Chapter 1: The Cleaning Lady Who Kept His Secrets

I thought my husband hired a cleaning lady because he worried about me — months later, I came home early and she whispered, "You need to see what I pull out of his trash every Wednesday."

For the past year, work had been draining me.

I left home before seven, returned after six, and still spent my evenings cooking, doing laundry, and trying to keep our house from falling apart.

So when my husband, Ethan, insisted on hiring a cleaning lady once a week, I nearly cried with relief.

"You shouldn't come home exhausted and start scrubbing floors," he said.

"Let me take care of you for once."

I'd never seen the cleaning lady.

I only knew that her name was Rosa and she came every Wednesday while we were both at work.

Ethan arranged her schedule and payment himself, so for almost four months, I never actually met her.

I loved Wednesdays.

I'd come home to fresh sheets, spotless floors, and sometimes flowers Ethan had left on the kitchen counter.

I genuinely thought hiring Rosa was one of the sweetest things he'd ever done for me.

Then last Wednesday, I got sick at work and came home shortly before noon.

I found Rosa standing in our kitchen with a trash bag in her hand.

"Rosa?"

She turned.

The moment she saw me, her face went pale.

"You're Ethan's wife?"

I smiled uncertainly.

"Yes."

Instead of introducing herself, she whispered, "Finally."

Then she glanced toward Ethan's home office and lowered her voice.

"I've wanted to speak to you for weeks, but your husband specifically told me never to contact you."

My stomach tightened.

"Why would he say that?"

Rosa pulled a grocery bag from beneath her cleaning supplies and set it on the table.

"During my second week here, I found something at the bottom of his office trash.

The bag accidentally tore open, and this fell out.

It was wrapped in dark-red cloth and tied with black thread."

She swallowed.

"I put it in my cart and forgot to throw it away.

Out of curiosity, I opened it.

Then the next Wednesday, there was another."

I stared at her.

"And the Wednesday after that...

another.

I knew your husband was doing something very, very BAD."

Rosa opened the bag.

Inside were six identical bundles wrapped in dark-red fabric.

She pushed one toward me.

"Your husband didn't hire me to make your life easier because he worried about you.

He wanted to fool you so you'd never find out the truth."

With trembling fingers, I untied the black thread.

The cloth fell open.

And when I saw what Ethan had been secretly throwing away every Wednesday, my bl00d ran cold.

---

What was inside those bundles?

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What has Ethan been hiding every single Wednesday?

Comment **"NEXT"** if you want Part 2 — it's already in the comments.