I noticed the lock on a Tuesday. Simple, silver, unremarkable, yet out of place on the bottom drawer of Adam's desk.

Adam was particular about his home office, but he'd never locked anything away from me before.

"What's with the new security measure?" I asked.

Adam barely glanced up from his laptop. "Oh, that? Just some work stuff I need to keep organized."

"Must be pretty important," I said, trying to match his light tone.

"Not really." He shrugged and changed the subject. "What are we doing for dinner?"

I let it go, but then things changed.

The first time I walked into his office while the drawer was open, he slammed it shut so hard that his coffee mug rattled. His eyes darted to me with something I'd never seen before — panic.

"Sorry," I mouthed, backing away.

Later that week, I came to ask if he wanted lunch, and he practically jumped out of his skin.

"Don't scare me like that!" he snapped, closing his laptop with unnecessary force.

"I was just wondering if you wanted a sandwich," I said, startled by his reaction.

"I'm not hungry," he muttered, avoiding my eyes.

The changes kept coming.

He started taking his laptop to the bathroom.

One morning, I passed behind his chair to reach for a book on his shelf, and he physically moved to block my view of his screen.

"What are you hiding from me?" I finally asked over dinner, the words escaping before I could stop them.

Adam's fork clattered against his plate.

"What? Nothing. Why would you think that?"

"The locked drawer, jumping like I'm going to attack you every time I enter your office." I counted the behaviors on my fingers. "You're acting weird, Adam."

"I told you there's just boring work stuff in the drawer," he said, his voice rising slightly. "Why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

"I'm not making a big deal. You are."

"You're being paranoid," he said, pushing away from the table. "Stop worrying."

But how could I not worry? For months, I watched him grow more distant and protective of whatever he was hiding. A pit of unease grew in my stomach. Was he in debt? Having an affair?

The last possibility haunted me most.

Every time he angled his screen away or took a call in another room, my mind filled with images of another woman. Another life.

When Adam announced he had to attend a conference in Chicago, I felt a strange mixture of relief and dread. That locked drawer called to me.

"This is ridiculous," I told myself, pacing our living room. "You're going to drive yourself crazy."

But what if he was in trouble? Or planning to leave me?

I searched YouTube for "how to pick a simple desk lock," found a paperclip, and got to work.

It took twenty minutes of fumbling and swearing before I heard the satisfying click. Taking a deep breath, I pulled the drawer open.

No cash. No fake IDs. No love letters.

Instead, neatly stacked and organized by date, were greeting cards. Dozens of them. Birthday cards. Father's Day cards. Christmas cards. Congratulations cards.

Confused, I picked a homemade birthday card, clearly drawn by a child.

"Happy Birthday to the most important man in our lives! Love, Stacey, and Tyler."

I grabbed another card, this one store-bought but filled with a woman's handwriting: "I hope you know how much you mean to Jason and me. You’re always in our thoughts. Love, Maria."

Card after card, I read with growing disbelief. There were different women, living in different cities, notes and drawings from different kids, but they all expressed love and gratitude for my husband as if he were part of their family.

"What the hell?" I whispered, my mind racing to make sense of it all.

This wasn't just one secret family, it was dozens!

I spread the cards across the floor, trying to piece together a timeline. The oldest ones dated back almost ten years — before Adam and I met. The newest was postmarked just last month.

I took pictures of everything, then carefully returned the cards. I didn't understand what I'd stumbled upon, but I intended to make Adam explain himself the minute he returned home.