Mrs. Álvarez, a strict mother-in-law, had always kept her distance from her daughter-in-law, Mariana.
In her eyes, Mariana was nothing more than a provincial girl, lacking the status to marry her son, Alejandro Álvarez—a talented doctor and heir to both the family fortune and prestige.
From the day of their wedding, Mrs. Álvarez made no secret of her contempt: she criticized Mariana’s cooking and made comments implying that she had been “lucky” to marry Alejandro.
Mariana, though hurt, endured it in silence and strove to fulfill her role as daughter-in-law.
Alejandro, a devoted husband, always tried to be the bridge between his mother and his wife, but the pressure of his job at the hospital left him little time to repair family conflicts.
He loved Mariana, but he also didn’t dare directly confront his mother. Their marriage, thus, lived with an invisible wall between them.
One torrentially rainy afternoon, Alejandro suffered a stroke during his shift at the hospital. He was rushed into surgery for brain surgery.
The news hit the family like a thunderbolt. Mrs. Álvarez rushed in, her face pale and her hands shaking as she saw her son motionless through the operating room glass.
Mariana was also there, but she remained silent, tucked away in a corner, her eyes red-rimmed.
While they waited, Mrs. Álvarez, panicking, turned to Mariana and blurted out:
“What did you do that you didn’t take care of him? If something happens to him, forget about setting foot in this house!”
Mariana lowered her head, not responding, but clutching her phone tightly, as if holding something back.
At that moment, Mrs. Álvarez’s phone vibrated. A message from Mariana appeared:
“Everyone pays what they spend.”
Mrs. Álvarez was stunned, as if she’d been slapped. They were a few words, cold, without any explanation. She turned to look at her, but Mariana had already left, leaving only her faded silhouette in the hospital hallway. She felt the blood rush to her head: she was angry and confused. “What did she mean? Does she dare to defy me at this moment?” she thought, burning with indignation.
The story flashes back a few months. Although she received cold treatment from her mother-in-law, Mariana continued to silently care for the family.
She knew Alejandro worked to exhaustion, often staying up all night to study medical cases. She had asked him many times to rest, but he only replied:
“I’m a doctor; if I don’t save lives, who will?”
One day, by chance, Mariana discovered in his notebook a long list of bank loans, medical bills, and notes about payments Alejandro secretly made for poor patients.
She was sh0cked to learn that he had quietly used their shared savings and even mortgaged the house they lived in to help others. When she questioned him, he simply said,
“I don’t want Mom to know. She wouldn’t understand. For me, saving lives is a responsibility.”
Although worried, Mariana supported him. She began working overtime and even took on freelance jobs to cover the shortfall. But Mrs. Álvarez knew nothing of this. To her, Mariana was just a “useless” wife, always busy with her job and neglecting her husband.
The phrase “Everyone pays for what they spend” originated in an argument between Alejandro and his mother. When Mrs. Álvarez accused him of spending recklessly and leaving no inheritance for the family, Alejandro smiled sadly and said,
“Mom, everyone pays for what they spend. I live to save lives, not to save money.”
Mariana, who was out of the room at the time, etched those words into her memory.
Back in the present, Alejandro’s surgery had taken longer than expected. The doctors came out with serious faces: Alejandro had overcome the immediate risk, but he had severe brain damage and the chances of a full recovery were low. Mrs. Alvarez nearly collapsed, while Mariana just nodded silently and walked away.
The next day, Mrs. Alvarez received an email from Mariana, with an attachment. It contained a detailed record of everything Alejandro had done: the list of patients he helped, the bills he paid, and the mortgage contract for the house. Along with this, a handwritten letter from Mariana:
“Mom, I’m sorry about yesterday’s message. It was the last thing Alejandro asked me to repeat if he ever didn’t survive. He told me that, if that time came, you wouldn’t have to worry about the money, because he would have already ‘spent’ his share saving lives. I just want you to understand that Alejandro lived true to his ideals. I’ll stay to take care of him, even if you don’t accept me. But I hope you’re proud of him.”
Mrs. Álvarez read the letter with tears streaming down her face. She realized she had misjudged Mariana and grasped the weight of what her son had silently carried. “Everyone pays what they spend” wasn’t a provocation, but Alejandro’s declaration of principles—an affirmation of how he chose to live and serve.
In the following days, Mariana remained by Alejandro’s side day and night, even though he hadn’t yet woken up. Mrs. Álvarez, previously distant, began to change. She began visiting the hospital, bringing Mariana’s favorite dishes, and for the first time, she took her daughter-in-law’s hand and said,
“Thank you for being with Alejandro.”
The story concludes with Mariana sitting by the bed, rereading Alejandro’s notebook, where he had written:
“To save a person is to settle a debt with life.”
Although the future was uncertain, Mariana knew that as long as she and Mrs. Álvarez remained united, Alejandro would feel her love. And maybe, one day, he would open his eyes again.
