I never planned for my ordinary Tuesday to turn into a life-changing disaster. If you’d asked me last Monday how things were, I’d have smiled and said, “Tired, but happy.” But that was before the attic. Before the truth about Grant—the man I thought I knew—hit me like a lightning bolt. It started so innocently. I randomly decided to take a day off work. Not because I was sick, not because I had a plan. Just… a whim. I wanted to clean the attic. Every time I climbed those narrow

I used to believe my life was built on truth. I lived in a quiet suburban neighborhood where nothing dramatic ever happened. The biggest argument I’d had all year was with myself—whether tulips or daffodils would look better by the mailbox. My mother, Nancy, raised me on rules.“Keep your porch clean, your hair brushed, and your secrets locked up tight,” she always said. Straight lines. Straight talk. No mess. I believed I was the kind of woman who could spot a lie anywhere. I’m Tanya. Thirty-eight years old. Mother of