After eight years of marriage, that was what I was to him now.
A stupid, unfaithful woman carrying another man’s baby.
That night, Diego packed a suitcase.
Not everything.
Just enough clothes for several days.
That somehow made it worse.
It meant he wasn’t leaving impulsively.
He already had somewhere to go.
I stood in the bedroom doorway while he folded shirts.
“Where are you going?”
He didn’t answer.
“Diego.”
He zipped the suitcase.
“I’m going with Paola.”
My stomach dropped.
“Paola?”
He finally looked at me.
“Yes.”
His coworker.
Paola.
The same woman who had visited our home once and complimented my cooking.
The same woman who had asked me for my pozole recipe.
The same woman who had smiled at me and said, “Lauri, your marriage is beautiful.”
I suddenly remembered how often her name had appeared on Diego’s phone.
The late-night messages.
The sudden business dinners.
The excuses.
Things I’d dismissed because I trusted my husband.
“Are you sleeping with her?”
He said nothing.
I laughed through my tears.
“That’s it, isn’t it?”
“Don’t make this about me.”
“You’re leaving me for her!”
“You’ve destroyed our marriage.”
“No, Diego. You decided it was destroyed the moment you stopped trusting me.”
He picked up his suitcase.
At the door, he stopped.
“Don’t expect me to come back.”
Then he walked away.
The next morning, my mother-in-law arrived.
She wasn’t alone.
She had brought two large black bags.
I knew immediately why.
She was there to collect Diego’s clothes.