Chapter 1 — The Forgotten Anniversary

Gracias

It is 9:47 p.m. I look at the wall clock for the third time in less than a minute, without really seeing the second hand move, without hearing the quiet ticking that punctuates the stifling silence of the apartment. The roast I prepared with such care has been sitting in its dish for hours now, lukewarm at best, dry most likely, and the candles I lit in the late afternoon now give off only a flickering light, barely alive, like me tonight.

The white tablecloth I chose this morning after much hesitation, ironed with an application that bordered on tenderness, suddenly seems out of place, almost arrogant in its spotless perfection. Three plates. Aligned with an exactness that has become absurd. One for him, one for me… and a third, set down without his knowledge. An empty plate. Offered to the silence, or to hope. I no longer quite know which.

Today marks exactly three years. Three years since we spoke vows that no one was truly listening to. Three years since we committed ourselves to something that resembled a practical solution more than a vow of love. Three years of a marriage built on mist, a blurred zone, an awkward in-between that I have never been able to name. Three years of compromise, of stifled sighs, of averted gazes.

I believe, from the very beginning, I always knew I was a choice of reason. A default choice. A way to extinguish the rumors, to satisfy convention, to avoid a scandal no one wanted to face.

And me? I accepted. Because I had already fallen madly in love with him. Quietly too, without realizing it. I loved him before he even saw me. Before he even spoke to me. And perhaps I loved him precisely because he did not look at me. Because I believed I could force that gaze into existence. Provoke it, tame it, awaken it.

But he never looked at me like a woman one desires. Never with that hunger in the eyes that I so longed for. He touched me sometimes, with the distant tenderness one reserves for a memory, or an obligation. But never with that tension in the fingers, never with the urgency of a man who loves. I have been his companion, his presence, his stability. Perhaps even his mistake.

And his mother… His mother never bothered to hide her contempt for me. She always knew I was not the one she would have chosen for him. I was not beautiful like his sister, nor brilliant like his friends. I was not fertile. "Three years without a child," she once said to me in a flat, almost clinical tone. As if I were a piece of furniture too old, a household appliance that no longer serves its function.

But there it is. Three days ago, a silent miracle slipped into my life. It was raining that day. I was crossing the street, thinking of something else. I don't even remember what anymore. Perhaps of him. Perhaps of us. A screech of tires, a narrowly avoided impact, and a stranger who shouted at me to be careful, then took me to the hospital, insisting despite my protests that I should have a few tests done. Just to check. Just to be sure.

And there, in a room too white, with a doctor searching for words, I heard the sentence I no longer expected. "You are pregnant." The words settled on me like a feather and pierced through me like a blade. I smiled without understanding. I wept without sound.

I went home, one hand resting on my belly. A hand that has not moved since. Three days that I have felt it. Not moving yet, no, it is too soon. But existing. Beating. Holding on.

So tonight, I believed in it. I believed we could start everything over. That there would be a spark in his eyes. That this time, he would take me in his arms and say to me: "We'll make it." That he would finally see the woman behind the silence.

I put on makeup as if it mattered. I wore lipstick for the first time in weeks. I slipped into the blue dress he had complimented once, at the very beginning. And I prepared this dinner. Slowly. Lovingly. With an almost foolish care.

And I waited until 10:19 p.m.

Still nothing. Not a message. Not a call. Not even a justified delay.

I called him. Once. Then twice. Up to ten times. But I keep getting his voicemail.

This silence begins to weigh on me like a stone. It nails me to this chair, it twists my stomach.

And suddenly, a vibration. I look. It's an email. And I see written: A little gift for you, accompanied by a photo.

A shot slightly blurred, taken hastily, but clear , tragically clear. He holds her against him.

My sister?

My own sister.

And their lips seek each other. Find each other. Crush against one another with a familiar softness.

It is not a mistake. It is not a stolen moment.

It is a confession.

He loves her. She loves him.

And I stayed there, alone, waiting for him to come home and lie to me again.

I felt like vomiting.

I felt something break inside me.

I did not even scream.

I did not have the strength.

I just exhaled. The way one exhales when accepting the end.

I recognized the place behind them. The bar. The one he swore to me he would never set foot in. The one where she has been working for a few weeks. The one he always avoided… apparently.

I remained frozen for a moment.

Then I took my keys. I put on my coat.

I closed the door softly.

I did not take my purse. Nor my phone. Nor even my wedding ring.

Just one thing: my hand resting on my belly.

That invisible little heart.

That murmur still too fragile to make a sound.

This baby.

Perhaps it is all I have left.

Or perhaps…

The beginning of what I am finally ready to become.