When my husband begged me to throw away a box of unlabeled VHS tapes from his childhood home, I knew he was hiding something. I just never expected the secret on those tapes would make me question whether our entire relationship had been a lie.
I should have known something was wrong the moment my husband tried to snatch the box out of my hands.It happened three months after Ethan and I moved into his childhood home. The house was old and quiet, surrounded by pine trees that groaned whenever the wind blew. Ethan loved the place in a way I never fully understood.”This house is all I have left of my parents,” he told me once.At the time, I thought it sounded sweet.The attic smelled like dust and damp wood the afternoon I found the tapes. Rain hammered against the roof while I sorted through old boxes, trying to decide what to keep and what to throw away.That was when I spotted a cardboard box shoved behind a broken lamp. Curious, I dragged it closer and opened it.
Inside were dozens of VHS tapes.Some had labels written in black marker.1994.” “Beach Trip.” “Mom’s Birthday.”I had just picked one up when I heard footsteps racing up the attic stairs”Claire?”Ethan appeared in the doorway, breathing hard. The second he saw the box, his face went pale.”Ethan?” I laughed nervously. “You okay?”He crossed the attic quickly and grabbed the box from my hands so hard I flinched. “They’re junk,” he said immediately.The words came too fast. Too rehearsed.I frowned. “They’re family videos.””They don’t matter.”Something twisted in my stomach.”Why are you acting so weird about this?” I asked.”I’m not.””You practically ripped the box away from me.”His jaw tightened. “Claire, just throw them out.”That made no sense. Ethan was the most sentimental person I knew. He still kept birthday cards from high school in his desk drawer.Later that night, I woke up and realized he wasn’t in bed.I found him standing alone in the garage, staring at the VHS box hidden beneath an old workbench.Just staring at it. When he noticed me, he jumped.
