Marta stared at Isabella, knowing her friend all too well. Although Isabella was dying to call her husband, evident from the way she fidgeted with her phone in her hand, she was so stubborn that she was punishing both herself and Christian.

"You could call him too, Isabella," Marta suggested. "Perhaps something serious has happened to him, and you haven't found out because we left the house in such a hurry. Remember what happened to him the other day-he's suffering from those terrible headaches due to the inflammation in his brain and the loss of vision," Marta reminded her, trying to make her friend see reason.

"Don't make excuses for...