Kevin didn’t expect his wife to disappear. But when his five-year-old daughter calls him at work, frightened and alone, his world falls apart. Laurel has vanished, leaving behind only a cryptic note. A week later, he learns her big secret. Now he has to face the truth: she never wanted their life. She wanted the whole world.
I never thought I’d be the guy whose wife just… disappeared.
But a week ago, that’s exactly what happened. And how did I find out about it? Through my five-year-old daughter.
It was a typical Tuesday. The kind you forget before it’s even over. Emails. Meetings. I was thinking about dinner — it was taco Tuesday, and my wife makes the best tacos I’ve ever had.
Then the phone rang. I almost ignored it because I was buried in spreadsheets, but then I saw the caller ID.
Home.
A strange chill ran down my neck. Laurel never called me at work unless it was serious. She usually just sent me a text with her usual request.
Please buy some bread, Kev.
Alice and I want waffles. Maybe we’ll get some today?
I looked up from my laptop when I heard the phone ring.
I pressed the answer button.
‘Hello, Lor,’ I began.
But instead of my wife’s voice, I heard something small. Fragile.
‘Daddy?’
I took a deep breath, and my chair creaked as I stood up.
‘Alice? Sweetheart? Why are you calling me? Is everything all right? Where’s Mummy?’
‘She’s gone,’ my daughter replied simply.
My pulse pounded in my ears.
‘What do you mean, she’s gone? Alice?’
‘She took her big suitcase, you know, the one Buddy likes to sleep in. And she took some clothes.’
Alice paused and sniffed. I heard Buddy the cat meow.
‘She hugged me really tight and said I should wait for you,’ she continued.
I gripped the phone tighter.
‘Did Mum say where she was going?’
‘No,’ Alice’s voice faltered. ‘She just said I had to be a big girl.’
The air in the room seemed too thick to breathe.
‘Listen to me, baby. Stay here, okay? I’m coming home. Don’t go out on the road. I’ll be there soon.’
I hardly remember grabbing my keys and running to the car. Only the ringing in my ears as I raced home, gripping the steering wheel so tightly that my knuckles burned.
What the hell had Laurel done?
I opened the front door with such force that it slammed against the wall, shattering everything.
‘Laurel!’
Silence.
The house felt wrong. Not just empty, but hollow. How could Laurel leave us? How could she leave Alice?
Alice was sitting on the sofa, curled up in a ball, still in her pyjamas, hugging her stuffed rabbit.
When she saw me, she jumped to her feet and threw herself into my arms.
‘Daddy,’ she whimpered, clutching my shirt in her little fists. ‘Where’s Mummy? When will she be back?’
I ran my hand through her tangled hair. My throat hurt. And I didn’t know what to do.
‘I don’t know, sweetheart. But I’m here now, okay?’
I carried her to the kitchen, and that’s when I saw it.
A lone white envelope, just lying on the table. My name was written on it.
I put Alice down on the floor, and my hands were already shaking when I opened it.
Kevin,
I can’t live like this anymore. By the time you read this, I’ll be gone. But you’ll find out what happened to me in a week. Take care of Alice. Tell her I love her. That I’ll always love her.
Laurel
I had to read it three times before my brain could process the words. She wasn’t just leaving me. She was leaving Alice too. Something inside me broke.
I looked everywhere.
I called her friends. No one had seen her.
Her parents?
‘Kevin, she told us she needed space.’
Her colleagues?
‘Um… Laurel quit two weeks ago.’
Two weeks ago? How? Why?
She had been planning it. While having breakfast with Alice. While kissing me goodnight. While cooking dinner for us, laughing and watching films. All the while, my wife had been planning to leave us.
For the rest of the evening, Alice clung to me, as if if I left, I would disappear too.
‘Daddy,’ she said, playing with her food. ‘Mummy’s coming back, isn’t she?’
‘I don’t know, sweet girl,’ I said. ‘But I’m going to look for her tomorrow. You can stay with your grandmother, okay?’
‘But you’ll come back and get me?’ she asked, her lower lip trembling.
‘Of course I will. And I’ll take you for ice cream. Deal?’
‘Deal,’ she smiled weakly. A shadow of her usual radiance at the mention of ice cream.
I knew it was only a small consolation, but ice cream dates were our thing. And even if I could only dispel her sadness a little, I would feel like I had made a difference. A date between father and daughter was the only way out. Until I found out more about Laurel.
The next day, I went to the bank and checked our joint account with Laurel. It was easy because we were still married. And you know what? Her part of the account had almost completely disappeared.