Chapter 2: The Secret Behind the Screen
Nia Carter had spent months learning how to stand again.
She never expected that standing in a dining hall would become harder than standing on a battlefield.
The room remained frozen.
Hundreds of eyes moved between three people.
Nia.
Captain Marcus Reed.
And Cole Harris.
Cole stopped reaching for the phone when he realized how it looked.
His hand slowly lowered.
His face tried to recover.
Tried to rebuild the confidence he had worn only seconds earlier.
“Captain, that’s not what you think,” Cole said.
Marcus didn’t answer immediately.
He kept his eyes on the screen.
The paused image showed the moment before Nia’s fall.
Cole standing behind her.
Another soldier leaning close.
A hand extended.
A secret exchange.
Marcus finally looked up.
“Then tell me what I should think.””
Cole swallowed.
“It’s nothing.””
“Nobody hides nothing,” Marcus replied.
The words were calm.
That made them worse.
Nia leaned slightly on her crutch.
Her leg burned.
But she ignored it.
She couldn’t stop staring at Cole.
For weeks, she had wondered why his behavior had changed.
Why his comments became sharper.
Why every mistake she made was noticed.
Why he seemed almost determined to prove she didn’t belong.
Now she had an answer.
Or at least part of one.
Cole looked at her.
“Nia, you’re misunderstanding this.””
She almost laughed.
The nerve of it.
“Misunderstanding what?””
Her voice cut through the room.
“The part where you kicked my crutch?””
Several soldiers looked down.
Cole’s jaw tightened.
“That was a mistake.””
“No.””
Nia shook her head.
“That wasn’t a mistake.””
She tapped the remaining crutch against the floor.
“That was a choice.””
A few soldiers nodded quietly.
They had seen it.
Everyone had.
Marcus stepped between them.
“Cole, step away.””
Cole looked surprised.
“Sir—”
“Now.””
Cole obeyed.
But before he moved, Nia noticed something.
A small detail.
The kind of detail people missed when they were afraid.
Cole wasn’t looking at Marcus.
He wasn’t looking at the soldiers.
He was looking at the phone.
Not because he was worried about the fall being exposed.
Because he was worried about what came before.
Marcus noticed too.
He turned the phone off.
“We’re going to discuss this privately.””
Cole immediately shook his head.
“Sir, this is unnecessary.””
Marcus looked at him.
“You tried to convince everyone she simply fell.””
Cole said nothing.
“You told her to prove you touched her.””
Silence.
“You stood there and watched her struggle.””
The captain’s voice became colder.
“And now you’re telling me investigating is unnecessary?””
Nobody spoke.
Then one of the soldiers near the table finally stepped forward.
“Captain?””
Marcus turned.
The young soldier looked uncomfortable.
“Yes?””
“I saw something.””
Cole’s head snapped toward him.
The soldier noticed.
Then hesitated.
Marcus nodded.
“Say it.””
The soldier took a breath.
“Before Sergeant Carter fell… Harris looked around first.””
The room shifted.
The soldier continued.
“He checked who was watching.””
Cole stared at him.
“Careful.””
The warning was quiet.
But everyone heard it.
Marcus immediately stepped closer.
“That sounded like another threat.””
Cole looked away.
“I didn’t mean it like that.””
Nia watched him.
She had spent her career learning to read people.
Body language.
Tone.
Small reactions.
And Cole was scared.
Not embarrassed.
Not angry.
Scared.
Marcus looked back at the phone.
“I need the full footage.””
Cole’s expression changed again.
“Captain—”
“Full footage.””
The order ended the conversation.
Two soldiers nearby moved to help clear space around Nia.
She refused.
“I’m fine.””
Marcus looked at her knee brace.
“You’re injured.””
“I know.””
“Then stop pretending you aren’t.””
That sentence surprised her.
Because it didn’t sound like criticism.
It sounded like concern.
Nia looked away.
For months, everyone had either treated her like she was fragile or treated her like she was a problem.
Nobody treated her like a soldier who happened to be hurt.
Marcus lowered his voice.
“You did nothing wrong.””
Nia nodded.
But something still bothered her.
“Captain.””
“Yes?””
“If someone gave him something…”
She looked toward Cole.
“Why me?””
Marcus didn’t answer.
Because he didn’t know.
And that scared both of them.
Later that evening, Nia sat alone in the medical recovery room.
The bright lights reflected off the white walls.
Her crutches rested beside the chair.
Her phone sat untouched in her hand.
She replayed the moment over and over.
Not the fall.
Not the pain.
The look on Cole’s face.
The panic.
Someone had been pulling strings.
A message appeared on her phone.
Unknown number.
Nia stared at it.
She almost ignored it.
Then another message came.
*You need to stop asking questions.*
Her heartbeat changed.
She looked around the empty room.
Another message appeared.
*You don’t know what you’re involved in.*
Nia slowly sat forward.
Her fingers hovered over the screen.
Then she typed:
*Who is this?*
The response came instantly.
*Someone who tried to warn you.*
Before she could reply, another message appeared.
A photo.
Nia opened it.
And her entire body went still.
It was a picture of her.
Taken inside the Army facility.
Taken before the fall.
Taken from a place where nobody should have been watching.
She stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
*Cole wasn’t supposed to fail.*
Nia stopped breathing for a moment.
The door behind her opened.
She turned quickly.
Captain Marcus Reed stood there.
His expression was serious.
“Nia.””
She locked her phone.
“What happened?””
Marcus walked in slowly.
“I found something in the security footage.””
Her stomach tightened.
“What?””
Marcus closed the door.
“The person who handed Cole that item…”
He paused.
Nia waited.
Marcus looked at her.
“It wasn’t a stranger.””
May you like
The room went silent.
“Someone inside this unit helped him.””
