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“MY WIFE LEFT WITHOUT A WORD—A WEEK LATER, I FOUND OUT WHY.”
It was a normal Tuesday—until my phone rang.
I almost ignored it, buried in work. But then I saw the caller ID: HOME.
I picked up, expecting my wife, Laurel. Instead, I heard my 5-year-old daughter, Alice.
Her voice was small, shaky.
“Daddy? Mommy left.”
My stomach dropped. “What do you mean, sweetheart?”
“She took her suitcase. She hugged me and said, ‘Wait for Daddy.’ Then she left.”
SHE WAS GONE
I bolted out of my office, drove home like a madman, and burst through the front door.
Silence.
No sign of Laurel. No note. No explanation.
Alice was curled up on the couch, clutching her stuffed bunny. She had cried herself to sleep.
When she woke up, the first words out of her mouth were, “Daddy, where’s Mommy?”
I had no answer.
That’s when I saw it—a white envelope on the kitchen counter. My hands shook as I tore it open.
Inside was a letter.
“Kevin, I can’t live like this anymore. By the time you read this, I’ll be gone. But you’ll find out what happened to me in a week.”
I read it three times.
She was gone. No explanation. No warning.
And I had to wait a whole week to find out why?
THE SEVENTH DAY
That week was hell.
I juggled work and taking care of Alice alone, trying to pretend everything was okay when it wasn’t.
Every day, I wondered, Did she leave for another man? Was she in danger? Was she coming back?
And then, on the seventh day… I found out.
I was making Alice’s breakfast when the TV was on in the background—the morning news.
“BREAKING STORY: Local woman involved in high-profile scandal.”
I wasn’t paying attention until I heard her name.
Laurel.
I turned around so fast I nearly dropped the coffee pot.
There she was, on the screen.
Standing in handcuffs.
The headline?
“WOMAN ARRESTED FOR FRAUD—STOLEN MONEY LINKED TO HUSBAND’S ACCOUNT.”
MY account.
I felt the ground shift beneath me.
Alice, oblivious, ate her cereal and swung her little feet.
Meanwhile, I stared at the screen, trying to process the worst betrayal of my life.