*I changed a bit of the story from before*
A cruel smile crossed his lips as his words hit her like a slap in the face. It had become so routine that he never thought it would ever change. He left her standing there in the kitchen as he headed up to the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He climbed into bed and waited because he knew she would eventually follow him and beg to be forgiven or so he thought.
Their friends and neighbors thought they had the perfect marriage but behind closed doors he had slowly turned into a cruel heartless monster who took great pleasure in tearing her down. The snide comments turned into constant insults, the threatening stares made her flinch and she would end up running into the bathroom and locking the door, listening to him pound on the door and call her vile names till eventually it stopped followed by apologies but she knew they were not real.
Eventually he fell asleep and the night passed till the alarm went off in the morning. When he woke up he stretched and reached over for her side of the bed but it was empty. He stretched and slid his legs off the side of the bed, a little irritated by the fact she was not there. He headed into the shower then got dressed for work before heading downstairs expecting to find her in the kitchen making him breakfast and holding out a coffee for him. When he entered the doorway, he stopped a little taken back by the fact she was not there. His eyes searched while he grew impatient, beginning to call out her name expecting her to come running the way she always did but he was only met with silence. He walked towards the front window and parted the curtain noticing that her car was not parked in the driveway.
Anger welled up inside of him as he realized she dared to leave without getting his permission. He stormed through the house, pausing at the table that sat at the front door where they kept their keys. His eyes narrowed as he noticed her phone and the house key set neatly on top of a folded piece of paper. He picked up the phone and studied it as if it might morph into something else then turned it on or at least tried to. When it did not work he foolishly thought he could somehow fix it by calling her number. The message he got in response told him that the number was no longer in service. His breath caught in his throat as his hands started to tremble ever so slightly, picking up the paper and slowly unfolding it. The message was clearly in her writing and he began to read.
Sam,
I loved you from the moment we met and I promised to always love you but over time you stopped seeing me as a person and only something you owned. You criticized everything I did or did not do, you controlled me and kept me a prisoner in my own life. When I tried to tell you how I felt you would just dismiss me. By the time you finish reading this I will be long gone. I am now learning how to love myself again without you tearing me down.
Jessica
Attached to the bottom of the paper with a piece of tape was her wedding ring. He stood there in stunned silence realizing his control had disappeared and she was no longer there to be his emotional punching bag. He was so busy believing she would never leave while she was slowly writing herself out of his life. He waited for days thinking she would come crawling back to him and he would make her pay for everything but days turned into weeks then months and he heard nothing. He did not even receive divorce papers which would have been the obvious next step. Why did he not bother to contact the police? If he dragged them into the equation he might have to explain what led up to her disappearance but in all honesty deep down he was relieved that she was gone.
It had been about a year since she first disappeared and he deflected every call that came from concerned family and friends, telling them that she took an extended trip to refresh herself and that seemed to calm them. More than enough time had passed and he decided it was finally time to rid himself of the rest of her belongings. While pulling out the final boxes that were stacked on top of the shelf in their bedroom closet, a small locked box tumbled out and hit the floor with a thud. Curious, he used a knife and forced the lid open and he stood back in shock as the contents spilled out onto the floor. Scattered across the carpet were pieces of her life, important documents including her birth certificate and passport. If she had simply packed up and left him to start a new life somewhere else why would she not have taken all of it with her. As he gathered up everything, his eyes were drawn to a small sealed envelope that he had not noticed before and he slowly opened it unsure of what would be found inside.
The only thing it contained was a folded piece of paper with words written on it but not in his wife's handwriting which he obviously knew very well. “He must not ever find out. If things get bad enough we must take steps to ensure you vanish without a trace. You are too important to the mission. Do not keep this letter.” He sank to the floor unable to comprehend what he just read. What was the mission and why did she disappear? Was the note he found by the front door simply a cover so he would not try to find her? So many questions but no answers.
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