Daniel ' POV

I stood frozen at the window, watching Kate stumble down the driveway. Blood was dripping from her arm, staining the concrete path. She couldn't really be leaving—not like this. Not with those burns on her chest and that deep cut on her arm. She was bluffing. Had to be.

The cab pulled up. I pressed my palm against the glass, waiting for her to look back at the house, to change her mind. The darkness would chase her back. It always did. Kate never stayed mad for long.

But this time, something was different. Even from here, I could see how straight her back was, how determined each painful step looked. The cabbie jumped out, alarmed at her condition. I should run down there, I thought. I should stop her.

"Daniel." My mother's voice cut through my thoughts. "Stop watching her. She's made her choice."

I turned to face her. Mom stood with her arms crossed, head high, looking like a general who'd just won a battle.

"She was bleeding pretty bad, Mom."

"And whose fault is that? She attacked Ethan. Be grateful she's gone before she could do worse." She walked over and placed her hands on my shoulders. "You've always deserved better than that woman. You're worth so much more, Daniel. I've been telling you for years."

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I ignored it.

Jessica sauntered into the living room from the kitchen, carrying a tray of fresh muffins like this was just another Sunday morning.

"I made breakfast," she announced, setting the tray down on the coffee table. "Ethan needs something in his stomach after that terrible ordeal."

The ease with which she moved through my house, like she already owned it, made my stomach tighten. But I said nothing as she headed straight for Ethan, who was sitting on the couch, looking smaller than his nine years.

"There's my brave boy," she cooed, wrapping her arms around him. "Your grandmother told me everything. How awful for you to go through that."

To my surprise, Ethan leaned into her embrace. He'd always been standoffish with Jessica before, but now he clung to her like she was a life raft.

"She tried to hurt me," Ethan mumbled into Jessica's shoulder. "Kate's always been mean to me."

Jessica stroked his hair. "Well, she's gone now. And I'm here. I'll take care of you properly."

"Will you stay?" Ethan asked, looking up at her with those big eyes of his. "Forever?"

"If your daddy wants me to," Jessica answered, looking over at me with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

It was strange how quickly Ethan had warmed to Jessica. For years, he'd been cold toward anyone who wasn't Melissa. But here he was, cuddled up to Jessica like they'd been close forever.

My phone buzzed again. This time, I pulled it out.

It was Cheryl, my secretary. I stepped into the hallway to answer.

"Mr. Miller," she said, skipping any greeting, "I just saw Kate being helped into an ambulance outside your building. Her clothes were soaked in blood. Are you aware of this?"

I felt a chill run down my spine. "An ambulance?"

"Yes, sir. The doorman said she collapsed on the sidewalk waiting for a cab. Is she all right? Should I meet her at the hospital?"

I was annoyed at being questioned like this. Who did Cheryl think she was? But I kept my voice even. "That won't be necessary. Kate and I had a... disagreement this morning. She decided to leave."

"In that condition?" Cheryl's voice was sharp with disapproval. "Sir, she brings your favorite lunch to the office three times a week, did you know that? Jessica always tells me you're too busy and sends it back."

"What are you talking about?"

"Kate waits for you after every board meeting, sometimes for hours. You never notice her sitting in the lobby. And she picks Ethan up from school every day, but he always says he's waiting for Jessica or the bus."

I rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache coming on. "Cheryl, I don't think this is appropriate—"

"She got you a reservation for that fantasy island resort you've been talking about for months. And some expensive gaming system for Ethan. She was going to surprise you both next week."

My mouth went dry. "How do you know all this?"

"Because she talks to me, sir. Unlike you." There was a pause. "Check your email if you don't believe me."

Cheryl hung up before I could respond.

I walked to my home office in a daze, ignoring Jessica's calls for me to join them for breakfast. At my desk, I opened my personal email. There it was—a confirmation from Fantasy Island Resort, dated three weeks ago. A reservation for the Presidential Suite, seven nights, all expenses paid.

Next to my computer was a small, wrapped package I hadn't noticed before. I tore off the paper to find the latest gaming system—the one Ethan had been begging for, the one that had been sold out everywhere for months.

How had Kate gotten this? It must have cost her a fortune.

I sat back, staring at the resort confirmation on my screen and holding the expensive gaming system in my hands.

With shaking hands, I pulled open my desk drawer, looking for a pen. Instead, I found a small, unfamiliar package wrapped in silver paper.

I opened it slowly, dreading what I might find.

Inside was a silver frame with a photo of Melissa, Ethan, and me from our last vacation before she got sick. A note was attached

Daniel ' POV

I stared at the note in the silver frame for what felt like hours, reading the same words over and over until they blurred together. Kate's handwriting was shaky, probably from the pain she was in when she wrote it.

