In the quiet suburb of Maplewood, nestled among rows of cherry blossoms and manicured lawns, lived the Thompson family. Julia, a high school art teacher, her husband, Mark, a software engineer, and their two daughters, Lily and Rose, were the embodiment of a happy, picture-perfect family. Or so it seemed.

Julia’s world began to unravel one spring evening when she decided to surprise Mark at his office with a homemade dinner. The girls, excited at the prospect of seeing where their father worked, chattered incessantly as they helped Julia pack the food. However, upon reaching the sleek glass building, the receptionist’s puzzled look was the first crack in the facade of Julia’s seemingly perfect life. Mark hadn’t worked late on Fridays for months, the receptionist informed her.

Confused and slightly worried, Julia decided to drive by Mark’s favorite cafe, thinking maybe he had stopped for a coffee and lost track of time. As they approached, Julia’s heart sank. There, through the fogged window, sat Mark, not alone, but intimately close to a woman Julia had never seen before. Their hands were intertwined, their smiles too tender for mere friendship.

The world seemed to stop for Julia as she struggled to breathe, to think. How long had this been going on? How could she have been so blind? The questions spiraled in her mind, but the sight of Lily and Rose in the rearview mirror snapped her back to reality. She couldn’t fall apart; she had to be strong for her daughters.