She had been patient.
Understanding.
Even affectionate with Valeria… or so I thought.
It was Lucía who chose the doctor.
It was she who scheduled the appointments.
It was she who started giving my daughter medication even before we had a clear diagnosis.
“It’s to help her in the meantime,” she said.
And I… agreed.
Because fear can turn a man into someone who stops asking questions.
In a matter of weeks, Valeria changed.
She no longer left her room.
She slept all day.
She barely spoke.
And then came the worst.
Her hair.
It disappeared.
Completely.
Lucía said it was a side effect.
That we had to be strong.
That the important thing was to save her life.
But something inside me… never felt at peace.
Even so, I convinced myself I was exaggerating.
Until that day.
The day in the woods.
I had taken Valeria to Chapultepec Forest, thinking the fresh air might help her.
I pushed her in her wheelchair, trying to pretend everything was going to get better.
But the silence between us was too heavy.
Then the boy appeared.
Barefoot.
His clothes were dirty.
But with a look that didn’t lie.
And he said those words.
The words that changed everything.
“Your daughter isn’t sick… it was your fiancée…”
I felt as if the world stopped.
As if the ground disappeared beneath my feet.
I tried to deny it.
Of course I tried.
Because accepting that meant something impossible.
It meant that the woman I was planning to marry…
was the reason my daughter was dying.
The boy insisted.
He said he lived near my house.
That he had seen things.
That he had overheard conversations.
And then Lucía arrived.
Perfect as always.
Elegant.
But for the first time… nervous.
Too nervous.
She tried to discredit the boy.
She said he was lying.
That he wanted money.
But Valeria spoke.
For the first time in days.
And she said something that chilled me to the bone.
“Dad… I remember something…”
That was the moment I stopped ignoring what was in front of me.
The boy mentioned the doctor.
He said he had debts.
That he had been bribed.
That the medications… weren’t meant to cure.
