All stories have an ending. Good, bad, sad, unexpected, abrupt, but ending anyway. The story of Francisco and Lourdes is no exception. They had been good friends since childhood, and their families found what is known today as El Trigal.
A desolate town became a prosperous city thanks to these two families of great entrepreneurs and remarkable personalities in different academic fields.
Two years passed after reaching legal adulthood, so Francisco and Lourdes went away to study far from El Trigal. Francisco looked at one of the best institutions in Barcelona and Lourdes in Madrid.
Once they finished college, and after eight years of furtive love and stormy relationships, both were back in the family town, enjoying the Christmas season in El Trigal.
They got close again, and in a very short time, they ended up entangled in a relationship without solid foundations; they built those foundations on ego, vanity, the need for approval, youth rebellion, and the arrogance of showing the world that “they were right.” Both lied to themselves. No one was really loving each other. It was just the idea of building a great relationship to lift their ego up.
The three months it took to plan the wedding flew quickly. They proudly invited all their friends and acquaintances, showing off how “happy” they were to make this hasty decision.
Francisco always knew that his behavior was perceived as reckless, irresponsible, and defiant. Years ago, he got involved in a few legal problems, from which he emerged on straight feet thanks to his cunningness in managing or manipulating the results, which were always in his favor.
Lourdes dedicated her entire teenage years to studying and advancing her professional life to provide decent support to her family, who were trying to overcome countless difficulties because of her parent’s divorce.
The most significant responsibility fell on her as the oldest child of five siblings so that her family could keep moving forward.
Tired of this involuntary excess of responsibilities and constant conflicts, added to the family drama of seeing her father diminished, sick, and unable to raise his head, Lourdes preferred to avoid reality and flee from her mother’s nest, of course, the sooner, the better, without the awareness to think about the pain that this decision would cause to her mother and siblings, especially to Carlota, the youngest one, for whom she was like a second mother by taking care of some of her needs because their mother was struggling to do so. After all, she focused all her energy on dealing with a deep depression caused by their stormy divorce process.
Lourdes had already officially announced her wedding, and there was a point of no return. Francisco proudly flattered Lourdes’ qualities and felt that she had found her ideal partner, a man who was unafraid of anything, who went head-to-head against the world and said he would give anything to see her happy.
But would that be a sufficient basis for this relationship to last?
It was a wonderful wedding, an exciting evening. Family and friends joined this celebration, but many of them predicted that this would not last long. It would only be a matter of time.
Lourdes always noticed the red flags, but she just ignored them. Anyway, why did it matter? She had already decided, and none of them would take a step back because their ego whispered louder than their conscience.
By marrying her, Francisco would demonstrate that he could rebuild his life after ending an over eight-year relationship with his childhood sweetheart. Of course, Elena, his ex-girlfriend, had also seen the red flags. Although it was difficult for her to break the cycle, she was brave enough to leave him and focus her energies on a new relationship, to which Francisco, in his wounded pride, responded with desperate revenge, which drove him to find a new love as soon as possible, so he realized that he still had Lourdes’ phone number in an old address book, placed in a forgotten drawer.
The day of that call changed everything for Lourdes; she was never the same again. The brightness of her eyes turned into shadow, and the joy of her soul turned into anxiety, uncertainty, doubt, frustration, and pain.
At first, she thought she had fulfilled a dream: to draw the attention of someone whom, at the age of 16th, she was in love with, but also who dismissed her to start a relationship with one of her best friends so he could satisfy his exacerbated narcissism, to later dropping her off, under any excuse. It was the same behavior he had with Lourdes because, no matter what, he always returned to Elena’s arms, his childhood love, again and again.
Something was different this time. Elena had looked the other way, allowing a new man to enter her life. It was already at a new level. Not only would Francisco not continue insisting on convincing her to return, but he would do anything so that it’d hurt her, as much as he previously was, once she’d seen him with another woman by his side. Lourdes was the ideal candidate: professional, independent, lonely, raised in a dysfunctional family, and with a deeply beaten self-esteem. This wedding would give her a fresh start.
Lourdes faced the harshest truth three months after celebrating this marriage with no painkillers. Francisco showed a second face: a possessive, absorbent, jealous, and highly toxic partner. By then, a bigger problem arose: Lourdes had realized she was indeed deeply in love with the idea of saving him from his emotional demons, so she decided to continue by his side if he accepted that the only possible way to save their marriage was by seeing a therapist, which was what actually happened.
It was indeed a shocking experience, but buckle up because there were more surprises, and she would soon discover the darkest side of this story.
To be continued…