I came home on a Thursday afternoon believing my life was unchanged, only to realize by nightfall that I had been living inside a story I was never meant to see the ending of. My name is Elena Markovic, and for twelve years I believed my marriage was built on quiet stability—routine, shared responsibility, and a partnership that survived through consistency rather than passion. We weren’t perfect, but we were steady, and I thought that was enough. I worked long hours at a consulting firm, traveling often to secure our financial future, believing every sacrifice was part of something we both understood. I didn’t realize I was building a life that was already being rewritten without me in it.

The first sign something was wrong was subtle. The house looked the same, but the atmosphere wasn’t. Warm lights filled rooms that were usually dim, and unfamiliar laughter echoed from inside. When I stepped through the door, I found strangers in my living room and my husband, Adrian, standing among them with a calm I hadn’t seen in months. A woman I didn’t know sat on our couch, her hand resting on her stomach, while decorations revealed a celebration I had never been told about. The moment I appeared, everything shifted, as if my presence was the interruption.....