UPRISING GENERAL

The heavy steel door groaned open, and the stench of iron and damp stone seeped into the air. Thomas Bradley sat alone at the end of the narrow visiting hall, his posture calm, his eyes sharp despite the prison uniform draped across his frame.

He looked nothing like a man broken by chains, more like a king momentarily confined to a cage.

The secretary entered first, heels clicking against the concrete floor. She didn’t bother hiding the disdain in her eyes as she set the papers on the table.

“Mr. Bradley,” she said, her tone clipped. “Madam has instructed me to finalize the divorce. Sign here.”

Thomas raised his head, a faint smile tugging at his lips. His voice was low, steady, almost mocking.

The secretary stiffened, clearly annoyed. “You’re in no position to make demands.”

But Thomas leaned back in his chair, unshaken. “Then we wait.”

Moments later, another set of footsteps echoed down the hall. This time, they carried an elegance that silenced the room. She appeared, cold, poised, every inch the untouchable CEO. Katherine Liu, his wife.

The woman who once laughed with him under the stars, who once wore his family pendant as a promise. Her eyes, however, held no warmth now.

“Thomas,” she said softly, sliding the papers across the table. “Let’s end this. I’ll compensate you generously. Just sign, and you’ll be free.”

Thomas chuckled bitterly, his fingers brushing the pen but not moving. “Compensation? So that’s what our years together are worth, a transaction?”

Katherine’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Don’t make this harder than it already is. You’ve given me nothing but disappointment. Now you’ve landed yourself in prison. How am I supposed to rely on you? How am I supposed to let you drag me down any further?”

Her words cut deep, but Thomas didn’t flinch. He studied her face for a long moment before finally scribbling his name on the paper. When he pushed it back toward her, his voice was low, almost a whisper.

“I don’t want your money. But return the pendant. My mother’s heirloom doesn’t belong here.”

For a flicker of a moment, Katherine’s composure cracked. Guilt flashed in her eyes before she quickly masked it. “I’ll bring it next time. Think if there are any other terms you want to add by tomorrow.”

Then she rose, her heels striking the floor like hammers against his chest, and walked away without looking back. The secretary lingered just long enough to murmur, “You never deserved her,” before following.

Alone again, Thomas let out a laugh, quiet and broken. He had once believed she understood him, that she trusted him. But when the storm came, she was the first to flee.

When disaster strikes, even the closest birds fly apart. The echo of that proverb lingered in his mind as the door opened once more.

This time, it wasn’t a guard. It was the warden himself, head held high, shoulders squared. He stepped forward, stopped before Thomas, and saluted.

“General Bradley,” the warden said solemnly. “The President requests your presence immediately.”

Thomas’s bitter smile vanished. His eyes hardened. The son-in-law had been cast aside. The general was being summoned. And the world had no idea what storm was about to be unleashed.