We need to talk

18 January, Military Base, City K

Hearing those words from Colonel Rong, the soldiers on guard duty at the gate knew, the woman who had made the scene. They looked at each other and wondered could they be in trouble if this woman was exactly who she claimed to be.

Standing there, ready to react if it was necessary, they all patiently waited for what was said next. They heard the woman, in a loud voice say "Matthew Rong, how dare you have me, your wife treated like this at the gate. I could accept being stopped here for my identity to be checked, but not this treatment. You better sort things out as we need to talk."

The guards at the gate knew their fears were realised. This was the colonel's wife and they treated her like that.

The two that had spoken to Major Hung, however looked at the vehicle she had been driving. There was always rumours of senior military officers skimming military resources to enrich themselves. They had hoped Colonel Rong was different, but he was one of these officers and the military heads in the capital decided to dump him here on them. That worried them, as what did it mean for how things operated here? Would their skills and careers be impacted? Why did the national command not dismiss him from the military and drag him before the civilian courts.

Having observed the scene as he arrived Matthew was aware of that the gate guards were worried about something, but at this exact moment that did not matter. Lexi was the priority, particularly as he could see she was agitated about something.

Matthew knew, what he was about to do would be seen by Lexi as acting, Matthew knew it was the truth. He wanted to share her concerns and help her. Moving close, he said quietly but loud enough so everyone could hear, "Lexi, calm down and come with me." Matthew felt Lexi tense, so he continued "I will deal with this."

Turning away from Lexi, Matthew loudly said "Gentleman, this is my wife. If she requests to see me when I am on base, she is to be shown to my office immediately. Make sure that everyone in the guard detail knows that."

Acknowledging the order, the guards on duty saluted Matthew as he led Lexi inside the base and headed towards the building where his office was situated.

As they walked away, the guards turned to Major Hung moved back towards them. He needed to have them spreading the rumours around the base that will undermine Colonel Rong with the enlisted and lower ranks.

"Gentleman, you heard Colonel Rong about that woman …"

"Yes Sir. But that car was a Porsche, how can a soldier's wife afford such a vehicle?"

"That I am not certain of gentleman. But I need to head back to my office."

As he walked away, Major Hung he heard the guards whispering about the how it appeared that Colonel Rong had a money source that he could not explain. Those words pleased him, and he hoped that they quickly spread the message around before the news of his background spread.

Of course, it was easy for the base commandant and General Man to correct the misinformation when it reached their ears, as they would have access to his personal information, but he wondered if any of the majors or colonels recalled the contents of the email before they were kidnapped which contained indications of his wealthy background that would confirm that he could afford to purchase a Porsche for his wife, let alone the fact her own background would tell them that she could purchase it for herself.

His hope was that the rumour would spread enough to undermine Colonel Rong's position with the troops, allowing him to go to National Headquarters and have them remove him and those three men he brought in from the base. Doing that would provide the opportunity for him to argue rather than bringing someone in, he should be promoted and take the position particularly as of the respect he had within the troops. Getting that position would make helping David and his men execute their plan.

While walking beside Matthew, Lexi felt that he was unhappy she turned up like this. She did not give a care about how he felt as there were more pressing matters relating to Dominic they needed to talk about.

Matthew while responding to the soldiers salutes as he lead Lexi towards his office could not believe she had escaped from the guards he had assigned to her. How could she risk her safety like that. Did she have no care for him or Dominic?

As soon as Matthew escorted her into his office and shut the door behind him, Lexi turned and slapped him hard across the face, yelling "How dare you have me stopped like that at the gate. You know this marriage is a disaster from the start and should not have happened. The sooner you let me have the one thing I want from you the better, but you need to treat me with respect."

Matthew sighed. Things were not changing, and all Lexi could focus on was the divorce. Did she not understand that he still loved her, despite everything. This marriage, despite the circumstances was the one thing he had always wanted. Matthew rather than immediately responding walked over to the couch in his office and sat down, before saying "Lexi, please sit down. It appears we need to talk."

"Why in the world would I waste my time talking to you, you never want to listen to me, it is always about what you want, never me," Lexi immediately snapped back.

Looking at Matthew, Lexi however observed conflicting emotions pass across his face. That surprised her, as until now he had always seemed cold. Maybe there was some hope that she could get what she wanted and protect the most important thing to her, Dominic.

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