Diego wore a steel watch that Isabel had given him for his thirtieth birthday. She had chosen it because he claimed to detest ostentation, although lately he spoke of yachts, properties, and cars with a fascination hardly compatible with his professed modesty. Looking through photographs of their relationship, Isabel recognized the watch in almost every one. It was a constant presence at dinners, outings, and meetings with her financial team. She didn’t interpret the images as proof of anything, but they reminded her of how much she had wanted to place Diego at the center of her life. A person can look at the same object for months and not see that it’s marking a different time for each of them.
Cora called her that morning with a list of access points to her residence. Diego had one physical key and two digital permits. The permits had been canceled according to security procedures, but she didn’t want to enter the house while his belongings remained. Elena consulted a specialist before authorizing any lock changes and explained to Isabel that they had to respect the rights corresponding to their actual living situation. The legal precautions were exasperating her. She wanted to erase every trace of Diego from her house, eliminate his scent from the closets, and reclaim the feeling that the space was hers. However, she also understood that improvisation could give him ammunition to portray himself as a victim.
Cora revealed something else. A week before the wedding, Diego had asked that the insurance file be prepared for a supposed tax audit. When she replied that those documents depended on Nicolás’s team, he said that Isabel had given her verbal authorization. Cora didn’t hand anything over. Isabel listened without interrupting, grateful that someone had upheld a boundary she herself ignored. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked. Cora hesitated before answering. “Because every time someone warned you, you defended Diego as if they were questioning your right to fall in love.” The statement was harsh, but true. Isabel closed her eyes. She had transformed specific criticisms of specific behaviors into sweeping attacks against her happiness.
In the office, Elena arranged a meeting with a personal security specialist. They weren’t looking for elaborate setups or surveillance. They reviewed the places where Isabel could be located, the people authorized to know her schedule, and the standard measures to avoid unwanted encounters. Isabel felt ashamed to be watched because of her own precautions. The specialist, a woman named Marta Vega, explained that temporarily changing routines wasn’t the same as surrendering. “Freedom begins with not having to prove your courage to someone who threatens you.” Isabel wrote down that phrase, not because it sounded beautiful, but because she needed an explanation to cope with the discomfort of her new life.
Later, Nicolás presented the initial findings of the internal review. No illicit activity was detected in the corporate accounts, which offered them some limited relief. However, requests for information from Diego had surfaced, sometimes channeled through employees who treated him as the owner’s fiancé. An assistant had mistakenly sent a partial meeting schedule; another person had leaked the name of the external consulting firm. All incidents were documented, and unnecessary access was revoked. Isabel requested that employees not be punished for trusting an appearance she herself had legitimized. “The responsibility for the permissions design is mine,” she stated. This acknowledgment shifted the tone of the meeting: they were moving away from scapegoating and toward fixing a system.
That afternoon, she received a bouquet of red roses with no return address. The courier noted that it had been ordered from an account associated with Diego, without further comment. Isabel stared at the flowers for a long time. During their relationship, he rarely gave her roses; he said they seemed too obvious a symbol. Now the bouquet seemed like a calculated statement, an attempt to revive the sentimental script in which she was supposed to feel cruel for not responding. Elena asked her what she wanted to do. Isabel requested that the flowers be donated to a nearby nursing home if they could accept them. She didn’t need to destroy them to show that she no longer believed in the sender.
