My husband arrived at my door with my cousin, two babies, and a smug grin, declaring, ‘She lives here now.’ I handed him the keys, smiled back, and said “HOPE YOU ENJOY THE HOUSE UNTIL TOMORROW”

in the window.

No noise. No distractions. Just me.

And for a moment, I thought about the woman who walked into this house months ago and found her life already rewritten without her permission.

She thought she had lost everything.

She hadn’t.

She had lost what wasn’t real.

There’s a difference.

I turned off the lights and walked toward the hallway.

The house continue reading …