He had expected to walk into proof of his own necessity, evidence of how much I needed him, a wife so wrecked by his absence that she would never again ask him to wash a bottle.

Instead, he walked into silence.

He walked into a house that was pristine, and calm, and, as far as he could see, entirely empty.

And the confusion that crossed his face in that moment was, I will admit, one of the more satisfying things I have ever watched.

Chapter 7 — The Silent Shift

He set his cooler down on the hardwood floor, and a crease of bewilderment appeared between his eyebrows as he took in the transformed room.

The living room furniture had been meticulously rearranged.