No pain, no disappointment.
Simply a mild, almost ironic curiosity about what they would feel when everything went wrong.
Darío returned a couple of minutes later, lay down carefully, covered himself with the blanket, and breathed irregularly and nervously.
He was clearly anxious.
Kiana smiled in the darkness.
Don't worry, he thought.
You'll soon be much more anxious.
She turned to her side, getting comfortable.
She didn't want to sleep, but she had to pretend.
She closed her eyes, relaxed her shoulders, and slowed her breathing.
Let him believe that she hasn't heard anything.
May I have hope.
Time passed slowly.
Kiana could hear the dripping tap behind the wall, the wind whistling at the window frame, and Darius turning over and over under the blanket.
Clearly, he couldn't get to sleep.
He was probably going over the plan in his head, imagining his mother withdrawing the money, how they would split the loot, and how he would pretend to be surprised and outraged the next day.
Kiki, our card was stolen. They're scammers. We have to call the bank immediately.
A pathetic performance, but apparently they thought it would work.
About thirty or forty minutes passed.
Kiana was really starting to fall asleep when Darius's phone suddenly vibrated loudly on the nightstand.
He jumped as if he had been stung, grabbed the phone and stared at the screen.
Even in the darkness, Kiana could see her face pale, almost turning gray.
The word "Mom" appeared on the screen.
The message was long.
The text appeared fleetingly, but Kiana clearly saw the beginning.
Son, she knew everything. Something's happening to me…
Darío froze.
Then he turned quickly and looked at his wife.
He lay motionless, with his eyes closed, breathing evenly and deeply.
He stared for ten seconds, then jumped out of bed and ran out of the bedroom, leaving the door ajar.
Kiana opened her eyes.
The hallway light came on.
She heard Darius pacing frantically around the apartment, muttering something under his breath.
Then, the click of a lighter, the smell of cigarette smoke.
He was smoking inside the apartment, even though he always went out onto the small balcony to do it.
She got up, put on her robe, and went out into the hallway.
Darius was standing by the window, with the phone in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other.
Her face was as white as chalk.
Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead.
"What happened?" Kiana asked calmly, leaning against the door frame.
He jumped and turned sharply.
“Nothing. Everything is fine.”
"You don't look well. You're pale and smoking indoors."
He swallowed, looking away.
“My mom sent me a message. She’s having some trouble.”
“What kind of problem?”
A pause.
Darius took a drag and exhaled the smoke through the half-open window.
“I don’t know exactly. Something with the bank. He went to the ATM, tried to withdraw money, they blocked his card and called security. I don’t understand what’s going on.”
Kiana approached, staring at him intently.
"That's strange. Why did he go to the ATM so late at night?"
How was I supposed to know? Maybe he needed money urgently.
Darío nervously stubbed out his cigarette on the windowsill.
“Kiki, I don’t know. She wrote that it was a misunderstanding, that she was accused of attempted fraud. It’s nonsense.”
Kiana nodded.
“I see. And whose card was it that he was trying to use?”
He froze, staring at her with a long, searching gaze.
Something flashed in his eyes: fear, suspicion, despair.
“Probably hers. Whose else?”
“I don’t know. You know better.”
The silence continued.
They stood facing each other, and the air between them was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
"I don't know anything," Darius finally said, his voice breaking. "Absolutely nothing. It's some kind of mistake."
Kiana smiled mischievously.
“A mistake, of course.”
She turned around and went to the kitchen.
She turned on the light and put the kettle on the fire.
Her hands were calm and steady.
Darío followed her, stopping next to the table.
—Kiki —she began cautiously—, did you by any chance change your card PIN?
He turned around, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes. I did it. The day before yesterday. Why?”
His face darkened.
"Because?"
“For safety. You were the one who said we had to be careful. So I decided to protect myself.”
He remained silent.
Kiana could almost see him frantically trying to figure out what had gone wrong.
The kettle boiled.
She poured water into a cup and dropped in a tea bag.
"And I left the old PIN on my other card," she continued calmly, stirring her tea. "The spare one. It only has three dollars on it, but the card is active."
Darío paled even more.
Three dollars?
"Hmm. But the card is linked to the bank's security service. You know how it works? If someone tries to withdraw a large sum, the bank blocks the transaction immediately and calls security. Very practical, right?"
Silence.
It was so heavy that he wanted to open the window to let in some fresh air.
Darío was speechless, staring at her as if she were a ghost.
Then he swallowed and ran his hand over his face.
“Did you do it… did you do it on purpose?”
Kiana took a sip of tea.
“Of course I did it on purpose. Did you think I didn’t hear you talking to your mother in the kitchen about getting the PIN and withdrawing the money?”
He stepped back as if she had hit him.
“I… we… It’s not what you think.”
"What isn't it?"
Kiana smiled sadly.
“Darius, I heard everything. Your brilliant plan to steal my money, split it equally, and blame the swindlers. A very clever plan. I grant you that.”
He tried to say something, but his voice broke.
“Kiki, Mom came up with it. The truth is, I was against it. She pressured me a lot, telling me I had nothing to live on, that I was greedy…”
"Arrest."
