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Daniel’s world shatters when his wife, Lila, dies suddenly from an undiagnosed heart condition. Grief-stricken and paralyzed by loss, he retreats into the silence of their empty apartment, surrounded by the ghost of her presence—her untouched coffee cup, her half-read books, the voicemail he plays on loop just to hear her voice.

As months pass, Daniel’s isolation deepens. His sister, Claire, begs him to rejoin the living, but he refuses, clinging to the pain because it’s the last thing tying him to Lila. When he finally musters the strength to sort through her belongings, he uncovers letters from her estranged father—a man she spent years searching for, only to find his grave. The discovery forces Daniel to confront his own regrets: the conversations they never had, the love he took for granted, the future they’ll never share.

Haunted by memories and suffocated by solitude, Daniel must decide whether to drown in the past or find a way to carry Lila with him into a life he never wanted to live without her.

The Weight of Absence

Mrs. Kowalski caught them on the stairs, her arms full of grocery bags.

"There you are!" she huffed, adjusting her grip. "I've been meaning to ask—would you and your son mind taking in my mail while I'm in Florida?"

Daniel froze. Luke, two steps behind him, nearly walked into his back.

Mrs. Kowalski blinked between them. "Oh. Oh, I'm sorry, I just assumed—" Her cheeks pinked. "You have the same smile."

Daniel turned to look at Luke. The kid was staring at his shoes, shoulders hunched, but there was no denying it—the way his mouth quirked to the side when he was trying not to laugh, the crease between his eyebrows when he was annoyed.

It wasn't Lila's smile. It was his.

Something warm settled in Daniel's chest.

"Yeah," he heard himself say. "We'll get your mail."

The Breaking Point