Maybe because for the first time in ten years… I was no longer the tired, disheveled, silent woman he remembered.
The judge began speaking.
“We will proceed with the signing of the divorce documents.”
My lawyer handed me the papers.
I held them steadily.
They looked simple, but inside them were ten years of life.
Ten years of sacrifices.
Ten years of sleepless nights.
Ten years of love that had once been real.
Slowly, I signed my name.
When I finished, an unexpected lightness filled my chest.
As if an enormous weight had finally disappeared.
Then the judge turned to Alejandro.
“Mr. Alejandro, it’s your turn.”
He picked up the pen.
But he didn’t sign.
Instead, he stared at my signature for several seconds.
The room fell completely silent.
Finally, he looked up at me.
“Do you really… want this to end like this?”
His voice sounded unfamiliar.
Almost fragile.
I met his gaze calmly.
“It didn’t begin this way, Alejandro. But you made it become this.”
His mother scoffed loudly from the back row.
“Ungrateful woman!” she snapped. “Without my son, you’d still be selling candy on a street corner.”
The old version of me would have lowered my head.
The new version simply smiled.
“You’re mistaken, ma’am.”
I pulled a document from my bag.
My lawyer placed it on the table.
“Before signing,” I said, “I think everyone should see this.”
Alejandro’s lawyer frowned.
Even the judge looked confused.
But he allowed the document to be presented.
The silence in the room grew heavier.
Alejandro’s lawyer began reading.
His expression slowly changed.
First confusion.
Then shock.
Then something close to fear.
Alejandro frowned.
“What’s going on?”
The lawyer slowly looked up.
“The company shares…”
“What about them?”
The lawyer swallowed.
“Sixty-eight percent… are registered under your wife’s name.”
The room erupted with whispers.
Alejandro shot to his feet.
“That’s impossible!”
But it wasn’t.
I looked at him calmly.
“Do you remember the early days?” I asked quietly. “When we opened the first store.”
He said nothing.
“You were out delivering products all day,” I continued. “I was the one registering the business, opening the accounts, signing the contracts.”
The silence deepened.
“I always believed we were partners,” I said softly. “That’s why I never mentioned that the majority of the shares were in my name.”
His father stood up furiously.
“This is a trap!”
The judge slammed his gavel.
“Silence!”
My lawyer spoke calmly.
“Everything here is completely legal.”
Alejandro slowly sank back into his chair.
His face had turned pale.
“So… you’re going to take everything?”
The question hung in the air.
Everyone looked at me.
I took a deep breath.
And then I shook my head.
“No.”
The answer shocked everyone.
Even my own lawyer.
I looked Alejandro straight in the eyes.
“I don’t want to destroy what we built.”
He frowned.
