CHAPTER 1 — The Knock No One Expected
Snow had been falling over the quiet neighborhood since sunset, covering every rooftop in white silence. Inside her small apartment, Emily sat alone, staring at the untouched dinner she had made for two.
Her husband had been gone for almost a year.
No goodbye.
No explanation.
Just a suitcase missing from the closet and a single message:
"Don't wait for me."
She tried to move on. She buried herself in work, ignored every holiday invitation, and convinced herself that loneliness hurt less than hope.
Then, one freezing December evening...
Someone knocked.
Emily frowned.
Nobody visited her anymore.
When she opened the door, her heart nearly stopped.
Standing on the porch was a tiny blonde girl, no older than six, wearing a thin red coat dusted with snow. Her cheeks were frozen, her lips trembling, but her blue eyes looked directly into Emily's.
"I finally found you," the little girl whispered.
Emily blinked in confusion.
"I'm sorry... Do I know you?"
The child slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out an old photograph.
Emily felt the blood drain from her face.
It was a picture of herself... taken eight years earlier.
Standing beside her was the man who had disappeared.
The girl's tiny finger rested on his smiling face.
"My daddy said," she whispered through tears, "that if I ever got lost... I should find you."
Emily's knees almost gave out.
Her husband...
Had a child?
Before Emily could speak, the little girl collapsed into her arms from exhaustion.
As Emily carried the shivering child inside, she noticed something else.
Hidden inside the girl's coat...
was a folded envelope with Emily's name written across the front—in her husband's handwriting.
Her hands shook as she slowly opened it.
May you like
The first sentence stole the air from her lungs.
"If you're reading this... I'm probably already dead."
