I married a woman more alluring in her inspector’s uniform than silk lingerie, expecting handcuffs and passion. Instead, for three months, she’d tie me to the headboard only to leave when her phone buzzed with work. On the 99th time, pregnant and finally free for our first prenatal visit, her encrypted phone rang as we entered the hospital. A name flashed—she paled. "Code red," she said. "Fugitive crossed the border." Gone before I could argue. I crushed the appointment slip, hailed a cab, and pointed to her car. "Follow it." A Red Notice fugitive? Pathetic lie. My father heads Federal Security—he’d know first. What "fugitive" would a city inspector chase alone? I’d find out which "superior" gave those orders. 1 The moment I muttered the words "catch a cheater," the taxi driver slammed on the gas, and we were hot on Sera's tail. I had no idea who she was rushing to meet, but a cold dread was pooling in my gut. To my surprise, after a series of winding turns, her car pulled up to the gates of the Oakhaven Estates, the exclusive residential compound for the department's top brass. A wave of relief washed over me. At least it wasn't a hotel. Sera had been assigned a villa here. Before our first child, we’d lived here for a few months. The neighbors were all pleasant enough. But as I looked closer, I saw the house was ablaze with lights and decorations, the driveway crowded with luxury cars. What was going on? Was it some kind of holiday I’d forgotten? I tried to follow her inside, but a guard stopped me at the gate. "Restricted access. No unauthorized personnel." I managed a smile. "It's alright. I'm with Inspector Henderson, who just went in. I'm her husband." The guard shot me a look of pure contempt. "Inspector Henderson's husband is Mr. Caleb Shaw. And who are you? If you're going to impersonate someone, at least do your homework." The world tilted on its axis. My blood ran cold, and I froze, rooted to the spot. Caleb Shaw. The man I had found for Sera… the living, breathing blood bank. Shaking myself from my stupor, I shoved past the guard and sprinted to the villa's entrance. The scene inside was a glittering panorama of the city's elite, their laughter echoing through the grand hall. My mother-in-law, Eleanor, who usually loathed social functions, was gliding through the crowd, a gracious hostess. And there, in the center of it all, was my wife, Sera. She was holding a baby, her pregnant belly prominent, smiling up at the tall man beside her with a look of pure, unadulterated happiness. The man was Caleb Shaw. A giant hand seized my heart, squeezing until I couldn't breathe. My eyes burned. When Sera first joined the force, I was terrified for her. She had a rare blood type, and the thought of her getting injured in the line of duty was unbearable. I had scoured the country and found Caleb, then just a broke college student, to be her on-call donor. A living insurance policy. After our first child was born, Caleb had donated so much blood that his health had deteriorated. He couldn't be a donor anymore. Sera had said we should send him on his way. But I felt a pang of pity. I’d pulled some strings, gotten him a comfortable clerk position at the precinct, and even asked Sera to look out for him. I never imagined this. That she would cheat on me with him. That she would move him into this house—the house she had decorated as our marital home after her promotion to Captain. She'd claimed it was too far from the hospital, that the stress of her first pregnancy was giving her panic attacks, and insisted we buy a new place downtown. I saw now that it was all a lie. This house hadn't been abandoned. It had become their home. And they had a child… Wait. A child? "Congratulations, Captain Henderson!" a woman gushed. "Such a doting husband, and now your beautiful child is turning one! You truly have it all!" "Oh, Caleb is a lucky man to have landed our Sera," another chimed in, patting my mother-in-law on the arm. Eleanor beamed, her eyes shining with pride as she looked at Caleb. "It is Sera who is the lucky one, to have found such a devoted man." As she spoke, Sera leaned in and whispered something in Caleb's ear. He blushed and then raised his glass to the crowd. "I have to apologize for the secrecy," he said, his voice smooth. "I was worried that being publicly married to me might affect Sera's authority at the precinct. Please, don't hold it against us. Today is our child's first birthday. Think of this as our belated wedding reception!" The crowd laughed and raised their glasses. "How could we be upset? We just owe you a 'congratulations on the wedding'!" "I have an idea!" one of Sera's subordinates shouted. "Why not relive the moment? A ceremonial toast, bride and groom style!" The room erupted in cheers. Caleb looked shyly hesitant, but Sera, ever the confident leader, grinned and linked her arm with his, raising her glass. But just as she brought it to her lips, her eyes met mine across the crowded room. "Finn…" she whispered. She shoved Caleb away so