A Father’s Search for Answers After an Unexpected Goodbye

Zach was only fifteen minutes late getting home, yet the house already felt unfamiliar. The porch light was off, the driveway too tidy, the air inside strangely still. Dinner sat untouched on the stove, the television silent, the kitchen dark.

His daughters were curled on the couch with their babysitter, shoes still on, backpacks at their feet. When he asked where their mother was, the twins spoke in small, steady voices: Mommy had hugged them, cried, taken her suitcases, and said goodbye forever. The word forever echoed through him as he searched the bedroom and found his wife’s side of the closet emptied, her belongings gone, a single note waiting on the counter.

If you want answers, it read, ask your mom. The drive to his mother’s house was quiet. His daughters stared out the windows, asking only whether Grandma knew where Mommy went.

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