On my 47th birthday, I set the table for three people—just like I always did. But only two of us would sit there. The third seat stayed empty, like it had for the past two years. That chair belonged to my daughter, Karen, who hadn’t called, texted, or come home since the day she walked away. But I couldn’t stop hoping. I placed the last plate down carefully. My hands shook a little. The table looked perfect—but it didn’t feel right. The third place setting stared back at me like

I had been counting down the days until my grandson Jake’s very first baseball game. I could barely sleep the night before, I was so proud and excited. But just a day before the big event, my daughter-in-law called me and said I couldn’t come. At first, I believed her reason. I told myself, “Okay, maybe that makes sense.” But then I learned the truth… and I’ll never forget the way it made me feel. It was like someone had taken a baseball bat and knocked the wind out of

THE TRAP DOOR TRUTH Freddy sat stiffly in the lawyer’s office, forcing himself to keep a straight face. He wasn’t about to give Mark—the smug, overconfident fiancé of his sister Hazel—the satisfaction of seeing any emotion. Mark was already grinning like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland, leaning in close to Hazel like he owned everything. “Mr. Schneider, but why did I get the main house?” Hazel interrupted, her voice small but curious. She hadn’t even waited for the lawyer to finish reading the will. Freddy glanced over and