“Lila, what happened?” I asked gently.
She glanced at her father and then back down at her shoes.
“Nothing. I’m tired. Can I go to bed now?”
“Sure, sweetie,” I said softly, my gaze still fixed on John. “We’ll talk about this in the morning my angel.”

A woman talking to her daughter | Source: Midjourney
After she ran upstairs, I turned back to my husband, waiting for a real answer. But he just shrugged and went to the living room, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Something wasn’t right.
I knew John was hiding something, but I was too exhausted from the drive and the trip to press him. I needed a night to rest and figure out how to handle whatever this was. I figured I’d tackle it with him privately the next day.
In my mind, I reckoned that maybe Lila had locked herself in, and was embarrassed by it. That’s why they were hiding it from me. With a lot on my mind, I decided to take out the trash before heading to bed, something John clearly hadn’t bothered to do.
The bags were overflowing, and a faint, unpleasant smell seeped from the kitchen. As I dragged them outside, I almost bumped into our next-door neighbor, Dave.

A woman taking out trash | Source: Midjourney
“Hey, Taylor, I’m glad I caught you after your trip. There’s something I wanted to get off my chest,” Dave stated before I even had a chance to reply. “I’m really sorry for what happened,” he continued without taking a breath, his face etched with genuine concern. “I swear I didn’t know who was inside when I slammed the door into pieces.”
“But to be honest, that piece of [expletive] should pay for it!” Dave expressed in anger before catching himself. “Look, if you need someone to talk to, Taylor, I’m here,” he concluded his rant.

A man standing by the trash bins | Source: Midjourney
My confusion must have shown because Dave frowned and hesitated.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, feeling floored by his words, the unease in my stomach growing stronger by the second.