I had plans, too.”

“Really?” I frowned. “You’re not even dressed.”

“I just have to pick something up. From a friend.”

That’s when something in me clicked.

A strange feeling. Not fear exactly, but a jolt of unease.

“What’s going on with the trunk, Adam? What’s really in there?”

“What do you mean?”

“You said it was dirty. I offered to clean it, and you looked like I’d caught you hiding something illegal.”

He laughed—too loud, too forced.

“It’s nothing, Celia. Just your imagination again. Give me the lists—I’ll do the errands.”

And that’s when the doubt took root.

What if it wasn’t nothing? What if he was hiding something?

A body? Money? A second life?

I’d watched enough crime documentaries to know when something felt… wrong.

That night, as he slept beside me, his hand resting on my hip like always, I stared at the ceiling.

When his breathing deepened, I slipped out of bed and tiptoed to the key bowl.

The keys were there.

In the garage, the air was heavy. Still. Like even the car was holding its breath. I unlocked the trunk.

Inside: a shovel with a smooth, worn handle. Three grimy plastic bags. Torn plastic sheeting. Fine gray dust coats everything.

Ash? Cement?

I stood there, numb, heart racing. My mind ran wild.

What had he done?

I couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t go back to bed. I just sat on the couch, knees to my chest, watching the dark.

At 6:03, the kettle clicked off. At 6:10, Adam walked into the kitchen, yawning.

He froze when he saw me.

“You’re up early,” he said warily.

“I opened the trunk,” I said evenly.

A long silence followed.

Then, to my sh0ck, he smiled—not smugly or slyly, but sheepishly. Like a teenager caught sneaking in late.

“So… I guess the surprise is ruined.”

What surprise?

“Celia,” he said, carefully sitting down, “three months ago, a lawyer contacted me. My biological father passed away.”

I blinked. “What?”

“He left me a little inheritance. Not a fortune, but enough for a down payment.”

“On what?”

“A house,” he said simply. “A real one. Ours. Not just a rented space we squeeze our lives into.”

I was stunned.

“I’ve been fixing it up after work with my brother. That’s where the dust, the bags, the shovel come from.”

I asked about everything.

The shovel? “Digging out an old shed foundation.”

The plastic? “Used as paint tarps.”

The bags? “Filled with junk from the garage.”

The cement dust? “We patched part of the basement.”

“You could’ve told me.”

“I wanted to surprise you on our anniversary. I built a swing for Madison in the yard. Planted a lemon tree for Milan.”

His hand reached for mine, gently.

“I just wanted to give you something permanent. Something ours.”

Four weeks later, I let him blindfold me. Even though I’d peeked at the address. Even though I’d rehearsed my reaction.

He guided me along a path. Then removed the blindfold.

The house wasn’t glamorous. A modest bungalow with peeling shutters and a sagging mailbox. But I loved it.

Inside, the kids ran through empty rooms, voices echoing.

In the yard, I found the swing. Beside it, a hand-painted sign: Milan & Madison’s Climbing Tree.

And just like that, all the tension dissolved.

“You built this?” I asked.

“Every bit,” he said.

For the first time in a long while, I believed in beautiful secrets—ones born from love, not lies.

We ate brunch outside that day. Paper plates, sticky fingers, and mismatched mugs.

“This feels like home,” I whispered.

Adam just smiled.

Milan asked if we could get a puppy. Madison chimed in: “Or a dragon!”

And just like that, the weight lifted. In the mess and the laughter, in sunlight and pancakes, we began.

Not just a new chapter. But a real home.

Together.