Chapter 1: The cage

Inside my private dressing room, I finally let myself breathe. I stood before the vanity mirror and touched the heavy crystal Prosecutor of the Year award. At twenty-eight, I was the youngest chief prosecutor in the city’s history. I had just locked up the region's most dangerous crime boss, and I had done it all while looking completely flawless in an emerald evening gown.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist from behind. Julian, my handsome husband, pressed a soft kiss to my neck.

"Look at you," he whispered, his voice full of pride. "The brilliant Vivian Vance. You put away a cartel and didn't even break a sweat. I could see the terror in their eyes from the front row."

I turned around in his arms and smiled. "I couldn't have done any of this without you holding down the fort at home, Julian. This award belongs to both of us."

Julian smiled back and handed me a glass of champagne.

We clinked our glasses together. "To your brilliant mind, my love," he said softly. "And to our future."

I took a sip of the champagne.

BAM!

The heavy wooden doors burst open. Four Internal Affairs Bureau agents marched into the room. They were led by Agent Miller—a smug, ruthless man who had spent years trying to find dirt on my spotless record.

I instantly stepped forward, my voice dropping to a freeze. "Agent Miller? You are interrupting a private celebration. Get out."

"Hope you Enjoyed the celebration while it lasted, Counselor," Miller sneered, waving his men forward to surround me. "Vivian Vance, you are under arrest for grand corruption, bribery, and protecting the international syndicates."

I froze. A sharp, breathless laugh escaped my throat. "Are you insane? I just spent twelve months putting those exact syndicate bosses behind bars!"

"Which was the perfect way to eliminate your competitors, wasn't it?" Miller threw a heavy manila folder onto the vanity table. It fell open, scattering papers across the wood. "An offshore account under your legal name. Thirty million dollars wired into it over the last six months. And look at this—signed ledger entries that match your handwriting perfectly."

I stared at the papers. My legal mind raced, trying to find a logical explanation. It was impossible. The signatures looked exactly like my own, but I had never seen these documents in my life.

"This is a fabrication. This is a setup!" Desperate, I turned to my husband and grabbed his jacket. "Julian! Tell them! You manage our family assets. You know every account we own. Tell them this is a mistake!"

Julian slowly reached down and pushed my hands off his chest. He took a step back, setting his champagne glass down on the table. When he looked at me, his face was filled with shock and heartbreak.

"My God, Vivian..." Julian whispered, his voice cracking with emotion. "Stop lying already!”

I staggered back as if he had struck me. "What? Julian, what are you saying?!"

"I tried to stop her, Officer," Julian said, turning his back on me to look at Agent Miller. "I found an encrypted laptop in her study this morning. I didn't want to believe it. I love my wife, but I couldn't let my family name be dragged through the mud by a criminal."

"Julian, you are lying!" I screamed, my chest heaving as terror flooded my veins. "You know I've never seen those accounts! Why are you doing this?!"

Before I could reach him, two heavy hands grabbed my arms and forced them behind my back. The cold, metallic click-click of handcuffs echoed in the quiet room. My fate was sealed.

Julian walked over to me. He pulled a silk handkerchief from his pocket and pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. Then, he leaned in close, his lips brushing against my ear.

The heartbreak completely vanished from his face. A small, victorious smile touched his lips.

"Your little crusade almost ruined my shipping company, darling," he whispered, his voice deadly quiet. "I needed thirty million to pay off my cartel debts, and I needed a perfect scapegoat to take the fall. Thanks for saving my empire. Enjoy prison."

My eyes widened. The brutal truth hit me all at once. The man I loved, the man I trusted blindly, had used my entire career as a shield for his crimes. He hadn't been supporting my career; he had been setting me up from the very beginning.

"Take her away," Julian commanded loudly, stepping back. "She's dead to me."

"JULIAN!!!" I screamed as the agents dragged me down the corridor. My heels scraped against the floor. I fought against the cuffs, looking back one last time to see Julian calmly picking up his champagne glass, raising it to me with a smirk.