PART 1
I had been saving money in secret for ten years, every dollar I earned as a bookkeeper in a construction company in Querétaro, every late night spent advising women online on how to manage their finances. My friends spent their money on clothes, travel, and dinners out, but I just smiled and said, 'I'm saving for something big.'
My husband, Diego, never asked what it was for. And I never told him. Not even when we signed the papers for our new home in Juriquilla, a beautiful two-story house with huge windows, a garden, a terrace, and a big kitchen like the ones I'd pinned to my Pinterest board for years.
I thought about telling him over dinner that night, making his favorite mole with almonds, opening a bottle of good wine, and setting the table nicely. But he'd been distant lately, and I still believed that this news could save our marriage.
I arrived home at 3:15 PM and found Diego on the phone in the living room.
'Mom, Mariana's still at work,' he said.
I stopped in my tracks.
'Can't talk loud, Mom,' he continued. 'I already told you, she's a bookkeeper. She's always been good with money.'
My hands felt icy.
Diego laughed, a dry, mirthless sound.
'Come on, I've been married to her for ten years. She's boring, cold, always working. If it weren't for her salary, I would have left her a long time ago.'
I stood there, frozen, as the teacup I was holding fell to the floor and shattered into pieces.
Diego appeared in the kitchen, pale.
'Mariana, are you here?'
I stared at him as if I was seeing a stranger.
'How much were you planning to take from me?'
He feigned confusion.
'What are you talking about?'
'About my savings, Diego. How much did you and your mother want?'
He clenched his jaw.
'Please don't make a scene. My brother needs the money to save his business. It was just 50,000 pesos. You'd get it back.'
'And how were you going to access my account?'
He looked down, just for a second.
'I saw some passwords in your notebook. Accidentally.'
Mariana felt a wave of nausea.
'You accidentally went through my desk drawer, accidentally talked to your mother, and accidentally planned to steal from me?'
Diego's face transformed. He was no longer the smiling man in family photos.
'Come on, it's my money too. We're married.'
'You haven't paid more than the internet bill in three years,' I said, my voice steady.
'Because I have expenses,' he said, a cruel smile spreading across his face.
'What expenses?'
Diego's smile widened.
'Valeria. She's 24, pregnant, and yes, I feel alive with her.'
I didn't scream. I didn't cry. I just stood there, frozen, among the broken pieces of my teacup.
And then Diego delivered the final blow:
'So go find somewhere else to live, because this apartment is mine, and when we get divorced, I'll take half of everything you've been hiding.'
I pulled out my phone, opened the photo of the house I'd just signed for, and smiled.
Diego had no idea what I'd signed that morning... or what he was about to lose.
