BENEATH THE BROKEN SURFACE SERIES
Chapter Three
The next morning came heavy and gray. Rain pattered lightly against the windows, the kind of soft drizzle that blurs the lines between sleep and waking. Daniel stood in the kitchen, staring at the coffee machine, but not bothering to turn it on.
Lily had left early—too early. Her absence lingered in the air like perfume, faint and haunting.
He picked up his phone, his thumb hovering over the screen before finally opening his messages. He scrolled past work notifications, group threads, photos of happier times. Then he stopped on one: an old text from Lily, sent almost a year ago.
“No matter what happens, we’re in this together. Always.” He nearly laughed.
A knock at the door pulled him from his thoughts. Not a delivery—it was too deliberate. He crossed the hallway and opened it.
A man stood on the porch, mid-thirties, sharply dressed, with an expression that made Daniel’s skin crawl. The stranger offered a tight, practiced smile.
“You must be Daniel,” he said.
Daniel nodded warily. “And you are?” “David.”
The name hit him like a punch.
“I think we should talk,” David added, his tone measured.
Daniel stepped outside, closing the door behind him. “You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up here.”
“I didn’t come to fight,” David said calmly. came to explain. Lily doesn’t know I’m here.”
That gave Daniel pause. “Why now?” David looked down, then back up, his voice low. “Because she’s about to make a choice. And you deserve to know the truth before she does.”