“You’re just a soldier with no future,” my fiancé’s mother hissed, throwing my ring into the mud. “My daughter deserves a CEO.” As I turned to leave, a fleet of black helicopters appeared. A commander stepped out: “Commander-in-Chief, your retirement is denied. We need you back.”

Chapter 1: The Mask of the Soldier The heavy, ornate silver clattered against the fine bone china at the Sterling Estate, a sprawling, multi-million-dollar monument […]