I stood in front of the door of the hotel room, watching the streaks of orange light of the sunset reflect on the cold marble floor. The clock was almost six o’clock. The last two hours had passed like a tape played in slow motion inside my head. I didn’t know if what I had just done was right or not; I just knew that I was carrying guilt so heavy that I was short of breath.

My boss—Mr. Hoàng, a man in his fifties, elegant and wealthy—sat on the edge of the bed, with the relaxed posture of someone who had just closed a safe deal.

“You think too much,” he said in a calm voice. In this life, we all have the right to choose our own happiness.

I didn’t know if that was happiness. I just knew I needed money.

My husband – Nam – was in a car accident a year ago. A multi-car crash on the freeway left him paralyzed from the waist down. The man who used to be strong, independent, always smiling, fixing things around the house… now he lay motionless as a log. From then on, everything fell on my shoulders: medical expenses, medicines, physiotherapy, day-to-day bills. All of me.

I thought marriage was a place where two people shared the burdens. But when one falls… sometimes the other has to become twice as strong.

And my boss knew it.

He took me to the hotel. He didn’t force me. He didn’t force me. He just put a number on the table that left me paralyzed.

“It’s a chance to save yourself,” she said.

I didn’t resist.

But I never imagined that everything would happen so quickly.

I adjusted my hair, put on my coat and left that room as if he had just sold a piece of his soul in exchange for a slightly less cruel existence.

Outside, the wind was so cold that it burned my hands. I took a taxi back home.

---

It was already dark when I opened the door. The house was in total silence. The smell of medicines hung in the air. I left a bag of food on the table and changed my shoes.

Nam was in the living room, in the same position as always. A light blanket covered her abdomen.

Before I called him, I felt the phone vibrate.

I took it out of my bag.

A bank notification appeared on the screen:

Balance + more than 10,000 euros

I froze. Then came another message. And another. The toll continued to rise.

And then… a message from Nam:

The savings I have had for ten years, since before we got married. Use them.

I stiffened. A high-pitched beep filled my ears. I looked at Nam.

He was still there, looking at me.

“What… what have you done? I asked in a trembling voice.

In a weak, slow voice, he answered:

“I just want you not to suffer anymore.

My hands trembled.

“You… You already know everything, right?

Nam did not answer. He just looked at me, as if it wasn’t a surprise to him anymore. No reproach. No judgment.

“Have you looked at my phone?” I whispered.

“No,” he answered. I heard you talking on the phone. I saw the hotel bill. And I’ve seen the tiredness in your eyes every time you come back late.

I fell into my seat, covering my face.

“I have not betrayed you. I just…

“I know,” he interrupted me calmly.

“He just wanted to save us…

Nam looked at the ceiling. His voice was full of helplessness.

“Of course I know. We all fear poverty, misery. But what scares me the most… is that you have to fall into the hands of a man who does not deserve you.

I felt my heart tear.

“That’s why I’m giving you the money,” he continued. So you don’t have to sell your dignity anymore.

The mobile phone fell from my hands because of the tremor.

“Where did you get all this?” I asked, horrified.

Nam smiled bitterly.

—My company paid me insurance before I left the company. I also sold the village house. And… Your mother-in-law helps out every month.

It was like a slap in the face.

Did my mother-in-law still send money?

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I shouted, almost unable to control myself.

He held my gaze.

“Because I didn’t want you to feel pressured. I wanted to continue to be your support… even if I can no longer stand.

I burst into tears.

There were days when I wanted to give it all up. She arrived exhausted after work and still had to take care of it. Days in which he got frustrated and screamed. Days when I fell asleep crying at the wheel.

I thought I had nothing to offer myself.

But I was wrong…

---

I was the one who insisted on getting married. She was in love. I thought I would never regret it.

But life changes people faster than we think.

I let myself be carried away by despair. I gave in to the temptation of an easy path.

But now, in front of the man who was handing me the last thing I had… I understood that I was the one who had fallen the lowest.

Nam looked at me calmly:

“Do you still love me?”

I couldn’t answer.

The word “love” had been buried under weight, bills, sacrifices and tears. I didn’t know if I still loved him…

But did you know that…

I wanted to stay with him.

“I’m not going away,” I whispered.

He sighed, tired:

“Leave.

“What…?”

“You have a whole life ahead of you. Not me.

He pointed to a piece of paper on the table. I got up trembling.

It was a divorce document.

“I’ve signed it,” he said.

I stepped back as if I had seen an abyss.

—Have you gone mad?

“I want you to have another chance,” he insisted.

I grabbed his arm, desperate.

“I don’t want another life!” I love you!

Nam took my hands. There was a rare calm in his eyes… as if he had already decided everything.

“You have suffered too much. I want you to be happy, even if I’m no longer here.

A chill ran through my body.

“What are you going to do…?”

He did not answer. He just looked at the open window.

“Tomorrow the doctors will come. I’ve already talked to them. I’m going to stop the treatment.

I felt like the air was being ripped out of my chest.

“No. You can’t give up.

“I don’t give up,” he said. I just want you to live the life you deserve.

I was torn to pieces inside.

“You don’t understand anything!”

Nam smiled, with bated tears:

“I understand… ‘Cause I still love you.

I went to the kitchen almost without thinking and started to prepare a soup.

I wasn’t going to let him go.

As I sliced onions, the phone vibrated again.

Message from my mother-in-law:

Don’t leave him alone. I know everything.

I fell to my knees.

Did you know everything? My infidelity? The hotel? ¿Or… even more?

I didn’t know whether to feel shame or terror.

I wiped away my tears and took the soup to Nam. He barely tasted a few spoonfuls.

“You eat very little,” he said.

I sat down next to him and took his hand.

“Nam… I am sorry.

“Don’t apologize,” he replied. It was all because you love me too much.

I shook my head.

“No. Because I was weak.

“Then let me be strong for both of us…” for the last time.

---

That night, I stayed hugging him. I remembered how we met: one rainy afternoon, I fell off the motorcycle and he came out to help me.

“Are you okay?”

A simple phrase that I never forgot.

A year later, she was his wife.

Then came the accident.

And I lost my way.

But he… He never let go of me.

Slept. I couldn’t. I stared at him, fearing that at dawn he would no longer be with me.

I thought I was trapped.

But in reality… I was just afraid of losing the most valuable thing in my life.

---

I got up early. I cleaned the room, opened the windows to let in the light. I made the soup as usual.

I went into his room and he was already awake.

“I thought you were gone,” he said.

“Where?” I asked, smiling.

“To look for your new life.”

I hugged him. Strong. As he had not done it for a long time.

“I’ve already found it.

Nam stood motionless for a few seconds. Then he put his arms around me, trembling.

“Forgive me for making you suffer,” he whispered.

“No. Forgive me.” I’m never going to leave again. No matter what, I choose to be with you.

Cried. For the first time since the accident.

“I promise to keep fighting,” he said.

I nodded.

We don’t know what the doctors will say. We don’t know if the future will be cruel again.

But, after an eternal year… I walked beside him again, not dragging him.

I know I’ve failed. But I also know that I can make amends.

And I have understood something:

Not everyone who is lying down… they are the weak ones.

Sometimes, those who can no longer walk… they stand firm in the hearts of those they love.