violently that he stumbled, red wine sloshing all over his pristine white shirt. I wiped the hot tears from my eyes, strode forward, and slammed my fist into Caleb's face. CRACK! The sound of bone breaking echoed through the suddenly silent hall. "Caleb!" Sera screamed, rushing to his side. She turned on me, her face contorted with rage. "Finn! How dare you—" SLAP! The sound of my hand connecting with her cheek was just as loud. She staggered back, a red handprint blooming on her face, and fell into Caleb's arms. I shook out my stinging palm. "Finn—" she started to yell again. "SERA!" My voice was louder, a raw, ragged roar. I pointed a trembling finger at the man she was cradling. "This," I spat, my voice cracking, "is your 'Red Notice fugitive'!" 2 Sera was speechless, her mouth opening and closing like a fish, but no sound came out. The assembled guests—high-ranking officials and their spouses—stared, utterly bewildered. The tense silence was shattered by the piercing cry of a baby. Eleanor rushed to take the child, and the moment she had him soothed, she rounded on me. "Finn! You psycho! We're divorced, what are you doing here harassing my daughter? Get the hell out before you offend someone important and end up in a cell!" The Deputy Commissioner’s wife chimed in, her voice shrill. "Even if you are her ex-husband, you can't just assault people! That's a police officer you just hit! Have you lost your mind?" The revelation of my supposed identity sent a shockwave through the room. The murmurs exploded into a cacophony of outrage, with people shouting that I should be arrested. I ignored them, grabbing Sera’s wrist, my mind reeling. Since when was I the ex-husband? But Caleb spoke first, shrinking behind Sera and looking at me with wide, pitiful eyes. "Finn… brother… Sera already divorced you. Why won't you leave us alone?" Tears streamed down his face. "It's all my fault. I'll give her back to you, okay? Just leave us be…" His words had the opposite effect. Sera's face hardened. "Finn, I told you, we are never getting back together!" she snapped. "Stop harassing us! Get out, while I still have some patience left!" She gestured, and several of her subordinates moved to grab me. In the struggle, I stumbled and crashed into Eleanor. And then I saw the baby's face. The world shattered. It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck me, leaving nothing but smoke and ash. Because the child in her arms, the child they were calling Caleb's, was Leo. My Leo. Our firstborn. I had been the one to soothe him to sleep, the one to change his diapers, the one to love him with every fiber of my being. But Leo… Leo had died three months ago. How could he be here? Sera… My breath hitched, and a wave of pure agony washed over me. That goddamned woman. She had even given our son—the son I thought was dead—to her lover to raise as his own. "Give me my son!" I roared, my teeth grinding together. I shoved Eleanor aside, snatched the swaddled infant from her arms, and held him close, my own tears streaming down onto his tiny, crying face. Caleb panicked, lunging for the baby. "Finn, he's not your son!" he sobbed, his voice trembling. "I know Leo is gone, and you've been… unwell since the divorce. You keep begging Sera to have another child with you… I feel for you, I really do, but you can't steal my son!" He was practically hysterical. "Please, just leave our family alone… I'll divorce Sera if that's what you want, just give me back my son!" At that, Sera's expression twisted in pain. She grabbed Caleb's shoulders. "Don't you dare say that, Caleb! No one is tearing our family apart." "Then what about me?!" I bellowed, interrupting their tragic little melodrama. I held up the crying baby. "Sera, this is our child! You gave him to your lover and told everyone I'm your ex-husband! Do you even have a heart?!" Her lips trembled. She couldn't meet my eyes. Caleb's tears, however, fell even faster. He turned to the guests, the very picture of a wronged man. "I'm so sorry, everyone. Finn is Sera's ex-husband. He… he hasn't been well since they lost their son and divorced. He keeps begging her to have another baby, and when she refused, he… he started claiming our son was his. Sera has been trying to help him, out of pity for what they once had, but he just won't leave us alone. Now he's even threatening me…" His speech lit a match to the room's simmering anger. "He's an animal!" one of the society wives shrieked. "Security! Get this lunatic out of here!" I just held my son, a bitter, broken laugh escaping my lips. I looked at Caleb, my eyes as cold as ice. "Who's the animal here, Caleb? Do you need me to remind you how much you used to charge me per milliliter of your precious blood? Thirty million dollars I gave you. And you were the one on your knees, begging me for a stable job." Caleb's face grew paler with every word, but I didn't stop. "What's the matter? Is the allowance Sera gives you not enough? Is the little mistress trying to claim the throne? Doesn't it hurt, pretending to be the king when you're nothing but a court jester?" Before I could finish, a powerful shove sent me stumbling. 