That evening, I passed David’s room and heard him laughing for the first time in months. Grace sat beside his bed holding his hand. The tenderness between them made my stomach tighten.

Soon, I noticed they met privately whenever Grace returned from school. Their conversations stopped whenever I approached.

Once, I heard Grace whisper, “I can’t keep doing this.”

David answered, “Only a little longer. Please.”

When I confronted him, he promised I would understand later.

Later became the only answer he gave me.

Then I found Grace crying in the laundry room with her face pressed against one of David’s shirts. I begged her to tell me the truth, but she said she had made him a promise.

Three days later, David went to the hospital and never returned.

At the funeral, Grace stood beside my children. When people asked who she was, I said she was family, though I still did not know whether that was true.