Potem mama powiedziała coś, czego nigdy nie zapomnę.
"Niech Lucía wyjdzie za niego zamiast niego."
W pokoju zapadła cisza.
Byłem w kuchni, gdy usłyszałem swoje imię. Kiedy weszłam zdezorientowana, mama mówiła, jakby to było całkowicie rozsądne.
"Jesteś starszy. Alejandro wydaje się być dobrym człowiekiem. Będzie dobrze."
Daniela nawet nie podniosła wzroku znad telefonu.
"Jeśli Lucía go chce, może go mieć. Nie obchodzi mnie to."
Nikt nie pytał, czego chcę.
Dwa tygodnie później szedłem do ołtarza.
Słyszałem szepty przez całą ceremonię.
"Biedaczka..."
"Zmusili ją..."
"Poślubić tego biedaka..."
Alejandro never reacted. When we signed the marriage papers, he simply looked at me calmly.
That night, when we arrived at his home in Guadalajara, he surprised me.
“If you don’t want to stay,” he said quietly, “I’ll understand.”
I stared at him in confusion.
“You mean… leave?”
“I know this marriage wasn’t really your choice.”
For the first time that entire day, someone had considered how I felt.
I shook my head.
“We’re already married,” I said softly. “Let’s try to make it work.”
He smiled gently.
The next morning I woke up early. The house was simple but clean, and his mother treated me with kindness I had rarely felt in my own family.
When I checked my wallet, I only had 200 pesos left.
Feeling slightly embarrassed, I asked Alejandro,
“Could you lend me 500 pesos for groceries?”
He looked at me for a moment.
Then he quietly picked up his phone.
Five minutes later, my phone vibrated.
A bank notification appeared.
I expected 500 pesos.
Instead, my breath caught when I read the number.
Transfer received: 500,000 pesos.
I stared at him in disbelief.
“Alejandro… I think you made a mistake.”
“No,” he replied calmly.
“But that’s half a million pesos!”
He smiled.
