Chapter 4 - THE NIGHT BEFORE I LEFT
I stared at Sarah for a long time.
She didn't move.
She didn't speak.
She didn't even look surprised anymore.
That was what scared me the most.
Because fear meant she knew exactly what I was asking about.
And guilt meant she had been carrying the answer for a long time.
"Lily."
I looked at my daughter.
"Go upstairs with Buster for a few minutes, okay?"
She looked nervous.
"Daddy..."
I smiled gently.
"Nothing is going to happen."
"I promise."
Buster immediately stood.
He followed Lily toward the stairs like he understood every word.
When they disappeared upstairs, I turned back to Sarah.
"Now."
My voice was quiet.
"Tell me what happened the night before I left."
Sarah sat down slowly.
Her hands were shaking.
"I made a mistake."
I laughed once.
A cold, empty laugh.
"A mistake?"
She looked at me.
"I was scared."
"You were scared?"
I stepped closer.
"Sarah, I was the one leaving for a war zone."
"I was the one saying goodbye to my daughter."
"I was the one who didn't know if I would see my family again."
She looked down.
"And you were scared?"
She whispered:
"I didn't want to be alone."
The words felt like a slap.
"You weren't alone."
"I was your husband."
"You had Lily."
"You had a family."
She wiped her eyes.
"Brad was there."
I closed my eyes.
I already knew the answer.
But hearing it still hurt.
"When did it start?"
Sarah didn't answer immediately.
Then:
"Two months before your deployment."
My jaw tightened.
Two months.
While I was planning our future.
While I was preparing letters for Lily.
While I was buying birthday gifts she would open if I didn't come home.
My wife was already letting another man into our lives.
"Did you love him?"
She shook her head quickly.
"No."
"Then why?"
She cried.
"I don't know."
That answer made me angrier.
Because I knew exactly what it meant.
She wanted something.
Attention.
Comfort.
Excitement.
And she was willing to risk everything to get it.
"What happened the night before I left?"
Sarah became silent again.
Then she whispered:
"Brad came over."
My stomach tightened.
"You told me you were at your sister's."
"I know."
The room became unbearable.
"What happened?"
Sarah covered her face.
"We argued."
"About what?"
"You."
I stared at her.
"Me?"
"He said you were going to leave me."
"He said soldiers change after deployments."
"He said you would come back different."
I felt anger rising.
"And you believed him?"
She shook her head.
"At first, no."
"Then what?"
"He showed me something."
My eyes narrowed.
"What?"
She looked terrified.
"A message."
"What message?"
"One that looked like it came from your unit."
My mind started racing.
A fake message.
A fake death.
A fake story.
Someone had been building this.
For months.
"Where is it?"
Sarah looked away.
"I deleted it."
"Of course you did."
She flinched.
Then I heard something upstairs.
A small noise.
I looked toward the stairs.
"Lily?"
No answer.
I walked upstairs.
I found her sitting on the floor beside her bed.
Holding a small box.
She looked guilty.
"Daddy..."
"What are you doing?"
She hugged the box.
"These are the things you left."
I sat beside her.
"What things?"
She opened it.
Inside were my old photographs.
My letters.
My medals.
The drawings she had made for me.
I looked closer.
There was something else.
A piece of paper folded underneath everything.
I opened it.
My blood turned cold.
It was a letter.
A letter I had written to Lily before deployment.
But someone had written on the outside:
"Do not give this to her."
I looked at Lily.
"Who wrote this?"
Her eyes filled with fear.
"Mommy."
The room went silent.
Sarah had not only tried to erase me.
She had tried to erase every piece of me.
Then my phone rang.
Daniel again.
I answered.
"Mike."
His voice was urgent.
"We found something."
"What?"
"The message your wife received."
I stood still.
"What about it?"
"It wasn't fake."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
"It came from someone inside the military system."
I looked toward Sarah.
Someone had access.
Someone powerful.
Daniel continued:
"And Mike..."
"There's something worse."
"What?"
May you like
"The person who sent it..."
"Was using your wife's account."
