In Vilcún, Chile, on the evening of September 21, 1942, Francisca Cayupi Marín confronted and publicly stabbed Alberto Moraga Bello for leaving her and marrying someone else. Employing a micro-historical approach and based on the study of this legal case file, this research proposes, on one hand, the analysis of the use of violence as female agency in the face of conflicts in couples; and on the other hand, the analysis of emotions in the construction of a narrative of female defense in judicial testimonies, understood as a performative act and the display of negotiating abilities in response to decisions by judges and justice agents, within a regional and border space.