Dominance of the ex-con Son-in-law

Chapter 3

Before the soldiers could even react, a whirlwind of perfume, silk, and reckless energy crashed into the centre of the chamber.

Lila had thrown herself forward, arms wrapping around Kadmiel with such familiarity that the guards froze in disbelief. Rifles twitched upward, fingers tightened on triggers, yet none dared to fire.

“Stand down,” Kadmiel said flatly, one hand raised in command. His voice cut through the tension like a blade.

The soldiers obeyed, but not without exchanging anxious looks. The nerve it took for a civilian—no, a corporate titan, to storm into a restricted military session and embrace the man they had just saluted as a five-star general was beyond comprehension.

“Do you have to be this dramatic everywhere you go?” Kadmiel asked, his tone dry, though his expression was nothing more than mild exasperation.

Lila pulled back only enough to look at him, her face alight with mischief. “Oh, don’t pretend you’re not touched. I know you missed me. You just won’t admit it.”

Her smile was infectious, but Kadmiel remained unmoved. “We are in a classified chamber. This isn’t a place for your antics.”

“Antics?” she gasped, pressing a hand over her chest with feigned offence. “Do you hear that, soldiers? He calls me a clown. And here I was, thinking my presence would brighten his gloomy little mission briefing.”

The guards wisely kept their eyes forward, though a few mouths twitched as if struggling not to smile.

Kadmiel exhaled slowly. “Lila. Why are you here?”

“Because you’re out,” she answered, as if the reason were self-evident. “Do you know how many months I’ve been waiting to see you again? Do you know how many boring dinners I had to endure with businessmen twice my age, just to distract myself? You owe me, Kad.”

“I owe you nothing,” he replied.

“Oh, but you do,” she teased, stepping into his line of vision again. “And don’t try to brush me off with that stone-face routine. I have known you so long, I am immune. You should know that by now.”

Kadmiel rubbed his temple, a hint of weariness surfacing. “You are not supposed to be here. My mission requires silence, anonymity. The fewer people who know, the better.”

“Relax,” she said, her tone dropping into something more serious, more deliberate. “Do you think I’d run out of here and broadcast your business on the evening news? Please. I’ve kept secrets bigger than this. You remember last year’s scandal? The ministers still don’t know it was Group A who kept the economy from collapsing under their noses.”

His eyes narrowed, studying her carefully. There it was, the flash of power beneath her playful exterior.

She was not just some giddy woman crashing into his world. She was Lila Samson, CEO of Group A, one of the most influential conglomerates in the federation. Behind the perfume and laughter was a mind as sharp as any blade.

“Keep my mission out of your world,” Kadmiel said firmly. “This is not something you want to be entangled in.”

“And yet,” she countered, leaning closer, “your world always finds its way back to mine. Maybe it’s fate. Or maybe you are just unlucky, heh!”

The remark earned her another long stare, the kind that would make most men shrink back. Lila, of course, only tilted her head and smiled wider.

“You have just been handed a star, Kad,” she continued, nodding toward the insignia gleaming freshly on his shoulder.

“Five stars, in fact. Do you think anyone outside this chamber understands what that means? No. But I do. And it means you’re not disappearing into obscurity, no matter how much you want to. So don’t you dare talk to me about keeping low. That is not your life anymore.”

Kadmiel’s jaw tightened. “Retirement was supposed to be my life.”

“And mine was supposed to be peaceful,” she quipped. “Instead I’m wrangling investors, bribing senators, and babysitting arrogant generals who will not admit when they need a friend.”

For a moment, the atmosphere was nice. The banter still lingered, but beneath it was the bond they both understood.

“Lila,” Kadmiel said at last, his voice quieter, almost resigned, “I need you to promise me you will stay out of this. If word spreads that I’m active again…”

“I said I’ll keep your secret,” she interrupted gently. “And unlike most of the men you’ve served with, I don’t break my promises.”

Silence stretched between them. Kadmiel studied her, searching for cracks in her conviction, but found none.

Finally, he nodded once. “Then that will have to do.”

Her grin returned, bright and unrestrained. “Good. Now that we have settled the heavy talk, let us move to something far more important.”

He groaned inwardly. “What?”

“Celebration,” she declared, spinning lightly on her heel before facing him again. “You’ve been locked away, pretending to be a disgraced soldier when in reality you were serving the federation in the shadows. Now you are free. Do you expect me to let that pass without at least one bottle of champagne?”

“Lila.” His tone was a warning, but she ignored it completely.

“We will keep it quiet, private, tasteful,” she went on, her hands painting invisible pictures in the air.

“Just you and me. No press, no shareholders, no politicians sniffing around. A night where you don’t have to be General Kadmiel, hero of the federation. Just Kadmiel. My Kadmiel.”

The last two words stuck, they were softer and warmer than the rest.

He looked at her carefully, the battle-hardened general against the unstoppable force of her affection.

He had faced enemies across continents, negotiated under intense pressure, and outmaneuvered rivals who thought they were clever. Yet here, against her, he could do little more than sigh.

“You don’t give up, do you?”

“Not on you,” she said simply.

The chamber seemed too small for the weight of her sincerity. The guards adjusted uneasily, pretending not to listen, though the air itself felt charged with something beyond their comprehension.

Kadmiel finally turned, gesturing toward the door. “Fine. One dinner. But nothing extravagant.”

Lila’s face lit up like dawn breaking across stormy skies. “Perfect. I will handle everything.”

“That is exactly what I’m afraid of,” he muttered.

She laughed, the sound echoing brightly against the cold walls of the chamber. The laughter carried warmth.

As they walked out together, Kadmiel felt the tug of inevitability. He had a mission, one cloaked in shadows and danger. But with Lila at his side, even the darkness seemed… less consuming.

And Lila, trailing just half a step behind him with her mischievous smile firmly in place, knew one thing with certainty, she was going to support him no matter what.