Different women.
Different ages.
Different personalities.
But every relationship followed exactly the same pattern.
First date.
Everything went well.
They talked for hours.
They made plans for another meeting.
Then…
Nothing.
No explanation.
No goodbye.
No message.
They simply disappeared from his life.
After the sixth woman, I stopped believing it was coincidence.
"Dad, what are you doing to these women?"
He stared at me.
"What?"
"Every woman you date disappears."
He looked genuinely hurt.
"I don't know why."
"Do you argue with them?"
"No."
"Do you say something inappropriate?"
"No."
"Do you talk about Mom?"
He hesitated.
"Sometimes."
"How much?"
"Not much."
I didn't believe him.
Something was happening.
And I needed to find out what.
That's when I called my best friend, Emily.
Emily had known my family for years.
She had eaten dinner at our house.
She had spoken to my father dozens of times.
She knew exactly what kind of man he was.
I told her everything.
She laughed at first.
"Maybe your father is secretly a serial killer."
I stared at her.
She stopped laughing.
"Okay. That's not funny."
"I need you to do something."
"What?"
"Go on a date with him."
She stared at me.
"Excuse me?"
"One date."
"You want me to date your father?"
"I want you to find out why women keep disappearing."
She refused.
Then I begged.
Eventually, she agreed.
We created a fake dating profile for her.
She used a different last name.
My father had no idea.
Two days later, Dad told me something that made my stomach drop.
"I met someone online."
"Really?"
"Her name is Emily."
I almost choked.
"That's nice."
The date was scheduled for Friday evening.
Emily promised to call me afterward.
I waited.
Seven o'clock.
Eight.
Nine.
Nothing.
At 9:47, my phone finally rang.
It was Emily.
I answered immediately.
"What happened?"
She didn't speak.
"Emily?"
Her voice finally came.
"You need to come here."
"Why?"
"Your father isn't the problem."
I froze.
"What does that mean?"
"I found something."
"What?"
"I can't explain it over the phone."
"Where are you?"
She gave me the name of the restaurant.
I drove there.
When I arrived, Emily was standing outside alone.
My father was gone.
"What happened?"
She grabbed my hand.
"We talked for almost two hours."
"And?"
"He was perfectly normal."
I felt relieved.
"Then what's wrong?"
Emily pulled out her phone.
See more in the next page
