I kept noticing that my husband was inviting my daughter out to dinner. Then one day, I overheard him saying,…

I laughed too. At the time, I didn’t see anything strange about it. But the following week, they went out again. Then one

more time. And then again. Always just the two of them. Whenever I asked where they had been, Emma gave me very short

---

answers.

“Just a regular place.”

“What did you talk about?”

“Everything.”

---

One evening, I noticed Emma was dressed a little nicer than usual.

There was nothing inappropriate or unusual about her clothes, but she had spent a long time fixing her hair in front of the

mirror. Daniel called from downstairs.

“Are you ready?”

---

Emma hurried down.

As she passed me, I asked,

“Where are you going?”

She stopped for a second.

---

“Daniel said we’ll tell you later.”

Something inside me changed at that sentence. We’ll tell you later. Why couldn’t they tell me now?

That night, they came home close to ten. I was sitting in the living room. Emma looked happy, but the moment she saw me,

she became quiet. Daniel looked at her and said,

---

“Remember what we agreed.”

Emma nodded. I stared at both of them.

“What agreement?”

“Nothing,” Daniel said. “Just a little surprise.”