I used to believe I knew my husband completely, that after three years of marriage there were no corners of his life left unexplored. Peter and I had built what looked like a gentle, dependable world together, the kind people admire from the outside. We met during a summer that moved too fast for caution, fell in love quickly, and trusted the feeling without hesitation. When I found out I was pregnant not long after, it felt like fate had confirmed we were exactly where we were meant to be.

By the time I was expecting our second child, I believed our life had settled into something solid and enduring. We had routines, shared jokes, late-night conversations, and the quiet confidence of people who thought they had already survived the hardest parts. I didn’t yet understand how easily certainty can crack, or how secrets can live comfortably inside a marriage when fear is allowed to speak louder than truth.