My ex’s lawyer leaned over to him and whispered five words to him. Only five.
And Victor’s face—that smug face I saw for fifteen years across our table—went white. His hands trembled. The papers he signed with such emotion vibrated as if they were leaves in a storm.

And I… I smiled. For the first time in three years.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Who I am and how it all started
My name is Alejandra Durán, I am 34 years old, and until three months ago I was married to Víctor Medina.
Fifteen years. Longer than the patience of many women lasts.

I met Victor when I was 17. I worked as an archivist in a law firm, earning little, but learning a lot: numbers, details, silence and observation.
At 18 she was already a legal assistant. And at 19 I got married.

At 20 our son, Tomás, was born.

While many people “dreamed”, I saved. My grandmother always repeated the same thing:

“A woman should have her own money. No secret… own.”

How I became “everything” (no salary, no applause)
When Victor’s business began to take off, he asked me to leave the firm to help him “for a while.”

That “a time” became eleven years.

I was an accountant, coordinator, administrator, marketing, events, liaison with clients, the one who put out fires… and also mother, cook, and the invisible breadwinner of the house.
My official title was “wife.”
My real title was: Everything Else.