Don Tomás, a seventy-year-old man, was known in his town in Oaxaca for his extensive lands and wealth. He had been widowed a decade earlier when Doña Rosa, his first wife, died, leaving behind three married daughters.
Despite the passing of the years, Don Tomás had not abandoned a deep desire: to have a son who would perpetuate his family name and ensure the continuity of the family. That dream, however, remained unfulfilled.
He then decided to remarry. His gaze fell on Marisol, a girl of barely twenty years old, from humble origins, whose fresh beauty contrasted with the harshness that poverty had imprinted on her character.
Marisol’s parents, desperate to pay off debts and cover their youngest son’s medical expenses, accepted the marriage proposal in exchange for a generous sum of money.
Marisol, although not really wanting to marry, accepted her destiny out of love for her family. The night before the wedding, with tears in his eyes, he confessed to his mother:
„I only hope she treats me kindly… I will do my duty.”
The ceremony was modest but ostentatious in the eyes of the townspeople. Don Tomás wanted to show that he still had vigor and was ready to father the long-awaited heir. Murmurs about the age difference spread among the neighbors, veiled criticisms that didn’t matter to him.
Satisfied, he eagerly awaited the wedding night, while Marisol, resigned, faked a smile.
When the time came, Don Tomás, carefully dressed, took a sip of a „medicinal” liquor that, he claimed, would restore his youth. He took Marisol’s hand and led her to the bedroom. She, trembling, forced herself to maintain her composure.
The atmosphere became intimate, but suddenly something changed: the old man’s face contorted, his breathing became labored, and, clutching his chest, he fell heavily onto the bed.
„Don Tomás! What’s wrong with you?” cried Marisol, gripped by panic.
She tried to hold him, but her husband’s body was already rigid and covered in sweat. Barely a hoarse groan escaped his lips before he collapsed completely.
Marisol then remembered the liquor he had drunk minutes before. That drink, which he had relied on to revive his strength, had become his downfall.
Desperate, she called for help. Within moments, Don Tomás’s daughters and some relatives burst into the room and found the man lifeless, while his young wife sobbed beside him.
Chaos filled the house that night: screams, running, crying. They rushed the old man to the hospital, but the doctors could do nothing. The diagnosis was clear: a sudden heart attack, brought on by age and exertion.
The news spread through the town like lightning. The criticisms, previously whispered, became more audible: some pitied Marisol, others pointed fingers at her sarcastically.
— „He couldn’t even bear her a son… fate puts everything in its place.”
Marisol remained silent, trapped in an unfathomable sadness. She remembered her own words: „I will do my duty.” But that duty never began; it all ended in an unexpected tragedy.
After the funeral, the money received by the couple alleviated her family’s debts and paid for her younger brother’s treatment. However, Marisol carried a cruel burden: at the age of twenty, she was widowed, condemned to be remembered as „Don Tomás’s second wife.”
That wedding night, which was supposed to mean the beginning of a new life, became the end of a man and the beginning of a heavy cross that the young woman would have to bear for the rest of her days.