Mariana and I had shared seven years as husband and wife. Those years carried both joy and sorrow.
When we first fell in love, we thought it would be everlasting, but life rarely follows the script you expect.
Work consumed me, the distance widened, and after many failed attempts to reconcile, we finally released each other’s hands.

On the day we divorced, Mariana softly said:

“Don’t feel guilty, maybe we don’t share the same rhythm anymore.”

I said nothing, only walked away. There were no fights, no accusations—just a quiet ending. I believed that, in time, we’d both move on, and maybe one day, we’d meet again and smile like old friends.

But life had other plans.

A year after the divorce, work brought me back to the city where Doña Carmen, my ex-mother-in-law, still lived.

Remembering the affection she once gave me like a son, I chose to visit her.

Deep inside, I even hoped Mariana might be there too, and that we could have a calm conversation after so long apart.

Standing at the door, I felt an odd nervousness.

When the door opened, Doña Carmen looked at me, her eyes filled with both surprise and sorrow. With a trembling voice, she whispered:

“Son… you’re back.”

I stepped inside. The house looked unchanged, yet the silence felt heavy.

In the living room, on the table, stood a photo of Mariana, framed with a black ribbon. My body froze, my heart stopped.

“Mom… is this…?” I asked, my voice unsteady.

Doña Carmen sighed, her words breaking apart:

“Mariana left us almost half a year ago.”

I gasped, the world collapsing beneath me. I didn’t want to believe it, but her tear-filled eyes told the truth.

I sank into a chair, my thoughts blank.

Why hadn’t anyone told me? Why was I finding out only now?

Sensing my torment, Doña Carmen placed an envelope in my hands:

“She asked me to keep it. She said if you ever returned, you would read it.”

With trembling hands, I opened it.

Mariana’s handwriting spread across the page, each word piercing my chest.

“My love, if you’re reading this letter, perhaps I’m no longer here. Forgive me for not telling you about my illness. I didn’t want to be a burden, I didn’t want you to look at me with pity or for your life to be tied to me. I only wanted you to move forward, to fulfill your dreams… and if you can, to forgive me for leaving you in silence. I never stopped loving you; I’m only sorry that our fate was so short.”

Clutching the letter to my chest, tears poured endlessly. My world shattered into pieces, leaving me with unbearable pain.

Mariana had gone in silence, carrying away the love we never finished. And I—who had shared seven years of her life—never even knew.

That night, I lit incense before her portrait. With a broken heart, I whispered:

“I’ve returned… but too late. If there is another life, I promise to be by your side and walk with you all the path we couldn’t finish in this one.”

The secret Doña Carmen had kept showed me one truth: sometimes what we lose isn’t only a person, but part of our own soul. And if we fail to cherish it in time, we may never have the chance again.