—I found it in his suitcase. There were also messages with a certain Oscar. I think he’s a lender.
I felt nauseous.
It wasn’t just infidelity. It wasn’t just humiliation. Raúl had tried to use my assets, my work of years, to finance a life that I boasted about with another woman.
I called my lawyer, Miranda. In less than a week we had a complaint for falsification, attempted fraud, harassment and digital violence over the publications. We also deliver camera videos and account statements.
The divorce reached the family court in Querétaro with a larger audience than I would have liked. Raúl appeared in a poorly ironed gray suit. Doña Lupita was behind him, praying out loud. Patricia wasn’t recording this time. Fernanda sat on the opposite side, away from them.
My lawyer put everything on the table: the message from Cancún, the marriage certificate with Fernanda, the charges made with my cards, the conversations where they made fun of me, the video from the back door and the false document from the house.
The judge, a man with white hair and a tired look, raised his eyes.
—Mr. Raúl, did you marry another person while legally married to Mrs. Mariana?
Raúl lowered his head.
—It was a confusion.
The judge closed the folder.
—Confusion is choosing the wrong room. This is something else.
Doña Lupita began to cry.
—My son is good, he only made mistakes for love.
Then Fernanda got up. His voice came out broken, but firm.
—No ma’am. His son was not wrong for love. He used us both.
The silence was brutal.
Raúl tried to silence her, but Fernanda continued. She told how he told her that I was a resentful ex-wife, that the house was almost his, that he had money invested, that I supported him because “I owed him years of abuse”. She said that he asked her to keep secrets “so as not to hurt me”, when in reality she was putting together one lie on top of another.
Doña Lupita stopped crying. Patricia looked at the floor.
The judge granted the divorce, recognized the house as my exclusive property and ordered restriction measures against Raúl. The criminal part continued on its way.
