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Part 2 — The Door She Never Wanted Me to Open
I reached for the door handle.
Before I could turn it, the front door suddenly opened.
My wife stood there.
Her face went completely white when she saw me.
For a few seconds, neither of us said anything.
Then she grabbed my arm.
“What are you doing here?”
I pulled my arm away.
“That’s what I should be asking you.”
She glanced behind her.
That tiny movement made my stomach twist.
“What’s in there?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
Her voice shook.
“Please, just go home.”
I stared at her.
My wife had never spoken to me like that.
Not even during our worst arguments.
I stepped toward the doorway.
She immediately blocked me.
“Don’t.”
“Move.”
“No.”
“Who is in this house?”
She looked at me with tears gathering in her eyes.
Then I heard something behind her.
A cough.
A man’s cough.
My entire body went cold.
I pushed past her.
“Wait!”
I stepped into the hallway and looked around.
There were old boxes everywhere. Dust covered the floor, and the air smelled damp.
Then I saw the door at the end of the hallway.
It had a heavy chain wrapped around it.
And a padlock.
I turned toward my wife.
“What the hell is behind that door?”
She started crying.
I had never seen her look so frightened.
“Please,” she whispered. “You have to trust me.”
“Trust you?”
My voice rose.
“You’ve been coming here every Thursday for three months. You changed your phone password. You’ve lied to me every single week. And now there’s a man locked behind a door?”
She covered her mouth.
Then came another sound.
Three hard knocks.
From the other side of the locked door.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
My wife grabbed my hand.
“Don’t open it.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
She stared into my eyes.
And then she said something that completely changed the situation.
“Because if he sees you, he’ll know I told you.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Who will know?”
She didn’t answer.
I stepped toward the door.
She held onto me desperately.
“Please, I’m begging you.”
But I couldn’t stop.
I grabbed the padlock.
And just as I started pulling at it, the man behind the door spoke.
His voice was weak.
Almost too weak to hear.
But I recognized it.
And when I realized who was speaking from behind that door, my entire world turned upside down.
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