The old house smelled like dust and forgotten promises.Caleb Hayes stood in the middle of the living room with a garbage bag in one hand and a roll of tape in the other. Two days. That was all that was left before the thirty day cooling off period expired and his divorce from Natalie became final. After that, this crappy little house would be the only roof over his head again.He opened the hallway closet and started pulling out boxes he had not touched in years. Old shoes, yellowed envelopes, a broken alarm clock. He tossed them one by one into the bag until his fingers brushed against something small wedged between the wall and the shelf.A USB drive.He turned it over in his palm. The plastic casing was scratched and faded, and for a moment, he could not place where it came from. He walked over to his old laptop sitting on the kitchen counter, plugged it in, and opened the single file stored inside.A long string of letters and numbers filled the screen. Below it, a short note."T

The front door opened at 7:14 in the morning.Caleb heard them before he saw them. Mason's sneakers squeaking on the tile. Natalie's heels clicking behind him. The smell of expensive cologne that did not belong to anyone who lived in this house drifting in with them like a ghost.He was crouched by the hallway closet, filling a duffel bag with clothes, toiletries, and a few items he had carefully selected over the past hour. Among them, tucked inside a ziplock bag at the bottom, was a juice box Mason had been drinking from last night before they left. Still had the boy's saliva on the straw. Right next to it, wrapped in a tissue, was a strand of his own hair.Natalie stopped in the doorway and stared at him. Her brow furrowed, not with concern, but with the kind of confusion a person shows when their furniture has been rearranged without permission."Why are you here?" Her voice carried that familiar flat tone. Not warm, not cruel, just transactional."I live here. For two more days,

The name hung in the air like a grenade with the pin pulled.Natalie's face went through three expressions in two seconds. Shock. Confusion. And then something she covered so fast that most people would have missed it entirely. Fear."Who?" Her voice came out a full beat too late."Brandon." Caleb repeated the name slowly, watching every muscle in her face. "I asked you a simple question, Natalie. Who is Brandon?"Natalie shifted Mason higher on her hip and let out a short laugh. It was the kind of laugh people use when they are buying time. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't know any Brandon.""You sure about that?""Yes, I'm sure." Her chin lifted. "Where is this coming from? Are you going through my phone now? Is that what this is?"Caleb said nothing. He just looked at her. The silence stretched for five seconds, then ten, and Natalie's composure began to crack at the edges like paint peeling off a wall."You know what, I'm not doing this." She set Mason down and p

Owen leaned back in his chair and let the silence sit for a moment. The name Lily Ashford was still hanging between them like smoke that refused to clear."Life's unpredictable, isn't it?" Caleb finally spoke, his voice quiet. "Three days ago I was a guy working three jobs who couldn't afford new shoes. Now I've got a billion dollars in a wallet, a wife who's been lying to me since day one, and a son who isn't mine.""And your ex just moved back to town." Owen added it like a footnote."Yeah. And that." Caleb rubbed the back of his neck and stared at the floor tiles. "But I'm done feeling sorry for myself, Owen. Whatever happens next, I'm going to live my life well. On my own terms. For the first time in six years."Owen watched him for a long beat. Then he leaned forward, his elbows on the desk, his voice dropping lower."What about Lily?"Caleb looked up."Have you thought about going back to her?" Owen's expression was careful, measured, like a man defusing a wire he wasn't sure wa