On my wedding, my sister gave me a gift box. My seal commander husband said: "Don't touch it." "What's wrong?" I asked. He stared at my sister, his voice like ice: "You brought a threat into my home." His seal team guests stood up. My sister's smirk... Turned to fear.

Long Beach Harbor was shrouded in a heavy marine fog. The scent of salt water, rust, and diesel fuel hung thick in the cold midnight air.

From inside the armored FBI command vehicle parked three blocks away, I sat beside Agent Lin, watching four thermal camera feeds broadcast directly from the tactical team’s helmet cams.

Ethan’s feed showed a dark, rusting warehouse bordering Pier 4. Giant cargo containers were stacked three high, creating a maze of shadows.

A luxury black sedan pulled onto the pier, its headlights cutting through the swirling fog.

Out stepped Rear Admiral Thomas Vance—a tall man in his sixties with silver hair, wearing a dark trench coat. Beside him stood three armed men in tactical gear—the same Vanguard Pacific contractors who had attacked our wedding.

"Target in sight," Marcus’s voice crackled through the comms. "Team 1 in position on the gantry crane. Team 2 locking down the south exit."

A unmarked sedan driven by an undercover FBI agent pulled up opposite Vance's car. The door opened, and a female undercover agent dressed in Vanessa's clothes stepped out, holding a silver briefcase.

"You're late, Vanessa," Vance said, his voice echoing off the corrugated steel of the shipping containers.

"The money first, Admiral," the undercover agent said, keeping her head low under a heavy hoodie.

Vance sneered. He gestured to his guard. "Check the briefcase."

The guard stepped forward, reaching for the silver case. The moment his hands touched the handle, Vance reached into his coat, pulling a suppressed pistol. "You were always an idiot, Vanessa. Dead witnesses don't testify."

"GO! GO! GO!" Ethan’s voice boomed over the comms.

Flashbang grenades exploded with a blinding white light and deafening cracks across the pier.

"FEDERAL AGENTS! DROP YOUR WEAPONS!"

The darkness erupted into chaos. Gunfire echoed across the water as Vanguard Pacific guards opened fire on the tactical team.

Through the thermal feed, I watched Ethan move with terrifying speed and precision. He vaulted over a steel crate, closing the distance between himself and Vance's primary guard. In two swift strikes, Ethan disarmed the man, threw him over the pier railing into the dark water below, and rolled into cover behind a forklift.

Vance turned to run back toward his sedan, but Marcus cut off his escape route, levelling an assault rifle at his chest.

"Move an inch, Admiral," Marcus roared, "and I’ll treat you like an enemy combatant!"

Vance froze, his pistol dangling from his finger.

Ethan stepped out from the fog, his weapon lowered but ready. He walked up to Vance, snatched the pistol from his hand, and kicked his legs out from under him, forcing the disgraced Admiral onto his knees in the wet gravel.

"Thomas Vance," Ethan said, his voice ringing out over the harbor noise. "You are under arrest for treason, conspiracy to commit espionage, and attempted murder."

In the command vehicle, Agent Lin let out a long breath. "Operation complete. All targets secured."

I slumped back in my chair, tears of relief washing over my face as I watched Ethan on the monitor screen adjust his radio.

"Maya," Ethan’s voice came softly through my ear monitor. "You copy?"