I watched Nathan watch Caroline.

She was weeping silently now, looking at her father as if he were a stranger.

“Nathan,” she gasped. “Did you know?”

Nathan looked down at her, his eyes heavy with pain.

“I survived because of luck, Caroline,” he said softly. “The men on the next patrol might not.”

Admiral Bell stepped closer to me, his boots clicking on the parquet.

“We are securing the digital backups now,” Bell said under his breath. “But you know what comes next for you, Evelyn.”

I looked at him and nodded slowly.

“I will submit my formal recusal to the Secretary’s office by midnight,” I said.

To keep this investigation untainted by allegations of family bias, I had to step away from the active prosecution.

If I stayed on the task force, my father’s lawyers would weaponize our relationship to throw the evidence out of court.

“It is the only correct path,” Bell agreed quietly. “But the operational side is still yours until the handoff.”

My chest tightened as I thought of the active fleet.

The legal battle would take months, perhaps years.