The sixth woman disappeared the morning after telling my father she wanted to see him again. I’m Lola. After losing my mother, Dad spent twelve years alone before finally joining a dating app. Every date seemed to go well, but by sunrise, the women stopped responding. He began blaming himself and slowly withdrew again. So I asked my best friend Rachel to go on a date with him and tell me what she noticed.

Rachel said Dad was funny, respectful, and completely normal. She even agreed to see him again. But the next morning, she sent a frightening message: “Don’t contact me. Please.” When we met, she showed me anonymous messages containing a photo of her leaving the restaurant with Dad, along with her home address, workplace, and a private secret about her brother Graham. Someone had been watching her. Then Dad checked his security footage and found a hooded figure near his driveway that same night.

I recognized the person’s distinctive white sneakers from an old family photograph. They belonged to Sabrina, my late mother’s younger sister. Rachel confirmed she had once privately told Sabrina about Graham. When I confronted Sabrina, she finally admitted everything. She had been following the women, researching their lives, and frightening them away because she believed she was protecting my mother’s memory. Rachel reported the messages, Dad provided the recordings, and Sabrina accepted responsibility before entering counseling.

Dad blamed himself and said maybe he should never have dated again. I told him loving Mom didn’t mean he had to spend the rest of his life alone. Months later, he met a woman named Jocelyn. He told her about Mom and everything that had happened. She didn’t disappear. After their third date, Dad called me while music played in the background, and I heard him laughing. For the first time since losing Mom, it felt like he wasn’t waiting for the past anymore. He was finally ready to build something new.