Chapter 3: What They Found

The next afternoon, Detective Harris arrived at the hospital carrying a folder.

His expression told Rowan everything before he even spoke.

"We found your ex-wife."

Rowan's heart stopped.

"Is she alive?"

"Yes."

Relief came first.

Then confusion.

The detective opened the folder.

"Three weeks ago, Delaney lost her job."

Rowan stared.

"What?"

"She never told anyone. Not even her family."

More documents followed.

Unpaid bills.

Eviction notices.

Debt collection letters.

Bank statements showing her account nearly empty.

For weeks, Delaney had been struggling alone.

Too ashamed to ask for help.

Too proud to tell Rowan she was falling apart.

Then came the worst discovery.

Surveillance footage showed Delaney checking herself into a psychiatric crisis center two days earlier after suffering a severe mental breakdown.

She had arrived confused, exhausted, and unable to provide emergency contact information.

Because she had entered under emergency mental health protection, the facility had not immediately connected her identity to local reports.

Rowan sat in stunned silence.

All this time he had imagined anger.

Neglect.

Abandonment.

Instead, Delaney had been drowning.

And nobody noticed.

The detective spoke quietly.

"She didn't leave the children because she didn't care."

Rowan lowered his head.

"She was sick."

The detective nodded.

"Very sick."

For the first time since receiving Micah's phone call, Rowan felt something unexpected.

Not rage.

Not hatred.

Heartbreak.