On the first day of every month, at exactly nine in the morning, my phone confirmed a familiar notification: a $300 transfer completed successfully. The recipient was Doña Clara, the mother of Marina — my wife, who had supposedly died five years earlier in a tragic accident.

Sending that money had become a ritual, a promise I made at her funeral when I saw her mother trembling beside the grave. Marina had once asked me to look after her if anything ever happened, and I had taken that vow seriously. Each transfer felt like a thread connecting me to the love I had lost, proof that grief had not erased loyalty.

Life moved forward, but my heart remained fixed in the past. Friends told me it was time to let go, that I could not carry responsibility forever. I always answered that it wasn’t about obligation, but about honoring memory. Then one day, my bank called to say the transfer could no longer be processed without updated account details. I tried reaching Doña Clara, but her phone numbers no longer worked. Unease settled in. On impulse, I decided to visit the small coastal village where she lived, hoping to resolve the issue in person and perhaps find closure in the place where Marina grew up.

When I arrived, the house I remembered as modest and worn looked bright and newly painted, with a manicured garden and a modern car in the driveway. Confused but hopeful, I rang the doorbell. A small child opened the door, smiling curiously. Then a familiar voice called from inside — a voice I knew more intimately than my own thoughts. Marina stepped forward, alive, healthy, and stunned to see me. Time seemed to stop. Behind her, Doña Clara appeared, older but strong. A man entered the room and looked between us, confused. Slowly, the truth unfolded: Marina had never died. She had left, choosing a new life, while her mother accepted the monthly support I sent, allowing them to build comfort on the foundation of my belief.

I did not raise my voice. I did not argue. I simply listened as the story settled around me like dust after a long storm. Then I took out my phone and canceled the transfer. I told them the past would no longer shape my future. I left without looking back, driving down the quiet village road as the weight I had carried for years lifted from my chest. That day, I learned that closure does not always come with kindness, but truth has its own quiet mercy. And sometimes, freedom begins the moment we stop holding on to what was never real.