His Wife came by susprise

His Wife Came by Surprise

The dim light of the desk lamp flickered as Ethan typed away, engrossed in his latest project. The clock struck midnight, but he hardly noticed. The house was eerily quiet, save for the occasional creak of the wooden floorboards—a sound he attributed to the house settling.

He wasn’t expecting anyone. His wife, Clara, was out of town visiting her parents for the weekend. Or so he thought.

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A soft knock echoed through the living room. Ethan froze. The knock wasn’t urgent, but it was deliberate. He turned toward the door, his heart racing. He rose cautiously, peeking through the peephole.

There she was. Clara, standing on the porch, clutching her coat against the chill. Her hair was windswept, her cheeks pink from the cold.

“Clara?” he stammered, opening the door. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at your parents’ house.”

“I wanted to surprise you,” she said, her lips curling into a playful smile. “I missed you too much.”

Ethan laughed nervously, stepping aside to let her in. He hugged her, but something felt off. Her embrace was familiar, yet distant. Her perfume, always a light floral, seemed to carry a sharper, almost metallic tang tonight.

“Are you okay?” he asked, searching her face.

“Of course,” she said quickly, her eyes darting around the room. “Just tired from the trip.”

Ethan nodded, though unease gnawed at him. They settled in the living room, but her demeanor remained strange—her movements slightly stiff, her tone unusually curt.

It wasn’t until she excused herself to the bathroom that he noticed it. A small slip of paper sticking out of her coat pocket. He hesitated, but curiosity won.

He unfolded the paper. It was a bus ticket, dated for tomorrow morning. It was one-way. To a town he didn’t recognize.

Before he could make sense of it, he heard a sound—a low creak. Turning toward the hallway, he saw her standing there, watching him.

“Ethan,” she said softly, her voice almost unrecognizable. “Why did you look at that?”

The question lingered in the air, heavy and cold. Ethan felt his pulse quicken as he tried to respond, but his throat tightened.

“You’re not… Clara, are you?” he finally managed to whisper.

She smiled—a smile that wasn’t hers.

And that’s when the lights went out.