Kiana raised her hand.
“Don’t try to blame everything on your mother. You agreed. You gave her the PIN half an hour ago. I heard everything, so don’t lie.”
Darío slumped into a chair, burying his head in his hands.
"My God, what's going to happen now? What's going to happen now?"
Kiana finished her tea and put the cup in the sink.
“Now your mother is sitting on the bank explaining to security why she was trying to withdraw over $100,000 from someone else’s card. They could refer the case to the police if they wanted. It depends on whether I file a complaint.”
He looked up quickly.
“You’re not going to file a complaint. Please don’t. She’s my mother. They’re going to arrest her.”
Kiana stared at him intently for a long time, with a searching expression.
There he sat, pathetic and scared, begging for mercy for his mother, the same person who had tried to scam his wife an hour earlier.
"I don't know," she finally said. "I haven't decided yet."
Darío jumped up and went over to her.
“Kiki, please understand. It was just a silly mistake. We didn’t mean to hurt you. We just needed the money.”
"You always need money," he interrupted. "But normal people earn it. They don't steal it from their wives."
He stood in silence, his hands hanging uselessly at his sides, his face marked by utter despair.
Deep down, Kiana felt a slight pang of pity, but it was nothing more than that.
A slight, very slight twinge.
"Go to bed," he said wearily. "We'll talk tomorrow morning."
"In the morning?"
“Yes, in the morning. I’ll tell you what I’ve decided. For now, go.”
Darío nodded, astonished, and shuffled towards the bedroom.
Kiana stood in the kitchen, looking out the window.
Dawn was breaking outside, and the gray sky of the prelude to sunrise was slowly dispelling the darkness.
The city was waking up slowly, reluctantly.
Darius's phone vibrated again in the hallway.
Kiana went outside and picked it up from the floor.
Another message from Mrs. Sterling.
Darius, they're interrogating me. They say this is attempted aggravated robbery. What should I do?
Kiana smiled mischievously and hung up the phone again.
Let Darius take care of his mother himself.
She had fulfilled her role.
She went back to the kitchen and sat down by the window.
The streetlights were still on, even though it was already dawn.
Some pedestrians hurried to continue with their business.
A truck rumbled in the distance.
Just another morning.
For her alone, that day was a turning point.
Kiana took her phone out of her robe pocket and texted her friend Shauna.
Hi, can I come today? I need to talk to you.
The answer came almost instantly.
Of course. What happened?
I'll tell you when I see you. I'll arrive around ten.
Kiana put her phone away and leaned back in her chair.
Inside, she was calm.
Neither happy nor sad, simply calm, like after a long illness, when the crisis has passed and all that remains is to wait for recovery.
She had lived with Darius for five years.
Five years of hope, habit, and concessions.
Five years of the illusion that everything would somehow work out.
But now the illusions had vanished.
Only the facts remained.
Fact one: her husband and her mother had planned to steal her money.
Second fact: they felt not a shred of remorse.
Third fact: that meant that everything was over.
Kiana got up and went to the window.
The sky visible through the glass had become fully illuminated, taking on a pale pink hue.
A beautiful sunrise.
What a shame that it happened after such a vile night.
Something crashed into the bedroom.
Apparently, Darío couldn't sleep and was tossing and turning in bed.
Kiana listened attentively.
Then they heard muffled sobs.
He was crying.
She snorted softly.
Self-pity.
That was all he was capable of.
He felt no pity for her or her broken marriage, but for himself.
Kiana went back to the kitchen and started packing a suitcase.
Documents, keys, phone, charger: all the essentials.
He wouldn't stay with Shauna for long, maybe three days, until he decided what his next step would be.
The apartment was hers, bought before the marriage with her grandmother's money, so that she wouldn't have to fight for it.
He would leave alone or his mother would take him.
They would see it.
Around eight o'clock, she heard the alarm clock ring in the bedroom.
Darío got up and went to the bathroom.
Water was coming out of the tap.
Kiana was sitting in the kitchen, drinking her second cup of tea and looking out the window.
Darío came out about twenty minutes later, dressed but disheveled, with red eyes and a gaunt face.
He sat down opposite her and poured himself coffee from the French press she had prepared.
"Kiki," she began softly, "I was wrong. I know. Please forgive me. Please."
She remained silent.
“It was a mistake. A terrible, stupid mistake. Mom convinced me. I didn't think it through, but I never meant to betray you.”
"Honestly, Darius," she interrupted calmly, "you dictated the PIN to your mother and told her to keep all my money. Now that's treason. Real treason."
He held the cup with both hands, staring into the darkness of the coffee.
"What are you going to do?"
“I don’t know. I’ll probably ask for a divorce.”
She shuddered.
“Divorce? Kiki, wait, let’s talk about this. I’m going to change, I swear.”
She shook her head.
“You’re not going to change. You are who you are, and your mother is who she is. I don’t need a family that sees me as a source of income.”
Darío opened his mouth to protest, but then his phone vibrated again.
He grabbed it roughly, looked at the screen, and turned pale.
"Mom," she whispered. "She's calling."
Kiana nodded.
“Answer it.”
He pressed the button and put the phone to his ear.
