“She’s fine.
No complaints. I checked in on her a couple of times, and she seemed comfortable.”
But later that afternoon, when I slipped quietly down the hall, I noticed something that made my heart skip a beat. The mattress was gone, and the hallway looked spotless, as if nothing had ever been there. No blanket, no pillow, no trace of what I had seen that morning.
It was as though he had carefully erased every piece of evidence, leaving only the perfect illusion of a tidy, orderly house. At that point, I knew one thing for sure. I wasn’t going to let this go.
Pretending nothing had happened and brushing it under the rug wasn’t an option. That evening, while Daniel lounged in the living room scrolling through his phone, I walked in with a box in my hands. I kept my expression calm, even pleasant.
“I brought you something from my trip,” I said lightly. He looked up, instantly curious. His eyes flicked to the box, and a greedy little smile spread across his face.
“Oh? A gift? You didn’t have to.”
I set the box down on the coffee table between us.
“Go ahead. Open it.”
Daniel leaned forward eagerly, tearing off the lid. But the moment he peered inside, his smile collapsed.Continue reading…
