Kate had just set breakfast on the table when the doorbell rang. Josh was outside walking their daughter Emily around the garden, so she answered. A delivery man stood on the porch holding a medium-sized box.
“Package for you,” he said, handing her the clipboard to sign. She assumed it was something Josh had ordered—he loved surprising her with little gifts, especially since their wedding anniversary was only days away. She carried the box to the kitchen, cut through the thick tape, and peeled it open.
Inside lay a beautifully embroidered pillow, soft cream fabric stitched with intricate designs. It was the kind of thing that would fit perfectly in their living room. Beneath it was a note that read, Happy Anniversary, Josh and Kate!
– Taylor. Kate froze. Taylor was Josh’s father, the man who had walked out of his life decades ago and left a trail of resentment behind.
Just then, Josh walked in with Emily balanced on his shoulders. “What’s this?” he asked, setting his daughter in her high chair. Kate hesitated.
“It’s… a gift,” she said carefully. “From your father.”
Taylor had tried to resurface once or twice, like before their wedding, when he reached out through relatives. Josh had refused.
“I don’t want him there,” he had said. “He’ll ruin everything. Knowing him, someone will show up to the ceremony because he owes them money.” When Emily was born, Taylor tried again, hoping to play the role of doting grandfather.
Josh shut it down immediately. “I don’t want him near her. Don’t fight me on this one, Kate.
He’s bad news.”
So when Josh picked up the pillow and pressed it to his ear, Kate thought he was just suspicious out of habit. But his eyes widened in alarm. “Kate… we can’t keep this.” He rushed to the back door and flung the pillow into the garden.
“It’s ticking!”
Kate blinked. “What do you mean ticking?” They hurried outside. There, lying innocently among the flowers, the pillow emitted a faint, rhythmic sound.
She crouched and pressed her ear against it. Josh hadn’t imagined it—there really was a ticking inside. “Record everything,” Josh said, jaw tight.
He ripped open the pillow, and from within slipped out a small box fitted with a timer. Kate’s heart pounded. “What is that?”
Josh didn’t answer.
He grabbed his phone and dialed his father. Taylor answered cheerily, as if he had been waiting for the call. “Kate!
Did you get my package? I wanted to give you something special.”
Taylor chuckled softly. “Don’t worry.
It’s just a timer—it’s supposed to open on your anniversary. Nothing dangerous.”
Josh yanked the phone from Kate’s hand. “What’s in the box, Dad?
Something illegal? Are you trying to drag us into your mess again?” His voice cracked with anger. “Please, Josh,” Taylor said, his tone suddenly weary.
“It’s only a gift. I mean no harm.”
After a long pause, Josh hung up. Kate touched his arm gently.
“Let’s open it together,” she whispered. Josh reluctantly nodded, and Kate resumed recording on her phone. He pried the box open.
Inside was a check. Not a trinket, not a card—a check for $100,000. Josh stared at it as though it might catch fire.
“What kind of game is this?” he muttered. “There’s no way this money is clean.”
Before they could discuss it further, Taylor called again. Kate answered.
His voice was softer now, almost broken. “I’m dying,” he admitted. “I know I was a terrible father.
I made mistakes, too many to count. But that money—it’s for you, for Emily. For her education.
If Josh doesn’t want it, keep it anyway. Nobody has to know it came from me.”
Kate swallowed hard. She looked at Josh, whose face was a storm of fury, confusion, and grief.
For years he had convinced himself that cutting his father out was the only way to stay safe, the only way to protect his family. But Taylor’s voice carried a weight that couldn’t be ignored. Josh took the phone.
“If you’re serious, no more games,” he said. “We’ll meet. One time.
And you’ll tell me the truth.”
They agreed to meet at a park where Josh and Kate often took Emily. The day of, Josh was tense, his hands restless. Taylor arrived looking nothing like the man Josh remembered.
He was frail, shoulders hunched, his hair thinned. He walked slowly toward them, eyes full of regret. Josh clenched his jaw.
Years of anger rose in him, but so did something else: a deep longing for closure. “It’s not easy, Dad,” he said finally. “But maybe… maybe we can try.
For Emily. So she knows her grandfather wasn’t just a shadow.”
Kate, sensing the heaviness of the moment, unpacked the picnic basket she had brought along. Sandwiches, fruit, juice boxes for Emily.
The story doesn’t end here — it continues on the next page to discover the rest 🔎👇
