Alejandro had been gone for almost twenty-four hours.

To most people, that wouldn’t mean anything. But Lucía knew him well—he never shied away from something he considered his own. If he disappeared, it was because he was orchestrating something behind the scenes.

Carmen Ruiz was the first to notice the change. After a subtle adjustment to Lucía’s treatment plan, her lab results began to improve. Her liver values, which had been rising dangerously, were now stabilizing. This wasn’t dramatic, but it was a direct contradiction to the earlier warning that she had “no more than three days left.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” the doctor on duty muttered, staring at the monitor. “If the damage were irreversible, we wouldn’t have seen this reaction.”

Carmen and Lucía exchanged glances. The pattern became increasingly clear.

Alejandro returned the next day, impeccably dressed, wearing his usual exquisite scent of cologne and the carefully practiced expression of concern he displayed so well in public.

“How is she feeling?” he asked at the nurse’s station.

“Stable,” Carmen replied calmly.

A slight tightening of his jaw betrayed his presence, though he quickly masked it. Lucía sensed it when he entered her room.

“Honey…” he said gently, approaching her bed. “You look pale.”

Lucía was breathing shallowly and her eyes were barely open.

“I’m tired,” she muttered.

He leaned closer.

“I’ve spoken to a lawyer. Just in case. Just in case things… get worse.”

Lucía opened her eyes wider and began to look at him.

“Always think ahead,” she said calmly.

For a split second his composure disappeared.

“I’m just protecting what’s ours.”

“Ours?” she repeated quietly.

At that moment, Carmen entered with a tray, breaking the tension. Alejandro stepped back, but his gaze drifted to the IV. Carmen noticed it immediately.

“Please do not touch the equipment.”

“Relax,” he replied stiffly.

That same afternoon, Alejandro was called to the medical director’s office.

“Mr. Martinez,” the doctor began in a neutral tone, “we have identified irregularities in some of the medication orders.”

“Irregularities?”