\u201cDon\u2019t spend money on yourself this year. You\u2019ll pay for your sister\u2019s wedding. We\u2019ve already decided,\u201d the father informed him in a routine voice, as if he were saying they needed to buy bread for dinner. Nothing more, nothing less.<\/p>\n
Alejandro froze, staring at the laptop screen. There glowed an Excel spreadsheet, his own financial Everest.
\nCell G12 showed \u201c\u20ac15,000.\u201d The sum he\u2019d arrived at after three years of depriving himself of everything but the bare essentials. The first payment for a studio apartment on the outskirts of Madrid.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean, you\u2019ve decided?\u201d he asked, although he\u2019d understood perfectly from the first sentence. He just needed to buy a few seconds to breathe again.<\/p>\n
\u201cLucia\u2019s getting married. To Javier. They want a summer wedding, beautiful, proper. Restaurant, photographer, dress\u2026 you know. We estimate it will take around \u20ac20,000.\u201d<\/p>\n
The father wasn\u2019t asking, he stated. In his world, the issue was settled, the tic already set, the problem solved at the expense of the infallible resource: the eldest son.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad, I\u2026 I don\u2019t have that money. I\u2019m saving, you know. For an apartment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alejandro ran his hand through his hair. He felt a sticky sweat run down the back of his neck.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe apartment can wait,\u201d his father interrupted. \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter, aren\u2019t you family? A sister is sacred. She only gets married once, you have to help her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just once? Alejandro smiled to himself. Luc\u00eda had already had \u201cjust once\u201d when she entered private university, and \u201cjust once\u201d when she needed a new car. And he had paid for every one of those \u201cjust onces.\u201d Since he was a child, he\u2019d been told: you\u2019re the oldest, you\u2019re the support. And he believed it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Javier? His family? Isn\u2019t that his obligation first?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re having a tough time now,\u201d the father responded evasively, and Alejandro heard a note of irritation in his voice. \u201cJavier\u2019s a good boy, but he\u2019s no eagle. Besides, it\u2019s not a man\u2019s job to count money when it comes to a daughter\u2019s happiness. We\u2019re counting on you. Luc\u00eda has already chosen a restaurant by the Manzanares River.\u201d<\/p>\n
She talked about the restaurant as if Alejandro should be happy. As if it were his party too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve already paid the deposit,\u201d the father concluded. \u201c\u20ac1,000. From your card. You left the details when you ordered your mother\u2019s medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n
And there it was. The final blow. It wasn\u2019t a request, it was a fact. His money had already been spent. His future, canceled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll call you later,\u201d Alejandro said in a muffled voice and hung up.<\/p>\n
He slowly closed the laptop. The shiny lid revealed his own face: pale, with a hard, unfamiliar expression in his eyes.<\/p>\n
That night his mother called. Her voice, unlike his father\u2019s, was soft and gentle.<\/p>\n
\u201cAle, don\u2019t be mad at your father. He speaks simply. He cares about Luc\u00eda.\u201d
\n\u201cMom, you\u2019ve withdrawn \u20ac1,000 without permission.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat do you mean, \u2018yours,\u2019 son? We\u2019re family. Can your sister\u2019s happiness be measured in money? She\u2019s radiant, so excited.\u201d
\n\u201cMom, I\u2019ve saved for three years. I\u2019ve worked two jobs.\u201d
\n\u201cAnd you did the right thing; you\u2019re a man. Luc\u00eda is a girl; she wants her fairy tale. You don\u2019t want her to have a worse wedding than her friends\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n
His mother knew how to press the blame button. \u201cYou\u2019re the oldest. You owe it to yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The conversation, as always, led nowhere.<\/p>\n
The next day, Luc\u00eda herself appeared at the door of their rented one-bedroom apartment, accompanied by Javier.<\/p>\n
She entered without asking permission, glanced around the humble room, and pursed her lips.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, Ale, do you still live in this hole?\u201d<\/p>\n
Javier, a robust young man, shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.<\/p>\n
\u201cLucia, maybe you shouldn\u2019t talk like that\u2026\u201d he murmured.<\/p>\n
\u201cShouldn\u2019t I? I\u2019m telling the truth! Come in.\u201d<\/p>\n
She carefully took a printed sheet out of her bag. \u201cBudget of expenses.\u201d The figure on the bottom line: \u20ac22,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cLucia, I can\u2019t. That\u2019s all. I don\u2019t have any more money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean, don\u2019t you have any? You work. You apply for a loan. Dad said they\u2019ll approve it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJavier, what do you think?\u201d Alejandro asked, looking at him directly. \u201cDo you think it\u2019s normal for another man to pay for your wedding?\u201d<\/p>\n
Javier blushed and lowered his gaze.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told Luc\u00eda we could make it simpler\u2026 save up ourselves\u2026\u201d
\n\u201cSave up?\u201d she said contemptuously. \u201cUntil retirement? Don\u2019t make me laugh! Alejandro, you just don\u2019t want to put in the effort for me. You\u2019ve always been jealous of me.\u201d
\n\u201cJealous? That everything was given to you with the snap of a finger?\u201d
