PART 1: THE PHONE CALL
I thought I was coming home early to surprise my husband with an anniversary gift. Instead, I overheard one sentence that made me question every memory we had shared. Marriage
Matthew and I had known each other since childhood. Our families lived next door, and he was beside me through school, birthdays, and every awkward stage.
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When another child mocked my large glasses in fourth grade, Matthew pushed him down and accepted detention without regret.
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“No one gets to make you cry, Ashley,” he told me. VisualArt & Design
That was who he had always been—loyal, patient, and protective.
I was the opposite. I hesitated over everything. I nearly joined student council, nearly auditioned for plays, and nearly applied to my dream college. Matthew was the only person who noticed how often I abandoned opportunities just before something good might happen.
By high school, everyone expected us to fall in love.
They were right.
We married after college, bought a small house near the neighborhood where we had grown up, and built what I believed was a peaceful life.
Three weeks before our fifth anniversary, I ordered Matthew an expensive watch he had admired. I collected it and drove home imagining his reaction.
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