My heart started pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

The officers exchanged a glance.

Then one of them spoke.

“Your husband isn’t just a janitor.”

The world seemed to tilt.

“What… what are you talking about?” I whispered.

“His real name isn’t Thomas Vance,” the officer said.

I felt my knees weaken.

“He’s been working under an alias,” he continued.

“For years.”

My mouth went dry.

“Why?” I asked.

The officer hesitated.

Then said the last thing I expected:

“Because he’s been in witness protection.”

Silence.

I stared at them.

“That’s… not possible.”

“It is,” he said calmly.

“And now there’s a problem.”

My heart dropped.

“He’s been located.”

Everything inside me froze.

“Located by who?”

The officer’s jaw tightened.

“People who want him dead.”

I couldn’t breathe.

“And now that you’re married to him…” he added,

“You’re part of this.”

The room spun.

“Where is he?” I asked.

“We’re trying to secure him now,” the officer said.

“But we need to move you. Immediately.”

“What about his kids?” I asked, panic rising.

“They’re already being picked up,” he replied.

My hands started shaking.

Everything I thought I knew about my husband…

Was unraveling in seconds.

“He didn’t tell you?” the other officer asked quietly.

I shook my head.

“Then he was trying to protect you,” he said.

Protect me.

By lying?

By hiding an entire life?

And yet…

A memory hit me.

The way he checked the locks every night.

The way he always sat facing the door in restaurants.

The way he never let me visit his “job.”

It all made sense now.

But it didn’t make it hurt any less.

“Ma’am,” the officer said gently, “we don’t have much time.”

I looked around the house.

The small kitchen.

The couch where we had laughed just days ago.

The life I had chosen.

“Is he going to be okay?” I asked.

The officer didn’t answer right away.

“We’re doing everything we can.”

That wasn’t an answer.

And deep down…

I knew it.

As they escorted me out of the house, one thought kept repeating in my mind:

I gave up everything for love.

But I never imagined…

Love would come with a target on my back.