The next morning, I woke up before Adrián.

For several seconds, I just stared at the ceiling.

I waited for the familiar feeling of panic.

The sadness of remembering that he would die.

The pain of knowing that, in another life, I had lost the chance to understand him.

But this time…

He was beside me.

Breathing.

Alive.

I slowly turned my head.

Adrián was sleeping on the edge of the bed.

Almost as if he was afraid that getting too close would disturb me.

Even after everything.

Even after I had told him to stay.

He still didn’t believe he was allowed to.

My heart hurt.

Because I finally understood.

For years, I thought Adrián didn’t love me because he never reached for me.

But the truth was much crueler.

He loved me so much that he was afraid of becoming a burden.

And I loved him so much that I was too proud to ask why he was leaving.

We had wasted five years.

Five years living like strangers.

When he woke up, the first thing he did was move away.

—I’m sorry.

I looked at him.

—For what?

He avoided my eyes.

—I shouldn’t have stayed here.

A strange sadness filled my chest.

Even now.

Even after I had asked him to stay.

He still thought he had crossed a line.

I reached out and grabbed his hand.

His entire body froze.

—Adrián.

—Hmm?

—You don’t have to apologize every time you exist beside me.

His eyes moved toward mine.

For a moment, he looked lost.

Like nobody had ever told him that before.

Then he smiled slightly.

A small, almost invisible smile.

The same one from the old photographs.

The one I had spent years thinking I would never see.

That day, I made a decision.

I would not try to force him to become the perfect husband overnight.

And I would not pretend that our past never happened.

We had too many wounds.

Too many misunderstandings.

But this time, we had time.

The first thing I changed was simple.

I started asking.

—Are you tired?

—Did something happen today?

—Do you want to talk?

At first, Adrián always answered:

“I’m fine.”

The same answer he had used for years.

But I didn’t give up.

Not because I wanted to save him.

But because I wanted him to understand that someone could care without feeling trapped.

A month later, something happened.

I found him sitting alone in the office at midnight.

The same place where, in my previous life, he had hidden his pain.

I opened the door.

He immediately closed the document in front of him.

—You should be sleeping.

I walked in.

—And you should be too.

Silence.

Then I saw it.

A bottle of medication beside the computer.

My heart tightened.

Not because I was surprised.

Because I remembered.

The illness.

The loneliness.

The years he spent pretending.

I sat beside him.

—Have you been taking your medicine?

His fingers stopped.

For a long time, he didn’t answer.

Then quietly:

—You know?

I nodded.

Adrián looked down.

—My mother told you.

—No.

I looked at him.

—You told me.

His eyebrows moved.

—When?

I smiled sadly.

—You haven’t yet.

He stared at me.

Confusion appeared on his face.

I almost said it.

I almost told him everything.

That I had seen his funeral.

That I had read every letter.

That I knew every silent sacrifice he had made.

But I couldn’t.

Not yet.

So I only said:

—Sometimes people who love you can see things you think you hide well.

Adrián lowered his eyes.

For several seconds, he said nothing.

Then he whispered:

—Valeria.

—Yes?

—If one day you discover that I’m not the man you thought I was…

My chest tightened.

—What if I’m weaker than you think?

I looked at him.

The most powerful man in the Luque family.

A man everyone feared.

And yet, in front of me, he was just someone afraid of being abandoned.

I held his hand.

—Then let me know the real you before I decide whether I can accept you.

His eyes turned red.

Barely.

But I saw it.

That night, for the first time, Adrián talked.

About his childhood.

About his fear.

About how he learned to hide every emotion because he believed needing someone meant becoming weak.

And I listened.

Until sunrise.

Weeks passed.

Our families began noticing the changes.

The cold marriage everyone expected to end was becoming something neither side understood.

One evening, Adrián came home carrying a small box.

I looked at him.

—What is that?

He placed it on the table.

Inside was the plastic ring from our first meeting.

The one he had given me years ago.

The one I thought had been forgotten.

—I kept it.

I touched it gently.

—Why?

He looked embarrassed.

—Because it was the first time someone chose me without caring about my family.

My eyes became wet.

Then he said:

—Valeria.

—Hmm?

—In our first life…

He stopped.

A strange feeling passed through me.

Of course, he didn’t know.

But somehow…

He felt it too.

He looked at me seriously.

—I don’t know why, but sometimes I feel like I have already lost you once.

My breathing stopped.

The room became silent.

Adrián stared at me.

—Have we met before?

I couldn’t answer.

Because I suddenly realized something.

Maybe I wasn’t the only one who had been given a second chance.

And maybe the reason he always looked at me with such sadness…

was because somewhere deep inside…

Adrián Luque also remembered losing me.