Afterward, Mariana left medicine.
First came the sleepless nights.
Then the unanswered calls.
Eventually, she stopped recognizing the woman staring back at her in the mirror.
Alejandro had supported her through those darkest months. He drove her to therapy, cooked when she couldn’t get out of bed, and turned down social invitations so he could stay home with her.
Mariana never forgot that.
Perhaps that was why she stayed silent as his support slowly transformed into resentment and passive-aggressive cruelty.
“I’m the one who had to carry you through it.”
“You’re not the woman I married anymore.”
“Take a look in the mirror before you criticize me.”
Over time, she convinced herself that enduring his cruelty was simply repayment for the fact that he had never abandoned her.
At seven, Sergio Mendoza arrived.
The moment the doorbell rang, Alejandro transformed. He smiled widely, spoke with booming confidence, uncorked an expensive bottle of wine, and welcomed his boss as though he hadn’t spent the previous ten minutes humiliating his wife.
