“I went on a business trip for a month, and as soon as I returned home, my husband hugged me tightly:  ‘Let’s go to the bedroom, I missed you so much…’ I smiled, not knowing that hug would be the beginning of days I’d never forget. Because in that house, not only my husband was waiting for me…”

Mexico City, early May. The first rain of the season fell suddenly, like the spirits of a woman who had just left the airport after a month of intense work in Monterrey. Mariana dragged her suitcase along, her heart beating with excitement. It wasn’t just because of the success of the project—although that also filled her with pride—but because she was finally returning home. With Ricardo, the man who told her he loved her every night before going to sleep.

Mariana opened the door with her fingerprint, her heart pounding like the first time she visited her boyfriend. The two-story house was silent, filled with the smell of freshly used floor cleaner. She had barely set her suitcase down when she heard hurried footsteps coming down the stairs.

“You’re back, my love!” Ricardo exclaimed, hugging her as if he hadn’t seen her for a whole year. He squeezed her so tightly she almost couldn’t breathe, and then smiled broadly:
“Let’s go to the room! I missed you so much!”

Mariana laughed, snuggling into his shoulder. The smell of his skin, his rapid breathing, the sparkle in his eyes: everything made her feel at peace. She nodded.
“Let me shower first.”

Ricardo looked like a spoiled child, but he agreed. While she bathed, he put on soft music and made her some orange juice, which he left on the table. Simple details, but they meant everything to Mariana.

That night, they hugged as if they’d never been apart. Ricardo whispered sweet nothings to her, and Mariana felt lucky. She knew many women out there carried the weight of the world alone, but she had a man who cared for her and made her feel loved.

The next morning, Ricardo got up early to make breakfast: eggs, bread, and a cold coffee with milk, just the way she liked it. He said,
“Get well, love.”

Mariana smiled happily. Maybe they said Mexican men weren’t very romantic, but her husband was an exception.

But happiness, sometimes, is like glass: transparent, beautiful… and fragile.

Three days later, Mariana found a red hair tie under the pillow in the bedroom. It wasn’t hers. She never wore that type, much less that color.

He held her between his fingers for a long moment. He didn’t feel overwhelming jealousy or fury, only a deep sadness, like a melody that slowly fades away. Because women have a sixth sense. He said nothing.

That night, as she rested her head on Ricardo’s arm, she asked softly,
“During the time I was away… did anyone come to our house?”

Ricardo answered without hesitation:
“Only Hugo came to ask to borrow the drill, no one else.”

Mariana nodded silently, trying to keep her face calm. The smile on her lips was forced. Ricardo didn’t notice anything, or perhaps he pretended not to. He continued to hug her, telling her stories about his work over the past month. But those words, which were supposed to fill the void of distance, now only widened the gap in her heart.

Her sixth sense told her something wasn’t right. A red hair tie. A strange candy wrapper under the bed. Ricardo’s nervous reflex upon receiving a text and turning his phone upside down. It all came together in a painful puzzle.

One night, Mariana waited for Ricardo to fall into a deep sleep. She reached for his cell phone with trembling hands, hidden under the sheets. Her heart pounded in her chest. She checked calls, messages, social media. At first, nothing unusual. Until a chat appeared with a female name she’d never heard of.

He read. First, innocent phrases. Then, increasingly intimate words.  “I miss you so much.”  —  “I’ll pick you up on Saturday.”  —  “Dinner was perfect, next time will be better.”  —  “Good night, love.”

The blow was brutal. The dates coincided exactly with the weeks she was in Monterrey. The red league, the candy, the nervous attitude… it all made sense.

Tears began to roll down her cheeks. Mariana looked at Ricardo’s sleeping face, so peaceful, so false.
“Did you trick me, Ricardo?” she whispered between stifled sobs.

She ran to the bathroom, locked herself in, and cried until she was exhausted. But when she looked in the mirror, between her haggard face and red eyes, she saw something else: determination. She was no longer the weak woman who had discovered the truth minutes before.

The next morning, he confronted Ricardo. He showed him the red garter.
“Explain this to me.”

He stammered nervously, making excuses: “It must be Hugo’s… he must have left it here…” But Mariana interrupted him with a bitter laugh.

—“Hugo? A man wearing red garters? And he’s also the one texting you saying  ‘I miss you, love’ ? Do you think I’m stupid?”

Ricardo paled. The silence was his confession. When he finally whispered,  “Forgive me… I don’t know why I did it…” Mariana felt her world crumble.

She kicked him out of the house. She cried, she broke down, she called her best friend for comfort. The house, which days before had been a warm refuge, became a cold place, filled with false memories.

Sitting by the window, watching the rain fall on Mexico City, Mariana wondered:  How many more tears will I have to shed before I find peace again?

And in the midst of that pain, a certainty was born: the storm would pass, the sun would rise again, and she, though broken, would learn to rise again. Because even the deepest scars, one day, become signs of strength.

The days following Ricardo’s departure were a silent hell.
The house was too big, too empty. Every corner—the sofa, the dining room table, the bed still smelling of him—was a stinging reminder of the betrayal. Mariana cried until her tears dried, leaving only a feeling of icy emptiness in her chest.

But amidst that unbearable pain, something began to transform inside her.
A persistent thought kept repeating:  “I can’t let this betrayal destroy the rest of my life.”

The first week was the hardest. Mariana barely ate or slept. Her friends took turns visiting her, bringing her food, and entertaining her. One of them said,
“Mariana, no one deserves your tears. Much less someone who didn’t appreciate you.”

That phrase stuck with him. Like a spark in the darkness.

Little by little, Mariana began to regain control. She got up early, dressed carefully even when she didn’t have to go out. She filled the house with fresh flowers, changed the sheets, and painted the bedroom a different color. As if with each change she erased a trace of Ricardo.

At work, she gave it her all. Her colleagues admired her for her strength, never imagining the storm she had endured. The projects gave her purpose, a reason to get up every morning. And every time someone recognized her talent, Mariana felt like she was recovering a part of herself that Ricardo had never managed to destroy.

Three months later, she was different. Her eyes, though still bearing invisible scars, shone with a new light. She had lost some weight, but her bearing was firmer, more confident. She had enrolled in yoga classes and taken up painting again, a passion she had abandoned for years.

One afternoon, while painting in front of the open window, she heard the rain falling. That same rain that had once accompanied her grief now seemed like a rebirth. She smiled for the first time without feeling the weight of the past.

It wasn’t until then that Ricardo tried to return.
One night, he appeared in front of her house, soaked from the rain, his eyes red, and his voice cracking.
“Mariana… I was wrong. Forgive me. I can’t live without you.”

Mariana looked at him long and hard from the doorway. She was no longer crying, no longer trembling. Her voice was firm, serene, sharp as a sword:
“I can live without you, Ricardo. And I’m doing better than ever.”

He closed the door.
And with that sharp click, he also closed a chapter of his life.

Months later, Mariana traveled again, this time to Guadalajara, to present a project. There, at a conference, she met new people: colleagues, friends, people with dreams like hers. And among them, someone who looked at her not with a desire to possess her, but with respect, with genuine admiration.

It wasn’t the start of an immediate romance—Mariana wasn’t looking for it yet—but it was the beginning of something much bigger:  her rebirth as a free, strong woman, aware of her own worth .