Handcuffs Between Us

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My former lover was the one who slipped the cold steel over my wrists.

He stood there in his crisp police uniform, a man of absolute integrity, complete with a young, beautiful girlfriend waiting for him in the wings. At the precinct, he kept things strictly professional, his expression entirely detached.

"Tell us what you did, and don't lie."

The officer who arrested me was Austin.

To everyone else at the station, he was Chief Austin.

He did not soften his grip in the slightest. The metal bit deep into my skin, and tears welled in my eyes from the sharp sting. "Gentle, please," I whispered.

He did not even spare me a glance, his voice completely flat. "Just standard protocol, ma'am. I'm sure you understand."

Not a single shred of our past remained in his eyes. A hollow ache settled in my chest.

In the interrogation room, the detective across from me flipped through a file. "You filed a formal complaint against Victor?"

I nodded.

"What exactly is your relationship with him?"

"He is my husband."

"Were you complicit in any of his illegal operations?"

The question hung in the air.

The harsh fluorescent lights flickered, reflecting off the dark lens of the recording camera. For a second, the room seemed to spin. My gaze drifted to Austin, who had remained silent in the corner of the room.

His expression was a blank wall. "Just tell us what you did, Fiona," he said calmly. "And don't lie."

The investigation eventually cleared me of all suspicion.

As for that bastard Victor, the charges were staggering: tax evasion, human trafficking, and racketeering. The prosecutors estimated his minimum sentence would be life without parole.

But Victor was not stupid. He caught wind of the raid and fled before they could lock the city down.

In the precinct's main office, detectives were loudly debating their next move. I sat in the corner, clutching a paper cup of lukewarm water, feeling entirely out of place.

Suddenly, someone at the door shouted, "Hey, look, the Chief's girl is here!"

A few young officers swarmed around a long-haired girl entering the room. She was incredibly sweet, wearing a white floral sundress, carrying herself with a quiet, gentle grace. She blushed as she walked toward Austin, holding out a neatly packed lunchbox.

So, this was his new girlfriend.

A genuine smile broke through Austin's stern face. "You came."

She kept her voice low. "Make sure you eat it while it's still warm. I spent hours making it."

"Don't trouble yourself next time," Austin murmured, pinching her cheek affectionately.

I lowered my head, staring at the floor.

The lighthearted teasing of the officers echoed in my ears. It was too loud.

Her name was Lily.

She was a twenty-year-old student at a prestigious university. Austin had brought her to an alumni reunion last year.

At the time, an old classmate had leaned over to tell me they looked like a match made in heaven. The classmate immediately covered her mouth, looking at me with deep regret. She had probably remembered that years ago, she used to say the exact same thing about Austin and me.

I had only offered a faint smile. "It's fine. It's in the past."

A few days later, I finally cleaned out my phone contacts. I blocked my ex-husband, his terrible friends, and his awful mother. For the first time in years, I felt like I could breathe again.

I went to the local grocery store to stock up on food, but fate is a cruel thing. I ran straight into Lily.

She had her hair styled in a beautiful half-up crown, looking like an angel as she waved at me. Austin was standing right beside her.

My posture went rigid.

Memories flooded back. Years ago, during our high school's centennial celebration, I had returned to our old campus as an alumna. Lily, then a nervous freshman in her blue-and-white uniform, had approached me with a notebook. "Senior, could you write a few words of encouragement for my exams?"

Four or five years had passed, yet she actually remembered me.

After a bit of polite small talk, I could not help but ask, "That day at the celebration, did I come alone?"

Lily tapped her chin, thinking. "I think your boyfriend was there. I remember a guy standing a few paces behind you, carrying your handbag. But he was too far away, and I couldn't see his face clearly." She looked at me with innocent curiosity. "Are you two still together?"

Austin, who had been walking slightly ahead of us, suddenly stopped and looked back, raising an eyebrow.

My breath caught.

That look was painfully familiar. Whenever I did something mischievous back then, he would look at me with that exact half-amused, half-reproving expression. Back then, I would get flustered, find an opportunity to bite his jaw, and try to run away. He would inevitably catch me by the waist, pull me into some dark corner behind a door, and kiss me thoroughly.

I snapped back to reality, forcing a stiff laugh. "No, we broke up a very long time ago."

Austin let out a quiet, mocking chuckle.

I quickly looked away. Lily showed me her left hand, her face glowing with pure joy. A massive diamond ring sparkled on her finger.

"Fiona, does getting married really make you age faster?" she asked.

"That depends entirely on who you marry," I said softly. "Marry the right person, and you'll stay young forever."

Her bright eyes shone with a sweet simplicity. "Really?"

"Really," I replied. "Your guy here is a keeper. He's built for a quiet, happy family life."

She blushed. "How can you tell?"

"Because our old teachers used to say so," I said, offering a weak cover.

She caught the detail instantly. "Teachers?"

Austin turned his head, his gaze burning into me.

With both of them staring, I struggled to keep my voice steady. "We were classmates back in the day. He was the golden boy, so the teachers always used him as an example."

