The First Betrayal

The cameras zoomed in at the exact moment Ariana Yamani-Monroe broke.

Not just tears.

Not the elegant, composed kind expected of a First Lady.

This was uncontainable. Animal.

A full-bodied scream, ripped from her lungs as if the grief had been living in her ribcage, waiting for permission to escape.

She collapsed against the flag-draped coffin, her warm brown hands trembling violently as Secret Service rushed forward-unsure whether to comfort her or restrain her.

The choir froze.

The world watched.

Live.

Unedited.

Cole Monroe, 46th President of the United States, was dead.

And Ariana, his widow, had just fallen apart on national television.