Just after the funeral, my husband insisted I get rid of all her belongings. But while cleaning her room, I discovered a strange note: “Mom, look under the bed and you’ll understand everything.”

I bent down, looked under the bed—and what I saw froze me with horror.

After the funeral of our only daughter, who had just turned 15, it felt as if life had stopped.

I remember standing by her grave, barely able to stay on my feet. People around me were saying things, offering sympathy, but I could hardly hear a word. All I could see was her white coffin.

After the service, my husband kept repeating: “We need to throw away all her things. They’re just memories. As long as they stay in the house, they’ll haunt us.”

I couldn’t understand how he could say such a thing. They weren’t just objects—they carried her scent, her touch, her dresses, her toys. I resisted as long as I could, but after a month, I gave in. I decided to finally clean her room, a place I hadn’t entered in nearly four weeks.

When I opened the door, it felt like everything had remained the same. Her light perfume still lingered in the air, and on the desk lay an open notebook.

I picked up each item—a dress, a few hair ties, her favorite book. I cried as I held them to my chest, as if that could bring her back for even a moment.

Then suddenly, a small folded paper slipped out of a schoolbook. My heart skipped a beat.

I unfolded it and instantly recognized my daughter’s handwriting.

On the paper were the words: “Mom, if you’re reading this, look quickly under the bed and you’ll understand everything.”

I read it several times, my hands trembling. My chest tightened. What did she mean?

Gathering all my courage, I knelt down and looked under the bed… and what I saw left me in shock.

With a shaking hand, I pulled out an old plastic bag. Inside were a few things: two notebooks, a small box with trinkets, and my daughter’s phone—the very phone my husband had told me was “lost.” A dreadful feeling sank into my heart.

I turned the phone on—it still worked. I opened her messages. There was a conversation with her friend.

Message excerpts

February 15, 10:17 PM
Daughter: I can’t take it anymore.

10:18 PM
Friend: What happened?

10:19 PM
Daughter: Dad yelled at me again. He said if Mom finds out even a single word, he’ll make sure we both regret it…

10:21 PM
Friend: Oh my God, you’re scaring me… Did he hit you?
Daughter: Yes… it’s not the first time. I have a bruise on my arm. I told Mom it happened at school, but… I’m scared.

10:24 PM
Friend: You have to tell your mom or go to the police, this is too serious!

10:26 PM
Daughter: He said he’d kill me if I speak. I believe him—when he’s angry, he’s terrifying.

10:28 PM
Friend: But you can’t keep this all to yourself…

10:29 PM
Daughter: I’m writing to you because I can’t tell anyone else. If something ever happens to me, know that it was him.

Those words burned in my hands like fire. Each message seared into my mind. I read them again and again, seeing her frightened eyes, remembering how withdrawn she had become over the last few months.

Back then, I didn’t want to believe something terrible was happening to her…

And in that moment, I understood: my daughter had not left this world on her own. She had become the victim of the very person I thought was closest to me