“I know,” he said quietly.
But he still wouldn’t meet my eyes.

I waited for him to explain, to say something that would make sense of the moment. Instead, he zipped the bag closed, slung it over his shoulder, and walked toward the door.
“Daniel, please,” I whispered. “Don’t do this now.”
For a second, he hesitated.
His shoulders tensed as if he might turn around. But then he opened the door and left.
The house fell silent.
The kind of silence that presses against your chest and makes every breath feel too loud.
I sat there on the couch for a long time, my feet swollen, my back aching, my mind racing through a thousand terrible possibilities. Had he stopped loving me? Was there someone else? Had I done something wrong?
But the house offered no answers.
Only empty rooms and the ticking of the kitchen clock.