Lily gasped in delight. "No way!"

I nodded, my chest tightening.

Rivals in middle school, friends in high school, lovers in college. My youth was not defined by years. It was defined by Austin.

I tried to focus on starting over.

After being worn down to the bone by Victor for years, I needed to rebuild my life, find a decent job, and learn to take care of myself again.

On my next visit to the precinct to sign some paperwork, Anna, a round-faced officer, gasped when she saw me. "Fiona! You look like a completely different person. You're stunning!"

I smiled, feeling a genuine spark of energy.

When I met Austin in his office, I sincerely thanked him and urged him to bring Victor to justice.

Through the haze of cigarette smoke, Austin stared at me, his fingers slowly dropping to his side. His eyes were dark and incredibly complex.

"You haven't changed at all, Fiona." His voice was laced with a bitter chill. "Still selfish, still cold. You don't actually care about anyone."

I offered a small, polite smile. "I wish you and Lily a lifetime of happiness."

He did not reply. Beneath his long lashes, his eyes burned with a dark, suffocating intensity.

I took two steps forward, lowering my voice. "What? Are you still in love with me?"

He let out a sharp, mocking scoff and crushed his cigarette in the ashtray.

Six months flew by.

During that time, Lily reached out to me once. She asked, "Fiona, was there a girl in your class whose name started with the letter F?"

I told her I could not recall.

She handed me a worn, leather-bound journal. It was Austin's diary, spanning from middle school through high school, filled with his elegant, sharp handwriting. I promised Lily I would look through it at home and let her know if I remembered anything.

But I never got the chance to read it. That very night, Austin banged on my door like a furious creditor.

"Give it back," he demanded, his voice dangerously low.

Lily stood a few paces behind him, shivering like a frightened bird.

With nothing left to say, I quietly handed the journal over.

Without a word, Austin tossed the book straight into a basin of water sitting near the door.

I instinctively lunged forward to grab it, but it was already sinking.

Lily whispered from behind him, "Austin, who is F?"

It was not a classmate. F stood for February, my birth month.

"Just childhood nonsense," Austin said, his voice softening slightly as he spoke to her, though his eyes remained locked on me. "I was young and stupid. It was just a game."

Lily let out a shaky breath and wrapped her arms around his waist. "You scared me. I thought you had some unforgettable first love."

Austin's lips curved into a deeply sarcastic, painful smile.

I forced myself to play the mediator. "Exactly. There's no secret. You two shouldn't let a silly old book cause any drama."

My eyes drifted to the basin. The journal floated on the surface, completely ruined and abandoned by its owner. Tears began to sting my eyes. I turned my back to them, pretending to adjust something on the counter as I wiped my face.

"We all have to move on eventually. You two deserve to be happy."

I ended up taking the diary apart, page by page, trying to salvage it. There were over a thousand pages. My small balcony could only hold a few dozen sheets at a time, making it a tedious, foolish project.

Yet, I worked on it day and night.

The exhaustion must have triggered something, because that night, I dreamed of Austin.

It was the night of my twenty-fifth birthday.

I had looked him in the eye and said, "Austin, I'm bored. I'm done playing this game with you."

He thought I was joking, his voice incredibly tender. "Sweetheart, stop teasing."

I had smiled, cold and detached. "Do you honestly think I'm going to spend the rest of my life with a low-paid beat cop? I want a real life. I've been playing with you all these years because you're handsome and built well, but the game is over. I found someone better."

"Fiona..." He looked lost, reaching out to pull me into his arms.

I shoved him back with all my strength. "You know Victor, the head of our firm? He has money, power, and influence. You can't even begin to compete with him."

He stared at me, frozen, as the evening shadows slowly swallowed his face.

The dream shifted.

It was the night before my wedding.

Austin was there, dressed in a flawless designer suit, sipping champagne and laughing with Victor. It was only then that I recalled a passing comment from an old classmate. Austin's family was incredibly wealthy and influential; police work was merely his passion, a choice he made out of love for the job.

A heavy, suffocating cold settled in my chest.

At the reception, Austin's icy gaze swept over me. "Victor, your bride doesn't seem very happy today."

I forced myself to smile, leaning heavily against Victor's arm. "Detective Austin is young and highly accomplished. I'm sure he will have a bright future."

During a break in the banquet, Austin cornered me outside the restrooms. His hands were shaking, his voice cracking with desperation. "Fiona, tell me you regret this. Just say the word, and I'll take you away from here. Just tell me the truth, please."

He lowered himself, practically begging. "Just come back to me, Fiona."

I placed a hand over my slightly rounded stomach. "It's too late."

Across the hall, Victor stood watching us, smiling like a predator playing with a captured pet.

I closed my eyes and surrendered to the dark.

A sudden, violent crack of thunder shattered the dream.

I bolted upright in bed, gasping for air. My phone was vibrating violently on the nightstand. It was Lily.

Her voice was choked with hysterical tears. "Fiona, Austin got into a horrible accident. I'm so scared. Can you please come to the hospital?"

I froze. In an instant, the blood in my veins turned to absolute ice.