her even more.
Because no matter how many times he tried to break her, Ava never answered the way he wanted.
She never cried.
She never begged.
She never exploded.
She just kept training.
And that morning, in the rain-soaked mud pit behind the obstacle course, Derek decided quiet wasn’t enough.
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He wanted her humiliated.
Read Part 2 to see what Derek did when Ava started beating him in front of everyone.
