“Can we talk about this in private?” he asked, his throat dry.

“Of course,” she said, gesturing to the side door where the woman in the dark suit was waiting. “My office is this way.”

The other woman took a step forward.

“I’m Mariana Chen, Mrs. Briones’s lawyer,” she introduced herself with a slight nod. “Good evening, Mr. Briones.”

Jimena’s office was spacious, overlooking Paseo de la Reforma. There were hotel models on a shelf and framed blueprints on the wall. None of that existed in the life Tomás thought he knew.

Mariana sat in a corner, opened a leather folder, and remained silent.

“Since when have you known?” Tomás blurted out as soon as the door closed. “Since when have you known about… Nadia?”

“About her, two months ago,” Jimena replied, sitting down behind the desk. “About your infidelities in general… almost a year.”

Tomás blinked.

“A year?”

“The first was Estefanía, the one from accounting, remember?” she listed, like someone going over a list of suppliers. “Then the woman from the conference in Cancún. After that, another one I didn’t even bother to identify. I stopped counting after the fourth.”

He slumped into a chair.

“If you knew all that… why didn’t you say anything?”

Jimena clasped her hands on the desk. Her nails were perfectly manicured. He’d never noticed.

“Because I needed time,” she replied. “To think. To document everything. To make sure that when I decided to end this marriage, I’d do it from a position of strength.”

Tomás swallowed.

“What are you talking about?”

“Our life, Tomás.” “The assets, the accounts, what’s mine and what you think is yours.” She looked directly at him. “The house is in my name. My parents insisted when we bought it, remember? I started the investments we have with my inheritance. The car you drive is registered in my name. And since Monday, I own this hotel and two others in the city.”

His head began to swell.

“You used your inheritance without telling me?”

“It’s my inheritance,” he replied without blinking. “The same one you wanted to use a thousand times for your ‘great business ideas.’ The difference is that my investments work. Yours… were hotels, but only just.”

Mariana spoke for the first time.