Mi hermana gemela recibía golpes diarios por su marido abu.sivo. Mi hermana y yo intercambiamos identidades e hicimos que su marido se arrepintiera de sus actos.

We looked at each other. Twins. Two halves of the same face. But only one of us was made to enter a house infested with violence and not tremble.

We changed quickly. She put on my gray hospital sweater. I took her clothes, her worn shoes, her ID badge. When the nurse opened the door, she smiled at me, completely unaware.

—Are you leaving already, Mrs. Reyes?

I looked down and imitated Lidia’s timid voice.

-Yeah.

When the metal door closed behind me and the sun hit my face, my lungs felt like they were on fire. Ten years. Ten years breathing borrowed air. I walked to the sidewalk without looking back.

“Your time is up, Damian Reyes,” I murmured.

The house was in Ecatepec, at the end of a damp, dreary street where scrawny dogs slept beside the tires of broken-down cars. The facade was peeling. The gate was rusty. The smell hit me before I even entered: dampness, rancid grease, and something sour, like spoiled food.

It wasn’t a house. It was a trap.

I saw her right away.

Sofia sat in a corner, clutching a headless doll. Her clothes were too small, her knees were scraped, and her hair was tangled. When she looked up, I felt my heart break. She had Lidia’s eyes. But not her light.

—Hello, my love— I said, kneeling down. —Come with me.

He didn’t run to hug me. He backed away.

And behind me, a bitter voice sounded.

—Just look at that. The princess decided to return.

I turned around. There was Doña Ofelia, my mother-in-law. Short, heavy, wearing a flowered dress, and with a look that could turn milk sour.

“Where have you been, you useless thing?” he spat. “You probably went crying to your crazy sister.”

I didn’t say anything.

Then Brenda, Damian’s sister, appeared, and behind her was her son, a spoiled brat who saw Sofia and snatched the doll from her hands.
“That thing is mine,” he said, and threw it against the wall.

Sofia burst into tears. The boy raised his foot to kick her.

It wasn’t enough.

I held his ankle in the air.

The room froze.

“If you touch it again,” I said calmly, “you’ll remember me for the rest of your life.”

Brenda lunged at me, furious.

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