Chapter 2 - The Anniversary Lie
It was exactly four in the afternoon when Julian called me.
I was sitting in my office, looking at the vintage silver watch I had spent three months tracking down for his anniversary gift.
His voice sounded rushed, painted with a perfect layer of fake regret.
He told me that a massive crisis had happened at his marketing firm.
He said he was incredibly sorry, but our romantic dinner reservation would have to be canceled.
He promised he would make it up to me this weekend with a trip to the coast.
I told him I understood, because that was what a supportive wife was supposed to say.
I told him I loved him and that I would just go home and order takeout.
He sighed heavily into the phone, playing the role of the stressed, hardworking husband flawlessly.
He told me Mia was making a roast for dinner and that I should just relax in the jacuzzi when I got home.
That was the detail that should have warned me.
Julian never cared about what the maid was cooking, and he certainly never suggested my evening schedule.
But love makes you blind to the small inconsistencies.
I packed up my things, feeling a sharp sting of disappointment.
Ten years of marriage felt like a milestone that deserved more than a canceled dinner.
I decided to leave work early and surprise him at his office with his favorite coffee and the silver watch.
When I arrived at his firm, his assistant looked at me with genuine confusion.
She told me Julian had left two hours ago.
She mentioned that there was no crisis, and that he had cleared his entire afternoon schedule weeks in advance.
My heart dropped into my stomach.
A cold, dark feeling began to spread through my veins.
I walked back to my car in a daze, gripping my steering wheel until my knuckles turned white.
I told myself there had to be a logical explanation.
Maybe he was planning a surprise party for me at the house.
Maybe he was picking up a special gift and needed an alibi to keep me away.
I drove home slowly, my mind desperately trying to build a bridge of excuses for the man I loved.
When I pulled up to our gated estate, everything was terrifyingly quiet.
Julian’s luxury car was parked in the driveway, completely hidden behind the tall decorative hedges.
I unlocked the front door as quietly as I could.
The house was perfectly silent, but the air felt heavy, charged with a strange energy.
I noticed a pair of Mia’s cheap white sneakers kicked off carelessly near the bottom of the grand staircase.
Right next to them were Julian’s expensive leather work shoes.
My breath caught in my throat.
I did not call out his name.
May you like
I did not announce that I was home.
I simply walked up the stairs, my heart pounding so loudly I thought the walls could hear it.