\n\u201cEnough!\u201d her voice rumbled. \u201cJavier\u2019s already uncomfortable, and on top of that, you\u2019re complaining!\u201d<\/p>\n
Alejandro looked at her, seeing her pretty, offended face, and for the first time in his life, he felt nothing but a cold, growing irritation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll think about it,\u201d he said flatly, knowing it was a lie.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreat!\u201d she brightened immediately. \u201cOh, I almost forgot! Today we\u2019re going to see the dress. We have to give the deposit, \u20ac300. Do you have it?\u201d<\/p>\n
She extended her perfectly manicured hand. And Alejandro, broken inside, took out his wallet. He saw the spark of triumph in her eyes.<\/p>\n
The breakup came on Wednesday. After the real estate agent\u2019s call.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Mart\u00edn, good morning. I\u2019m calling about the studio. I regret to inform you that the owners are withdrawing it from the market.\u201d
\nAlejandro froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean, withdrawing it? Why? We had already agreed on everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry too. Your father contacted them. He said your family is going through serious financial difficulties and that you won\u2019t be able to buy. They found another buyer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Your father. He had called. He had decided.<\/p>\n
He hadn\u2019t just taken her money. He had entered her future and reduced it to ashes. Alejandro remembered a phrase his father used to repeat to him during arguments: \u201cAt your age, I was already supporting the family, and you\u2019re still in the clouds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now he understood. His father wasn\u2019t helping Luc\u00eda. He was getting revenge on Alejandro for the levity he never had.<\/p>\n
Alejandro hung up silently. Inside, he was empty. No anger, no sadness. Just a dazzling clarity.<\/p>\n
He opened the bank app and blocked all his cards. Then he looked up the number for the wedding agency\u2026<\/p>\n
The phone rang several times before someone answered. Alejandro cleared his throat; for the first time in years, he felt in control.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood afternoon. This is Alejandro Mart\u00edn, Luc\u00eda\u2019s brother. I\u2019m calling to report a change regarding the event scheduled for July.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSure, Mr. Mart\u00edn, please tell me,\u201d a friendly voice answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, we must cancel the contract. The funds are no longer available. Please consider the reservation canceled.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hung up without waiting for a reply. An icy calm ran through him. He was no longer the boy who always apologized. Now he was the man who made decisions.<\/p>\n
That night, the phone rang nonstop: first his father, then his mother, and finally Luc\u00eda. Alejandro let it ring. The silence of his small apartment in Vallecas became, for the first time, a refuge.<\/p>\n
A few hours later, there was a persistent knock on the door. It was Luc\u00eda and Javier. Her eyes flashed with fury.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Are you crazy, Ale? Have you canceled everything? You\u2019re making me feel so embarrassed! My friends already know about the restaurant on Gran V\u00eda!<\/p>\n
\u2014 Yes, I canceled it, \u2014 he replied calmly. \u2014 It\u2019s not my job to pay for your show.<\/p>\n
Javier seemed, for a moment, relieved, but Luc\u00eda jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow.<\/p>\n
\u2014 You say something too!<\/p>\n
\u2014 Luc\u00eda\u2026 \u2014 he murmured. \u2014 Maybe Alejandro is right. We could have a simpler wedding, just with immediate family.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Traitor! \u2014 she shrieked. \u2014 You\u2019re all against me!<\/p>\n
Alejandro looked at her without rancor, only with the exhaustion accumulated after years of sacrifice.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Listen to me carefully, Luc\u00eda. I saved that money for my life, not for your whims. You get married, you pay. Or there\u2019s no wedding. I\u2019m no longer your ATM.<\/p>\n
Luc\u00eda started to scream, but Alejandro opened the door and pointed down the hallway. For the first time in his life, he was closing the door in his family\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
The next day, in the office of the IT company where he worked, he felt different.<\/p>\n
Lighter. The weight of guilt had disappeared. He turned on his computer and began looking for other apartments in Madrid. The prices were high, but not impossible. For the first time, he thought: \u201cIt\u2019s my money. It\u2019s my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
That weekend, he received a short message from Javier: \u201cI\u2019m sorry. You did the right thing. Maybe one day Luc\u00eda will understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alejandro smiled bitterly. It didn\u2019t matter anymore. In the elevator mirror, he saw his own reflection: not the scared boy who always lived for others, but a free man.<\/p>\n
And deep down, for the first time in years, he felt a spark of true joy shine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cDon\u2019t spend money on yourself this year. You\u2019ll pay for your sister\u2019s wedding. We\u2019ve already decided,\u201d the father informed him in a routine voice, as if he were saying they needed to buy bread for dinner. Nothing more, nothing less. Alejandro froze, staring at the laptop screen. There glowed an Excel spreadsheet, his own financial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33040"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33041,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33040\/revisions\/33041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}