Arianne continued checking the displays in Alex's study. She looked at the photo of the math competition a moment longer than necessary before setting it back down. The earliest photo of the twins was dated years after she'd moved away. She traced the edge of the frame with her finger. There was a version of her life where she had been in those photos. Where she had stayed. Where Alex's children had known her as something other than the woman who disappeared.
Nothing in the study appeared disturbed. The shelves and desk remained arranged exactly as Alex had left them. Dust gathered along the edges of the shelves rather than their surfaces. Even the chair behind the desk was pushed in neatly, its position unchanged. It was as if he would appear any moment. But Arianne knew that was impossible.
