Cora Morales woke up on Valentine’s Day with a smile. She was in such a good mood that even folding laundry felt light. She hummed softly to herself, her cheeks glowing pink as she checked her to-do list. Everything was lined up perfectly. Tonight, she wanted to surprise her husband, Eric. She had spent the whole morning making plans. “Eric’s going to be so happy when he sees this,” she whispered to herself, blushing as she looked at the red velvet cheesecake cooling on the counter, shaped perfectly into a

Back when milk came in glass bottles and Elvis was just a truck driver with a dream, the world felt slower. Or maybe we just paid attention more. I’ve lived through presidents being shot, the Civil Rights movement, Vietnam, 9/11, and now TikTok—though I still don’t understand why anyone wants to film themselves dancing in the street. I raised three kids in a house with thin walls but thicker love. I buried a husband I adored. I worked double shifts at Mel’s Diner until my feet gave out and my

My husband always told me his past was a blank slate. He said he lost everything in a car accident years before we met. I believed it—until a woman from my mother’s past looked at him once and shattered everything I thought I knew. I never imagined I’d be the kind of woman writing something like this. But a few weeks ago, something happened that shook the very foundation of the life I built with the man I love. My name is Caroline, I’m 40 years old, and I’ve been