Daniel became glued to his phone. Late nights at work turned into a regular excuse. Conversations became shorter. Colder.
Sometimes he’d snap over the smallest things.
“Did you pay the credit card bill?” I asked once.
“I said I did, Grace,” he snapped. “Stop nagging.”
I told myself trauma changes people.
Nearly dying changes people.
So I gave him space.
And he used that space to drift even further away.
The night everything fell apart started with a good intention.
The kids were staying at my mom’s for the weekend. Daniel had been working nonstop.
I thought maybe we needed a reset.
So I planned a surprise.
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