—Don’t start your CEO dramas. You can take care of the food and make sure everything is clean. It will do you good to do something useful with your hands.
Then Doña Graciela blurted out the phrase that ended up breaking something inside me:
—It’s the least you can do with my son’s money.
I looked at Rodrigo.
He didn’t correct her.
He just adjusted his sunglasses and smiled.
I smiled too, but my smile was no longer that of a wounded wife.
It was from a woman who had just woken up.
And no one on that dock realized that this was the last time they talked to me like I was worthless…
—You’re right, Doña Graciela —I said with such cold calm that even Rodrigo stopped smiling—. I’ve been doing too much.
Valeria giggled.
—Finally he understands —he murmured.
I didn’t answer. I took my cell phone out of my bag, took a few steps away into the shadow of the private terminal and opened the luxury travel agency application. The reservation appeared complete: island, villa, seaplane, chef, premium drinks, private service, excursions, all paid for from my personal account.
Rodrigo yelled at me from the dock:
—Mariana, tell the captain we’re ready. Don’t make us wait.
I raised my hand as if I were going to obey.
The option appeared on the screen: “Cancel full reservation”.
My finger was suspended for just a second.
I remembered every morning when he came smelling of other people’s perfume and said that they were my paranoia. I remembered Doña Graciela laughing because I “won as a man, but didn’t know how to serve as a woman”. I remembered Rodrigo using my cards to buy gifts for someone whose name never appeared on bills.
I pressed.
“Immediate cancellation confirmed. Refund processed.”
I felt such deep peace that it almost scared me.
But I didn’t stop there.
I opened the bank application. I canceled Rodrigo’s additional cards. I closed your access to the joint account. I transferred my personal investments to the trust that my lawyer had recommended to me months ago, when I began to suspect that my marriage was no longer a marriage, but a scam with anniversary flowers.
Then I opened the file I saved under the name “Office Insurance”.
There were the account statements that my accountant had found: deposits from Rodrigo to an account linked to Valeria. Rent an apartment in Santa Fe. Bags, jewelry, restaurants. Eighteen months of lies paid for with money that he claimed to manage “for our future”.
I looked back at the dock just as the manager approached with a tablet in his hand.
—Mr. Salvatierra —said—, we received a total cancellation alert. The seaplane and the villa have been cancelled.
Rodrigo took off his glasses.
—That’s impossible. My wife just checked in.
—The reservation holder canceled everything —the man responded—. If you would like to book again, we need an immediate payment of $150,000.
Doña Graciela turned pale.
—Rodrigo, pay and let’s go. This woman wants attention.
Rodrigo took out his platinum card with an arrogant gesture.
The manager passed it once.
Then another.
—Rejected.
Valeria let go of her arm.
—How come rejected?
