I PRETENDED TO BE “D.E.A.D” TO TEST THE LOYALTY OF MY SHY HOUSEKEEPER — BUT WHAT I DISCOVERED… WAS DEEPER THAN MY HEART COULD HANDLE.

She shook her head, smiling.

Lina:
“Then what should I call it?”

I moved closer and took his cold hand.

Me:
“Alejandro.”

And then…
She laughed for the first time.

And then…
I finally gave up.

EPILOGUE — THE LIE THAT LED TO THE TRUTH
Today marks one year since we have been together.

She is no longer my maid.
He is the person who is by my side at every dinner,
every conversation,
every new beginning.

Sometimes he asks me:

Lina:
“If you hadn’t tested me that day…
Would you have known the truth?”
Me:
“No.
And thank God…
I put you to the test—
because that’s how I found the woman
who was going to fix my life.”

And me?

I don’t pretend to be dead anymore.

Because because of her—
I really learned to live again.

Looking back, I still feel a wave of embarrassment when I remember how casually I dealt with Lina’s fear that day.

What I thought was harmless evidence revealed just how fragile trust really is.

In the days that followed, Lina avoided me at first, not out of anger, but out of confusion and wounded dignity.