Everything looks normal, untouched.
Except for the small overnight bag that’s missing from the top shelf.
My hands shake as I check the bathroom.
Her toothbrush is gone.
The small bottle of perfume she keeps on the counter.
The hair tie she always leaves wrapped around the faucet.
She’s left me.
The realization hits like a bullet to the chest, stealing my breath.
I sink onto the edge of the bed, my legs suddenly unable to support me.
She’s actually left me.
That’s when I see the note.
It’s propped against my pillow, a single piece of paper folded in half.
My name is written on the outside in her careful handwriting, and my hands tremble as I pick it up.
Mikhail,
I can’t watch you destroy yourself anymore. I can’t stand by while you disappear into this rage, becoming the very thing you swore to fight against. You’ve been so consumed with protecting me that you’ve forgotten how to just be with me.
I need my husband back. The man who held me after nightmares. The man who showed me his sister’s photographs and let me see his pain. The man who made love to me like I was something precious.
I’m taking matters into my own hands. I’m going to end this war with Lorenzo, one way or another. By the time you read this, it will already be done.
I love you. I’ve loved you since the moment you showed me you were more than the monster who kidnapped me. But love isn’t enough if you won’t let me in or if you won’t let me help you carry this burden.
If I don’t come back, know that you were worth loving. Even the dark parts. Especially the dark parts.
Always yours,
Sophia
The paper crumples in my fist as rage and terror war in my chest.
She’s gone to Lorenzo.
My beautiful, brave, stupid wife has walked straight into the lion’s den because I was too blind to see what I was doing to her.
To us.
I read the note again, and this time I see what I missed before.
The slight smudge on the word “love,” as if a tear fell there.
The way her handwriting wavers on “always yours,” like her hand was shaking.
She was terrified when she wrote this.
Terrified but determined.
