The following weeks were brutal.
Between sleepless nights, constant diaper changes, and endless crying — sometimes from the babies, sometimes from me — life became a blur.
Yet in every quiet moment, my thoughts drifted back to Suzie.
I contacted everyone I could think of.
Her friends.
Her family.
Anyone who might know where she had gone.
No one had heard from her.
But when I called her college friend Sara, she hesitated before answering.
“She talked about feeling… trapped,” Sara admitted quietly over the phone. “Not by you, Ben, but by everything. The pregnancy, your mom. She told me once that Mandy said the twins would be better off without her.”
Those words felt like a knife twisting deeper into my chest.
“Why didn’t she tell me my mom was saying these things to her?”
“She was scared, Ben,” Sara said gently. “She thought Mandy might turn you against her. I told her to talk to you, but…” Her voice cracked. “I’m sorry. I should’ve pushed harder.”
“Do you think she’s okay?”
“I hope so,” Sara replied softly. “Suzie’s stronger than she thinks. But Ben… keep looking for her.”
Weeks slowly turned into months.
