After hearing our baby’s heartbeat for the first time, my wife and I were ecstatic as we left the doctor’s office. Before we arrived at my car, we were ecstatic.
“Hope She Was Worth It” was scrawled in large characters on the driver’s side door.
I froze. So did my wife. I felt sick to my stomach.
“What the devil?” With my heart racing, I muttered.
Emily just stared at it, then at me.
“Emily, I swear on everything—I’ve never cheated!”
She didn’t shout. didn’t make accusations. But the stillness was worse.
“I didn’t write it,” she finally confessed, voice trembling. “So, who did? And why?
She called her mother to come get her, and it was like a kick in the gut to watch her go with tears in her eyes. As I was cleaning them off my car that night, I heard footsteps behind me and a familiar voice said, “Don’t bother thanking me,” “You’re welcome.” I turned and froze, and it was my neighbor Serena, who had never liked me and would openly complain about the noise whenever Emily and I had guests over, glare at us in the hallway, and even once post a note on our door telling us to keep to ourselves.
I was never able to understand why she harbored such a deep-seated animosity toward me specifically.
Serena tossed her hair over her shoulder and inspected my partially cleaned door. “I saw a can of spray paint lying around in the hallway earlier,” she said. “Guess some people just want to make a point.”
I stared at her, breathless. Who did this, do you know?
She gave a shrug that appeared gratingly casual. “I failed to capture them. But let’s just say I heard rumors.”
“What are the rumors about?”
“You.” She arched her brow. “You’ve been spending more time with someone besides your wife.”
“I have no idea where those rumors are coming from,” I said through gritted teeth, “they’re not true. I love my wife. She’s pregnant. We’re happy.” Serena simply raised a hand. “I don’t care. Maybe I’m telling you this because I’m done hearing about it in the building. Maybe I’m just amused. Either way, I’m not the one who wrote on your car. I do think you should figure out who did, though,” I said.
She turned on her heel and left after saying that. I was left feeling irate and disappointed, holding a soaking rag. In addition to having the words “Hope She Was Worth It” written on my door, half of the building thought I was having an affair with Emily.
I barely slept at all that night. Emily had visited her mother. She only answered the phone once, and only briefly, to let me know that she was exhausted and needed some time to think. I couldn’t blame her. If she’d found that note on my car, I’d be rattled, too. But it ached like nothing else to be removed from her in such a moment, especially after the pleasure of hearing our baby’s heartbeat.
I was determined to find out what had happened, so I got up the following morning, showered quickly, threw on some clothes, and went straight to the building’s security office. Since we live in a big apartment complex with cameras in the parking garage, I reasoned that perhaps, just possibly, they had the culprit on camera. Mr. Delgado, the security officer, was a gentle older man with silver hair and deep-set wrinkles, and he greeted me politely but hesitated when I explained my predicament. “We do have cameras,” he said, “but they don’t catch every angle. Still, I can check the footage from around the time you said it might’ve happened.”
We watched the blurry video together. We fast-forwarded through cars speeding by and people hurrying in and out of the garage. Then, in the late afternoon, I noticed a dark-clad figure walking toward my car. After surveying the area, the individual raised a spray can and began shaking it. They scribbled something on my door. The viewpoint, however, was all wrong—just a half image from the rear. A hood covered most of the face.
I narrowed my eyes in an attempt to spot anything unusual, such as the shoulders’ shape, the hair, the shoes, or a particularly striking article of apparel. However, their position was somewhat recognizable. Something about the build and height drew my attention, but I was unable to identify it.
Mr. Delgado frowned. “I’m sorry. The camera’s too far. It may be anybody, male or female.”
Then I thanked him, discouraged. One item, though, drew my attention: the individual was sporting bright turquoise sneakers. They contrasted sharply with the drab cement floor. That was at least something different, if nothing else.
I left security and took a car to Emily’s mother’s place. Questions raced through my head: Did someone misread what I was saying to a female friend? Did I offend someone who was trying to attack my marriage in retaliation? More than anything, I needed my wife to understand that I was in need of answers.
Emily answered the door with puffy eyes, though she tried to force a small smile. “You look tired,” she whispered quietly.
“I am,” I said as I entered the house, “but not as tired as I am of this rumor.” Since her mother was out grocery shopping, we had the house to ourselves, so we sat at the kitchen table and let the morning light pour in through the windows. I told her everything, including my talk with Serena, my security visit, and the enigmatic figure in turquoise sneakers. “I believe you,” Emily finally said, her eyes welling with tears, and she reached for my hand. “I apologize if I seemed distant. It’s just… seeing those words on your car—‘Hope She Was Worth It’—it rattled me. I knew you wouldn’t cheat, but the thought that someone could want to hurt us like that… scared me.”
I felt a wave of relief. For the first time since the incident, the strain in my shoulders subsided. I got her to believe me. However, we were both aware that someone was still attempting to undermine us.
We decided to do a little detective work on our own. “I’ll post in the building’s community group online,” Emily thought. Maybe I can ask if anyone saw someone wearing turquoise sneakers around your car yesterday.”
She got out her phone, entered the local site, and put up a quick post: “We noticed some vandalism in the garage yesterday. Please notify us if you notice someone wearing turquoise sneakers. We would value any information!