Daniel placed the pot on the table and took off his coat.

“Mateo said he wants rib soup. Make enough for everyone.”

Elena looked at him for several seconds.

“No.”

Daniel frowned.

“What did you say?”

“I said no.”

For the first time in six years, Elena didn’t explain herself.

Daniel stepped closer.

“Are you still angry about yesterday?”

She lowered her eyes to her hands.

“I’m not angry anymore.”

“Then act like my wife.”

Elena looked up.

“That’s exactly why I’m going to stop being your wife.”

Daniel froze.

“What?”

She took a deep breath.

“I lost the baby yesterday.”

Silence filled the room.

Daniel’s expression slowly changed.

“What baby?”

Elena smiled sadly.

“Our baby.”

Daniel took a step backward.

“No… That can’t be.”

“I was five weeks pregnant.”

His mouth opened, but no words came out.

Elena continued:

“When Mateo pushed me, I fell against the table. I told you I was in pain. I told you something was wrong.”

Daniel’s face went pale.

“I thought…”

“You thought I was causing trouble.”

He closed his eyes.

For the first time, he remembered exactly what he had done.

He had heard her voice.

He had seen her face.

And yet he had chosen to leave with another woman and a child who wasn’t even seriously hurt.

“Elena, I didn’t know…”

“That is the problem.”

She pulled her hands away.

“You never asked.”

Daniel tried to touch her.

She stepped back.

“Don’t touch me.”

The door opened.

Captain Ramirez entered with a folder in his hand.

“Elena, we need to confirm your transfer to the southern border medical detachment.”

Daniel turned around.

“Transfer?”

Elena nodded.

“I signed it this morning.”

“You can’t leave.”

“It’s already decided.”

“Elena, I’m your husband.”

She looked at him.

“You were.”

Daniel had no answer.

The captain placed the document on the table.

“Your departure is in forty-eight hours.”

Daniel picked up the paper.

“Who authorized this?”

“She did.”

The captain answered firmly.

“And she has every right to request it.”

Daniel looked at Elena.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me you wanted to go?”

A small, bitter laugh escaped her lips.

“Because for six years, you always asked me to wait.”

Wait for the housing.

Wait for the training.

Wait for a child.

Wait while you helped Marta.

Always wait.

Not anymore.

That afternoon, Elena began packing.

She didn’t take much.

Her uniform.

Her documents.

A few medical books.

A photograph of her parents.

And the tiny bracelet she had bought months earlier, thinking that one day she would put it on her baby.

She placed it at the bottom of her suitcase.

As she closed the zipper, she heard voices in the hallway.

It was Marta.

“Daniel, you can’t let her leave like this.”

“I don’t know what to do.”

“She is trying to punish you.”

Elena stood still.

Then she heard Mateo’s voice.

“Dad, is Mom Marta staying with us?”

Silence.

Daniel finally answered:

“Yes.”

Elena closed her eyes.

This time, she felt no pain.

Only an unfamiliar sense of peace.

The next morning, before leaving the residence, Elena placed a folder on Daniel’s desk.

Inside were the separation documents, her transfer order, and a copy of the medical report.

On top was a single note:

“For six years, I asked you to choose me. Yesterday, I stopped asking.”

Daniel found the folder hours later.

He read the report.

Then he read the date.

His hand began to tremble.

Five weeks.

His son had existed.

And Daniel had been only a few kilometers away, spending the entire night caring for a child who had nothing more than a minor injury.

He ran toward the station.

But the military train had already departed.

Daniel stood on the platform, watching it disappear into the distance.

Then his phone vibrated.

It was a message from the regional commander:

“Deputy Commander Cruz, report tomorrow morning. We need to discuss the personnel reassignment.”

Another message appeared beneath it.

From Marta.

“Daniel, we need to talk. Mateo keeps asking when he can call you Dad.”

Daniel closed his eyes.

For the first time, he understood that he had built a family around a lie.

And when he finally wanted to go back for the woman who had truly been his wife…

Elena was already too far away to be found.