I’ve been married for five years now. My wife and I met through mutual friends—nothing dramatic, just simple meetups and easygoing conversations. But after we got married, things took a different turn. The early years were filled with happiness, but recently… something felt off.
When she became pregnant and later gave birth to our daughter, she took maternity leave. That’s when the full weight of financial responsibility landed on my shoulders. My days started early and ended late. Meanwhile, she stayed home, looking after the baby and handling everything in the house. She was my constant—I always came home to a clean space and a warm presence. It gave me a sense of peace.
Until one evening, something felt wrong.
As soon as I stepped inside, I knew something was up. There was no sound—no TV, no humming from the kitchen. I called out for her. Silence. I knocked on our bedroom door. Nothing. Thinking she might be in the bathroom, I hesitated, then used my spare key to open the door.
What I saw stopped me cold.
The living room was a complete disaster—clothes strewn around, toys everywhere, the fridge wide open, and the TV playing to no one. It looked like someone had left in a rush, with no intention of coming back.
But where was she? Where was our daughter?
My heart pounded. At first, I thought maybe we’d been robbed—but we didn’t own anything worth stealing. So why the chaos? Why did it look like someone had run out?
I grabbed my phone, fingers trembling, and dialed her number. Straight to voicemail: “The subscriber is temporarily unavailable.”
Panic crept in. Had something happened? Had I ignored the signs? Was I too late to stop something awful?
Then, I heard footsteps behind me.
“Oh, you’re home early!” she said, her voice calm.
I turned around. There she was, casually standing in the doorway with a shopping bag, smiling like everything was normal.
“Why is the house like this? Where’s our daughter? And why’s your phone off?” I asked, confused and on edge.
She calmly took off her coat, set the bag on the table, and smiled again.
“How was your day?” she asked, completely unfazed.
That was it—I snapped.
“Can you tell me what’s going on?! WHERE IS OUR DAUGHTER?”
She lifted an eyebrow, like I was making a big deal out of nothing.
“Relax. She’s at my mom’s. I just stepped out to do a little shopping.”
“And this mess?”
She plopped onto the couch, stretched out, and let out a long yawn.
“Want to know what I did today?” she said, still smiling.
I blinked, caught off guard. “What?”
Her grin widened.
“Absolutely nothing. I just took a break.”
😳