Because as the smell grew worse, something else changed too.
Miguel started watching me whenever I got near the bed.
The first time I deep-cleaned his side, he walked in and stopped cold.
“What are you doing?” he asked sharply.
“Cleaning,” I said. “That smell is getting worse.”
His jaw tightened. “You’re imagining things.”
I let out a small laugh, waiting for him to soften.
He didn’t.
After that, every time I touched the sheets or reached for anything near his side, his mood shifted instantly. He became sharp. Defensive. Irritated in a way that made no sense.
Then one night, when I said I was going to wash everything again, he snapped.
“Don’t touch my things. Leave the bed alone.”
I just stood there, staring at him.
In eight years, I had never seen him react like that over something so ordinary.
And in that moment, something cold and quiet began to grow inside me.
Because people don’t panic like that… unless there’s something to hide.
After that, I couldn’t stop noticing things.
How quickly he shut down any mention of the smell.
How tense he became if I got too close to his side of the mattress.
How he lay there at night pretending everything was normal, while I lay stiff beside him, breathing through my mouth, wondering what I was actually sleeping next to.
Then came the night I couldn’t take it anymore.
The smell felt alive.
I lay in the dark, eyes wide open, convinced something beneath us was decaying. My chest tightened. My skin prickled with dread.
It wasn’t just the smell anymore.
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