When the doctors informed him that his wife had only a few days to live, he leaned over her hospital bed and, masking his satisfaction with a cold smile, murmured:

Alejandro was gone for almost twenty-four hours.
To most people, that wouldn’t have meant anything. But Lucía knew him well; he never strayed far from something he considered his own. If he disappeared, it was because he was plotting something behind the scenes.

Carmen Ruiz was the first to notice the change. After a subtle adjustment to Lucía’s treatment plan, the lab results began to improve. Her liver function tests, which had been rising dangerously, were stabilizing. It wasn’t dramatic, but it directly contradicted the earlier warning that she had “no more than three days.”

“This doesn’t make sense,” murmured the family doctor, studying the monitor. “If the damage were irreversible, we wouldn’t see this kind of response.”

Carmen and Lucía exchanged a glance. The pattern was becoming clearer.

Alejandro returned the next day, impeccably dressed, wearing his usual refined cologne and with the carefully rehearsed expression of concern that he displayed so well in public.

“How is he?” he asked in the infirmary.

“Stable,” Carmen replied calmly.

A slight tension in his jaw betrayed him, though he quickly concealed it. Lucía noticed it as she entered his room.

“Darling…” he said gently, approaching her bed. “You look pale.”

Lucia was breathing shallowly, with her eyes barely open.

“I’m tired,” she murmured.

He approached.

“I’ve spoken to the lawyer. Just as a precaution. In case things… get worse.”

Lucia opened her eyes more attentively and observed him.

“Always thinking about the future,” he said calmly.

For a brief moment, she lost her composure.

“I’m just protecting what’s ours.”

“Ours?” he repeated in a low voice.

At that moment, Carmen entered with a tray, breaking the tension. Alejandro stepped aside, but his gaze drifted to the IV pump. Carmen noticed it instantly.

“Please do not touch the equipment.”

“Relax,” he replied coldly.

That same afternoon, Alejandro was called to the medical director’s office.

“Mr. Martinez,” the doctor began in a neutral tone, “we have identified irregularities in certain prescriptions of medications.”

“Irregularities?”

“Medications not usually indicated for this diagnosis; authorized with your signature.”

Alejandro frowned. “I trusted the staff’s experience.”

“Interestingly, since those medications were discontinued, the patient’s condition has improved.”

The silence that followed was heavy.

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