Today, around 11:00 AM, Clara returned home after a 4-month business trip.

“Could they both be planning to buy me a surprise gift?”

Clara approached and picked up the shoes to examine them. They appeared to have been worn… and, more importantly, they were different from the style she preferred. More striking, more unusual.

Clara swallowed.

Whose could they be…?

Her heart began to beat faster than normal. She walked toward the hallway, each step shorter than the last, as if the floor might collapse at any moment.

The door to the master bedroom was ajar.

He approached and pushed the door, shouting loudly:

“Who…?”

It stopped.