My husband went on a business trip to another city for a month, and I decided to move his favorite cactus in a pot to another place, but accidentally broke it while carrying it. My hair stood on end from what I saw inside…

But not here. Let’s go back to the car. We sat in the cabin, turned on the lighting and began to carefully study the container.

On the smooth metal surface there were no inscriptions, no other marks. Only on the lid there was a small bulge, similar to a button. Maybe need to press? David suggested.

I carefully pressed the bulge. There was a light click, and the lid rose slightly. I unscrewed it and looked inside.

In the container were several items. A flash drive, a small sealed bag with something like a chip inside, three passports and a folded sheet of paper. I took out the passports and opened them.

They were foreign, issued in the names of Emily, Sarah and David Novak. The dates of birth corresponded to ours, but the surnames were changed. Each passport had the corresponding photograph.

Where John got mine, I didn’t know. These are our new documents, Sarah whispered, looking at the passport in her name. For a new life. I unfolded the sheet of paper.

It was a letter written in John’s hand. My dears! If you are reading this letter, it means you found each other and the cache. I hoped I could explain everything to you myself, but apparently the circumstances turned out differently.

I know you must hate me now. For the lies, for the double life, for all the secrets I kept from you. I don’t ask for forgiveness.

What I did is unforgivable. But I want you to know. I loved both of you.

Differently, in different periods of life, but sincerely and deeply. Sarah, you were my first true love, the mother of my son, my support in the most difficult times. You gave me a family when I needed it most.

Emily, you appeared in my life later, when I no longer believed I could experience such feelings. You brought light and warmth into my life, reminded me who I really am. I know I caused you pain, and I can’t do anything about it. But I can at least ensure your safety.

In the container you will find everything necessary to start a new life. Passports, a flash drive with instructions, a microchip with an encryption key for access to the server with additional documents. Access code to the bank account in a Swiss bank.

First five digits after the decimal point of pi 14159 plus year of my acquaintance with Sarah 2007. There is enough money there for you to start a new life in any country in the world. I don’t know if we’ll ever see each other again.

If I manage to get out of this situation, I’ll find you. If not. Know that you were the best thing in my life.

Take care of each other. John. I finished reading and raised my eyes.

Sarah was crying silently, covering her face with her hands. David hugged her shoulders, barely holding back tears himself. I also felt a lump rising in my throat. John loved both of us.

Differently, but sincerely. And now, perhaps, he was in danger or even dead, trying to protect us. What do we do next? David asked when we calmed down a little.

I looked at the passports, at the flash drive, at John’s letter. Do what he suggests, I replied. Start a new life. Together.

Sarah raised her tear-stained eyes to me. Together? Are you really ready to live with us? After everything that happened? I didn’t know if I was ready for this. To live with the woman who was also my husband’s wife, with the child he never mentioned.

It was strange, unusual, beyond what I could imagine a week ago. But we had no choice. We were connected.

Connected by John, his secrets, his love, his care for our safety. And perhaps only together could we survive in this new, dangerous reality. Yes, I nodded. Together.

At least until we’re sure the danger has passed. Sarah wiped her tears and smiled weakly. Okay.

Together then together. After all, we’re now one family. Strange, unusual, but family.

We decided not to return to Cleveland, but to head straight to New York to the international airport. On the way, we stopped at a gas station with a 24-hour store, bought new clothes to change our appearance. Sarah cut her long hair, I dyed from brunette to blonde.

David put on glasses with thick frames, completely changing his face. At the airport, we used new passports to buy tickets for the nearest flight to Zurich. Switzerland seemed a logical choice, considering that the bank with our money was there.

Waiting for boarding, I thought about how amazingly life can change in a few days. Just Saturday I was an ordinary woman living an ordinary life. And now I’m sitting in the airport with my husband’s wife and son, with a new passport, new appearance, preparing to fly to another country to start a new life, all because of one broken cactus pot.

Because of one careless movement, one imprudent step. Who would have thought that such a trifle could completely change fate? Looking at Sarah and David sitting next to me in the waiting room, I understood that they were thinking about the same. About John, about his secrets, about his love, about his sacrifice for our safety.

And whether we’ll see him again someday. Our flight was announced for boarding. We stood up, collected our few things and headed to the gate.

Ahead was uncertainty, a new life in a foreign country, possibly constant fear of being discovered. But we were together. Three people connected by one man and his secrets.

Three people whose lives turned upside down because of one broken cactus pot. And perhaps this connection will help us survive in the new reality. And John? John will find us if he can.

I believed in that. I believed that the love he felt for us would help him overcome all obstacles. And maybe one day we’ll be together again.

Not as an ordinary family, of course. As something new, unusual, beyond the usual relationships. But together.

Passing through security control, I turned around for the last time, as if expecting to see John’s familiar figure hurrying after us. But I saw only a crowd of unfamiliar people hurrying about their business. It was time to let go of the past and move forward.

We boarded the plane, and a few minutes later it took off, carrying us to a new life. A life that began with a broken cactus pot. A life full of surprises, dangers, but also new opportunities.

A life that we will build together, day by day, step by step. And who knows, maybe one day in a new home on a new windowsill I’ll see a cactus in a clay pot again. And perhaps next to it will stand John, smiling his familiar slightly sad smile.

After all, anything is possible in life. I’ve already convinced myself of that. After these words, my mom was speechless.

She never thought that my ordinary story about a broken cactus would turn out to be the beginning of such an incredible story. A story about how one careless step can completely change fate, turn all ideas about life and people you seem to know like yourself upside down. Mom was silent for a long time, digesting what she heard.

And then she asked only one thing. Is it all true? Was John really an undercover agent? Did Sarah, David and I really start a new life in Switzerland? I smiled and said that some stories are better left unanswered. Let everyone decide for themselves whether to believe them or not.

But one thing I know for sure. You can never be sure that you know everything about a person. Even about the closest people.

Everyone has their own secrets, their own inner life, which others can only guess about. And sometimes one random event is enough. A broken cactus pot, an unexpected meeting, an overheard conversation.

For these secrets to come to the surface and forever change life. It’s been five years since then. Five years of new life, new discoveries, new relationships.

And every day I wake up thinking about how amazing and unpredictable life is. How one small event can launch a chain of changes that will affect not only you, but also the people around. And every day I’m grateful to fate for bringing me here.

For finding the strength not to break, to accept the truth no matter how bitter it was and move on. For gaining a new family. Strange, unusual, but loving and supportive.

And John? John sometimes appears in my dreams. He smiles his familiar smile and says everything will be fine. That he’s proud of us.

That he loves us all differently, but sincerely. And I believe him. I believe that wherever he is, whatever happened to him, this love remains unchanged.

As does our love for him. Maybe one day he’ll return. Or maybe we’ll find out what happened to him.

But for now we live. Day by day, step by step. Building our new life, creating new memories, new reality.

And on the windowsill in our living room stands a cactus in a clay pot. A reminder of how it all began. And that the most important changes in life sometimes begin with the most ordinary, insignificant events.

Who would have thought that a broken cactus pot could change everything.