*"For the family we could have been. I hope someday you remember the woman who loved you both."*

My hands trembled as I set the frame down. This was just another one of her guilt trips. She'd done this before—packed a bag, threatened to leave to make me feel bad about something. Then she'd come back within a day or two, apologizing and trying to make up for whatever had upset her.

Kate didn't have anywhere else to go. I crumpled up the note and threw it in the trash. She'd be back by dinner, guaranteed.

The rest of the day crawled by. Every time my phone buzzed, I expected it to be Kate begging to come home. Instead, it was just work emails and a few texts from Jessica asking if I needed anything.

When I finally left the office at six, I felt oddly nervous. The whole drive home, I kept telling myself Kate would be there. She'd probably cooked my favorite meal as an apology.

But as I pulled into the driveway, the house looked... empty. Dark. None of the usual lights were on in the kitchen.

I walked through the front door and called out, "Kate? I'm home!"

Silence.

The kitchen was spotless but cold. No smell of dinner cooking.

"Kate?" I called again, louder this time.

Mom appeared at the top of the stairs, holding Ethan's hand. "She's not here, Daniel. I told you—she's gone."

"She'll be back," I said, more to convince myself than anyone else. "She's just... making a point."

I wasn't hungry but my stomach felt twisted up in knots.

I walked past them and headed upstairs to our bedroom. Kate's side of the closet was completely empty. Her perfume bottles were gone from the dresser. Even her pillow was missing from the bed.

I sat down on the edge of the mattress, staring at the empty space where her things used to be. The room felt huge and cold without her stuff cluttering it up.

I'd always complained about how she left her books everywhere, how she never put her jewelry back in the right place.

Now I would have given anything to see her reading glasses on the nightstand or her hair ties scattered across the dresser.

I pulled out my phone and dialed her number. It went straight to voicemail.

"Kate, it's me. Look, whatever this is about, we can work it out. Just come home, okay? Ethan needs you. I need you. Please call me back."

I hung up and immediately felt stupid. She was probably listening to the message right now, smiling as she planned her dramatic return.

The house felt different that night. Too quiet. Usually Kate would be bustling around, getting Ethan ready for bed, reminding me about meetings I had the next day. Instead, Jessica had handled everything with an efficiency that somehow made me feel worse.

"Daddy?" Ethan appeared in my doorway around eleven, holding his stuffed elephant. "I can't sleep."

"What's wrong, buddy?"

"The room's too dark. Kate usually leaves the hallway light on for me."

I looked down the hall. Jessica must have turned it off. "I'll turn it on for you."

"And she always checks under my bed for monsters," Ethan continued. "And she leaves my door open just a little bit so I can see the light."

Each thing he said felt like a small punch to my chest. I'd never realized how many little things Kate did for him every single night.

"I can do that," I said, walking him back to his room. I turned on the hallway light, checked under his bed, and left his door cracked open.

Now go to sleep, I said to ethan as I returned to the room.

I must have fallen asleep around midnight, but something jolted me awake. I lay there in the dark, listening.

What had woken me up?

Then I heard it. A scream from down the hall.

I shot out of bed and ran to Ethan's room. He was sitting up in bed, his whole body shaking. His face was pale in the moonlight streaming through his window.

"Ethan! What's wrong?"

He looked at me with wide, frightened eyes. For a moment, he didn't seem to recognize me.

"The monsters," he whispered. "They're in the dark. They're trying to get me."

"There are no monsters, buddy. It's just a bad dream."

I reached out to touch his shoulder, but he flinched away from me.

"Kate always checks under the bed," he said, his voice tiny. "She always looks in the closet. She makes sure they're gone."

My heart twisted. "I can check. I can do that."

"No!" Ethan shook his head frantically. "You don't know how. Kate knows the right way. Kate makes them go away."

I got down on my knees and looked under the bed anyway. "See? Nothing there."

But when I stood up, Ethan was crying.

"They're still there. I can feel them watching. Kate always says the magic words. She always makes them disappear."

"What magic words? I can say them too."

Ethan looked at me like I was crazy. "You don't believe in them. Kate said the magic only works if you really believe. You think I'm being a baby."

"That's not true, Ethan. I—"

"Where is she?" he interrupted, his voice breaking. "Where's Kate? Why isn't she coming to help me?"

"She's... she had to go away for a while."

Another scream tore from his throat, and he pressed himself against the headboard like he was trying to disappear into the wall.

"Ethan, please. Let me help you."

"You can't!" he sobbed. "

His words hit me like a punch to the gut. He kept screaming her name, over and over, begging her to come back and make the darkness go away.

I stood there helplessly, watching my son fall apart, and realized that Kate hadn't just left me.

She'd left us both.