I never thought that, at 60 years old, my life would go through such a strange turn. I, an ever-caring woman, living by the rules, dedicated all my life to my family, my husband and my children… Suddenly, in a single night, I lost my mind and ended up sleeping with a strange man.
When I opened my eyes the next morning, the feeling of horror and bewilderment hit me so hard that I felt my heart stop. That man was right next to me, his hair already graying, an unfamiliar face, but with something eerily familiar.
The night before I had had a little too much to drink at a long-time friend’s birthday party. Since my husband passed away, my friends have always encouraged me to go out, to distract myself from loneliness. I was only thinking about spending some time and coming back early, but the wine and music dragged me into a whirlwind of emotions.
That man – Don Ramírez – appeared at the party with a calm and elegant presence. We talked and it turned out that we got along quite well. In the end, when we left, I barely remember that I agreed to let him take me home.
What happened next is blurred, as if it were a void in my memory. I only remember the squeeze of his hand, the intensity of his gaze, and how the years of accumulated solitude made my reason fade.
When I woke up, I was in an unfamiliar apartment, next to a strange man. My body was shaking, full of fear and with a strange feeling that something was not right. I desperately searched for my phone, my watch… And just then, he turned around, looked at me, and smiled.
“Good morning… are you okay?” he said in a deep and soft voice, as if hiding a secret.
My heart was pounding. I couldn’t answer when his gaze wandered… and stopped at a photograph that was on the bureau, right next to the bed. That photo made me feel like I was falling into an abyss: in the picture was Don Ramirez, accompanied by another man I knew all too well: my late husband, Alejandro.
I was paralyzed. Why did Alejandro — who had already died five years ago — appear in that photo with Ramírez? What was the relationship between them?
The memories began to flow: Alejandro almost never spoke of his friends from his youth. He was secretive about his past, and I never questioned it. But now, the proof was there: they knew each other, enough to have a photo together, framed in an intimate space.
I confronted him immediately:
“Who are you really? Why do you have a picture of my husband here?”
Ramírez was silent for a moment and then sighed:
“Alejandro and I were fellow students… and also comrades in a difficult time. Life separated us, and I never thought I would meet you again in circumstances like these.”
His words made me shudder. How was it possible that my husband’s best friend had never appeared in our decades of marriage? Why until now, in such a painful and confusing situation, did I learn of its existence?
Ramírez stared at me and added:
“There’s something else… something you should know. Before he died, Alejandro left me an assignment.”
I felt the world stop. For all these years, I had lived with the idea that his death was sudden, without leaving me any message. But now, they told me that he had left something pending.
The room, lit by the first rays of the sun streaming in through the window, became suffocating. The weakness of the night before had led me to fall, but the revelation of that morning was tearing me apart even more.
I tried to get up to leave, but something inside me stopped me: fear, curiosity, and a strange intuition that my life was about to change forever.
Ramírez offered me a cup of tea, with a serene look, but full of enigmas. And then he began to tell me: when they were young, he and Alejandro had shared years of struggle, dreams and secrets that they never revealed to anyone.
Finally, in a slow and firm voice, she said:
“Alejandro gave me a letter before he died. In it he asked me, if I ever had the opportunity, to take care of you. I knew that at some point loneliness would hit you hard.”
Tears welled up in my eyes. The man I loved all my life had thought of me until his last breath. And yet, fate was putting me in the arms of his best friend, in the midst of confusion and guilt.
Ramirez looked down, sadly:
“I never wanted things to happen like this. But perhaps fate had other plans. The only thing I want now is to be honest with you.”
My heart was breaking. On the one hand, I felt comfort in discovering how much Alejandro had loved me. On the other, I felt trapped in an unbearable contradiction: I had fallen into weakness, into the arms of a man who was nothing less than my husband’s best friend.
The truth left me in shock. I didn’t know whether to thank or curse, whether to run away or stay. I had only one certainty: what happened that night and what I discovered that morning would mark the rest of my days.
Was this fate… or an unforgivable mistake?
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