The husband chased his wife and children away, but the lover followed them, gave her $10,000 and whispered: "Come back in three days... you'll have a surprise waiting for you..."

The living room was completely empty, stripped of every trace of the life they'd once shared.
Gone was the couch where they'd usually sat after dinner, nor the table covered with drawings and bills, nor any photos to prove they'd ever been a family.

It felt as if someone had erased her entire existence piece by piece, leaving behind only a void and faint echoes.
Her chest tightened painfully as confusion and terror intertwined within her.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she whispered, her voice shaking before she could control it.

A calm, firm, controlled voice came from behind her.

“Come in,” said the woman.

She whirled around and hugged her children, instinctively protecting them from whatever the situation had become.
It was the same woman she'd seen before, standing still and composed, but something in her expression had completely changed.

The cold superiority and silent contempt were gone, replaced by something deeper and more concrete, almost human.
Her children clung tightly to her clothes, their little hands trembling as they clung to her.

“Mom, I’m scared now,” her son whispered, his voice barely holding back.

“I know, I'm here with you, I won't let anything happen,” she replied, though her hands were shaking too.

She entered slowly, each step echoing loudly in the empty house as if the walls themselves were listening.
The silence enveloped them in a way that made every breath seem louder than it should be.

“Where is he now?” she asked, her voice dry and tense with everything she had repressed.

There was a short pause before the woman answered.