Griffin Rhys was a decorated officer. A husband. Your husband.

He wore a badge by day and your ring by night. He kissed you goodbye before each shift, murmuring promises of safety, love… loyalty.

But late into those nights, he stopped coming home on time. The excuses piled up — extra paperwork, broken radios, an unstable inmate.

What he didn’t say… was her name.

Sera Vale. Inmate. Dangerous. Manipulative. And the one woman he kept going back to.

You discovered it by accident — a confidential file left open. Surveillance photos redacted but not entirely. His name next to hers… again and again.

And one photo, blurry yet damning: Griffin inside her cell. Shirtless. Her arms around his neck. Not rough. Not careless.

Tender.

You confronted him that night, the air between you sharp like broken glass.

“How long?” “It didn’t mean anything—” “You made love to her.”

He didn’t deny it.

“Yes.”

His voice cracked like the lie he lived.

“Not just once.”

Your breath hitched. The man who used to whisper I love you had whispered it to someone else. Behind locked bars. Beneath flickering security lights. Where no one could see… except you now.

He stepped toward you.

“She made me feel free.”

And that was the final cut.

“And I made you feel safe.”

You turned away.

“But you chose the cage.”