3 "You're the homewrecker who destroyed my daughter's life!" Eleanor screeched. My back slammed into the corner of a heavy oak table. A bolt of white-hot agony shot through my abdomen. In that moment of shock, she ripped the baby from my arms and handed him back to Caleb. Before I could recover, Sera's officers were on me, pinning me down, their faces alight with self-righteous fury. "Everyone at the precinct knows the Captain and Caleb are the real deal!" one of them spat. "If it weren't for Caleb's intel, do you think she would have solved all those high-profile cases? Do you think she'd have been promoted so fast?" "You're just a useless ex-husband, holding her back! You're the one who should be ashamed!" Intel? Promotions? Those were my contributions. Everything I had done for her, every lead I had chased down using my family's resources, every late night I had spent poring over case files for her… she had taken it all and given the credit to him. To build him up, to give him a respectable façade. Why? "Exactly! Even if you are mentally ill, interfering with the marriage of a public servant is a crime!" "Stop pretending you're the victim, you parasite! It's only because the Captain is a saint that she's put up with you this long!" The vicious accusations swirled around me. Pinned to the floor, I looked up, my face ashen, at the woman standing aloof from it all, watching me suffer. "Sera," I gasped, my voice weak. "Tell them. Tell them how you really got your Captain's shield." Her fingers clenched into a fist. She turned her head, and for the first time, I saw a flicker of raw hatred in her usually placid eyes. I almost smiled. "You told me the front lines were too dangerous, that you just wanted a safe desk job. I made it happen," I whispered, the words tearing at my throat. "After we got engaged, you said your rank was too low, that you weren't worthy of me, so I went to my father. You complained the cases were too complex, so I stayed up night after night, feeding you the clues. And this is how you—" "Enough!" Sera's roar cut through the room. She strode forward, waving her men off, and her hands closed around my neck. Her eyes were bloodshot, feral. "You're lying! I earned everything I have myself! It had nothing to do with a useless piece of trash like you!" The pressure on my throat was immense. Black spots danced in my vision as my face turned purple. But my words had hit their mark. Her violent, over-the-top reaction had planted a seed of doubt in the room. The guests were whispering again. Sensing the shift, Caleb made his move. He fell to his knees beside me, clutching the baby, his voice choked with sobs. "Finn… brother… when you have your episodes, I usually just let it go. But in front of all these important people… if you keep saying these things, you'll destroy Sera's career! I'm begging you, Finn. I'll get on my knees, I'll bow to you, just please, stop this madness!" He shuffled forward on his knees, grabbing my pant leg as if to prostrate himself. Sera, alarmed, released her grip on my neck and bent to pull him up. In that split second, Caleb twisted, using my leg as leverage to throw himself backward, letting out a piercing scream. "Aaargh! Finn, just kill me!" Before I could even react, Sera’s hand cracked across my face in a vicious, hysterical slap. "Finn! I've had it with you!" The right side of my face exploded in pain. I tried to strike back, but a sharp kick from Eleanor caught me in the lower back, sending me flying into a tall display cabinet. Glass and porcelain shattered around me. Shards rained down, embedding themselves in my skin, and my shirt was instantly soaked with blood. As I collapsed to the floor, a pool of crimson spread out beneath me. I lay there in the wreckage, my body a symphony of agony. "My eye… Sera… my eye…" A piece of glass had pierced my eyeball. A tear of blood rolled down my cheek as I reached a hand out to her. But it was Eleanor who responded, stomping on my outstretched hand with her heel. I felt the bones grind together. "You bastard! Stop faking! My daughter won't fall for your threats!" My vision was blurring. "Sera… I'm not faking… hospital… please…" She didn't even look at me. She was fussing over Caleb, her voice cold and hard. "That's enough, Finn. Stop the act and apologize to Caleb. Do you think I'd believe your lies?" She turned back to me, her voice dripping with rage, but when she saw my blood-soaked face, her pupils contracted to pinpricks of shock and fear. She knew who I was. She couldn't just let me die here. Staring into her panicked eyes, I fought through the pain that felt like it was tearing my nerves apart. "Sera!" I bit out each word. "If anything… happens to me… in your house… you… the devoted wife… will be a murderer! My father… my brother… they will bury your entire family! Get me… to a hospital!"
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