to tell the truth now.”
I managed a nervous smile. “Jonah, don’t scare me.”
Something shifted in his expression, and cold fear spread through me.
“Yes,” he said softly. “I have to. Because when you married me, you agreed to something far BIGGER than just signing your name on a document.””
PART 2: THE SECRET INSIDE THE BLACK BOX
I stared at the black box on our kitchen table.
For three years, I had imagined what our life would look like when Jonah finally came home.
I imagined quiet mornings,
shared dinners, and falling asleep beside the man I had loved from behind prison glass.
I never imagined being afraid of him.
“Just open it,” Jonah said.
His voice was calm, but his fingers trembled.
I lifted the lid.
Inside lay a thick envelope, an old photograph, and a small silver key.
The photograph showed Jonah standing beside his father, his mother, and his cousin Daniel. They were smiling in front of a large mansion.
But someone had drawn a red circle around me.
Not around Jonah.
Around me.
My
