A businessman comes home from a three-month business trip to find a strange woman living in his house, and his wife and family vanished without a trace.

John had been in Germany for three months, supervising the opening of a new branch of the firm where he worked. When his jet landed, he was immediately unbuckling his seat belt.

He could not wait to see his wife and kids! The previous few times they spoke, Sandra had been acting strangely, and he assured her he wouldn’t be away from her for so long again. John expected Sandra and the children to meet him at the airport, but no one was present. Perhaps they were late? John phoned her cellphone. There was no response. What was happening?

John took a taxi and provided the driver his home address. An hour later, he was sprinting up the stairs, inserting his keys into the lock. To his dismay, his keys did not function.

Make sure you have all of the facts before making a choice. He rang the doorbell. “Sandra!” he called. “Kids!” Daddy is home!”

Someone opened the door, but it was neither Sandra nor one of his children. It was a tall, slim woman in her fifties with beautiful silver hair. “Yes?” she asked calmly.

“Where’s Sandra?” said John, perplexed. “Where’s my wife?”

“Sandra?” said the woman, frowning. “I’m sorry, but there’s no one by that name here.”

“But this is MY HOUSE!” John shouted. “Who are you?”

“Certainly not!” “It’s my house!” the lady declared forcefully.

An elderly man emerged in response to John’s shouts. “What’s going on, Holly?” he questioned.

“This man keeps insisting that his wife Sandra lives here,” she stated. “I’ve been trying to tell him we bought the house three months ago.”

“You bought this house?” John asked. “Who sold it to you?”

“We bought it through a realtor,” the man explained. “We never met the previous owner.”

Standing on the pavement with his bag, John felt as if the world had collapsed. He tried Sandra’s phone number again, then contacted his in-laws.

“Please, Dana!” John spoke to his mother-in-law. “I just want to know that Sandra and the kids are OK!”

“No thanks to you!” Dana wept. “How could you!”

“But I didn’t do anything!” John gave a gasp. “I love Sandra; I worship the ground she walks on!”

“You have a strange way of showing it!” Dana stated.

John began to weep. “Dana,” he answered. “Do you recall the night Robbie was born?” You know how much I adore Sandra. How could you believe I would do anything to harm her? Please, there has been an error!”

Dana was silent for a time. “Look, I can’t promise you anything,” she said. “But I will talk to Sandra tomorrow.”

“My house is gone, Dana,” John explained. “Strangers live there.” I have nowhere to go.”

“Come over, John,” Dana urged. “You can sleep in the spare room.”

Sandra’s parents were not very cordial, but they welcomed John. They placed him in the spare room, and he knew Sandra and the kids had been there. Sandra’s perfume remained, and his old laptop was on top of the desk.

When John sat down and turned on the computer to check his email, he was shocked to see an old account was still functioning. There were dozens of emails sent between his former account and a woman named Linda Dean. The emails were extremely intimate and hot, and John could not believe what he was reading.

He’d never had an affair with anyone, let alone Linda Dean, his secretary for more than five years. Linda mentioned ‘our baby’ in one email, which caused John to nearly burst.

No wonder Sandra had left him! Linda evidently made a concerted effort to persuade her that he had cheated on her and fathered an illegitimate child.

Linda must be retaliating for getting dismissed when John discovered her padding the expense account. He raced to Dana with the printed emails. “This,” he explained, waving the emails. “They’re all lies!” And I can prove it!”

Dana stared at him curiously. “You can?” she inquired.

“Yes,” John answered. “All I need is a chance to talk to Sandra!”

Dana was on the phone minutes later, and Sandra was stepping in shortly after. She seemed emaciated and miserable. “Sandra!” John yelled and raced towards her, but she raised her hand.

“Stop,” she instructed. “Mom said you could prove it was all lies…”

John nodded. “Yes!” he exclaimed. “Look here, the emails appear to have come from my email, but if you look closely, you will notice that the IP address is identical to Linda’s.” She hacked my account.”

“Also, check here! On numerous of the dates, she mentions her and me being together; you and I were at the cabin”! It’s all lies!”

Sandra gasped as she went through the emails. “It is true! But why would she…?

“Because,” John said, “she wanted to destroy what I hold most precious in my life: my family.”

“Oh, John!” Sandra sobbed. “And she nearly succeeded!”

The next day, John and Sandra went looking for a lovely new house for their family, and she promised to never doubt him again.