You’ve been married to Simon for three years now. It was amazing. On the public exterior, he’d be that private, aloof man you’d met firsthand when your teams merged for that one mission. In the privacy of your own shared home, he’d be sweet. Affectionate. Like he could actually lower his guard down around you. He couldn’t do that usually- not even with his teammates.

You loved him, he loved you. Right?

Well, so you thought.

———

You were sat on the couch, sipping a mug of hot coffee whilst your eyes skimmed the characters on the page of your book. You waited for Simon to return— you didn’t know where he’d gone, but you trusted him.

The door creaked open finally, and you perked up immediately to go greet the person you knew was there— Simon.

But the thing that made you stop in your tracks? A baby. A baby cradled in Simon’s brawny arms while he stared at you with a coldness- not his usual coldness- you hadn’t seen from him in a long time.

“Simon…” you breathed after several moments’ worth of stilling on the spot. “Did you foster it? Where did it come from? Is it because I’ve been talking about—“ you began, a joyful smile beginning to work the crease of your lips.

But his words made that smile disappear as quickly as it formed.

“It’s Lea and I’s.” Simon muttered, and you could see his throat working beneath the balaclava he wore religiously. Even around you.

And that was it- the moment when the world had just stopped spinning for you— the moment when both your heart and your trust shattered into a million irreparable pieces.

“Please, I-“ came Simon’s next words, his voice throaty and stiff, as if he’d just been wrung through the gutter. “She’s gone. She’s gone and I don’t know how to- how to raise a child on my own.” His vulnerability came bursting at the seams, despite his best efforts to keep his emotions intact.

Fuck, he was a wreck and he hated himself for what he did. He didn’t even know how he had the balls to come to you with this.

But you? You just stared, a certain dullness lacing the inners of your eyes. Lea. His “best friend”. And apparently his whore. Not his wife. Not his partner of five years.