After Sergio finally left, Alejandro slammed the door and spun toward his wife. “Did you seriously have to come wandering out the second he walked back in?!”
Mariana stared at him, unable to understand his reaction. “That’s what you’re worried about?”
“I’ve spent six months building a professional relationship with that man!”
“And to build it, you told him I was an invalid who can’t handle being around people!”
“Don’t exaggerate!”
“I heard you, Alejandro!”
Alejandro’s expression hardened, his voice turning razor-sharp. “So you were eavesdropping on private conversations, too?”
“You told him you canceled business trips because of my ‘crises’!”
“It was just a convenient way to explain certain work issues to management!”
“It never happened!”
Alejandro gave a dry, condescending laugh. “Look at you. One person recognizes you after thirteen years and suddenly you feel like the great Dr. Mariana Torres again.”
The insult struck hard.
At that exact moment, Alejandro’s phone vibrated on the counter.
The screen lit with a text notification.
Before he snatched it away, Mariana caught the message from a contact named Chloe:
“So is he giving you the promotion tonight? After you get it, you’re finally going to tell her the truth, right?”
Alejandro grabbed the phone and shoved it into his pocket.
Mariana slowly raised her eyes to his. “What truth do you have to tell me, Alejandro?”
And for the first time in seven years, she realized her daughter’s death might not have been the only tragedy inside her home.
The next morning, Alejandro dismissed the text message with offensive casualness.
Chloe, he claimed, was simply a colleague in corporate finance. They had only been discussing his regional promotion. As for “telling her the truth,” he insisted it referred to a possible mandatory relocation.
