A millionaire arrives home early and nearly faints at what he sees. Carlos Mendoza has never felt so lost as he has in the last few months. The successful businessman who ran one of the largest construction companies in Mexico City discovered that all his money was useless when it came to healing the broken heart of a 3-year-old girl.
It was then that he decided to leave the meeting with the Japanese investors early. Something inside him was pulling him home, a strange feeling he couldn’t explain. When he opened the kitchen door of his mansion in Lomas de Chapultepec, Carlos had to lean against the frame to avoid falling.
His daughter Valentina was perched on the employee’s shoulders, both singing a nursery rhyme while washing dishes together. The little girl was laughing in a way he hadn’t seen in months. “Now you’re scrubbing down here properly, princess,” said Carmen, the employee, guiding the girl’s small hands. “You’re such a smart girl, too.” “Aunt Carmelita, can I make bubbles with the soap?” asked Valentina in a crystalline voice that Carlos thought he had lost forever.
The businessman felt his legs tremble. Since Daniela had died in a car accident, Valentina hadn’t spoken a single word. The best child psychologists in the country assured them that this was normal, that the girl needed time to process the loss. But there, in that kitchen, she conversed naturally as if nothing had happened.
Carmen noticed her presence and almost let the girl slip off her shoulders. Mr. Carlos, I didn’t expect you to begin explaining yourself, clearly flustered. “Dad,” Valentina yelled, but he immediately flinched as if he’d done something wrong. Carlos ran into the office, slamming the door behind him. His hands were shaking as he poured a glass of whiskey.
The scene he had just witnessed disturbed him to such an extent that he couldn’t understand how that young woman had accomplished in just a few months what he hadn’t been able to do, how his own daughter spoke to the employee in a way she no longer did to him. Dear listener, if you’re enjoying the story, please take the opportunity to leave a like and, above all, subscribe to the channel.
That helps a lot for those of us who are just starting out and continuing now. The next morning, Carlos pretended to leave for work as usual, but he parked his car a few blocks away and walked back. He needed to understand what was happening in his own home. He let himself in through the back and went straight up to his office, where he quickly set up some small cameras he had purchased along the way.
Throughout the following week, he left work early to watch the recordings. What he discovered left him even more disturbed. Carmen Rodríguez, barely 24 years old, turned every household chore into an educational game. She talked with Valentina about everything from the colors of the clothes she folded to the ingredients in the food she prepared.
“Look, Princess, how many carrots do we have here?” Carmen asked, chopping the vegetables. “One, two, three, five,” Valentina responded, clapping. “That’s right, you’re very clever. And do you know why carrots are orange? I don’t know, Aunt Carmelita, because they have a special vitamin that makes our eyes strong enough to see all the beauty in this world.” Carlos watched these scenes with a mixture of gratitude and jealousy.
Gratitude because his daughter was clearly recovering. Jealousy because he didn’t know how to create the connection that seemed so natural between the two. The recordings also revealed something that worried him. Doña Dolores Martínez, the housekeeper who had worked at the house for 20 years, constantly watched Carmen with distrust.
The 62-year-old woman, who had helped raise Carlos himself as a child, clearly disapproved of the younger employee’s methods. “Carmelita, you’re crossing the line,” Carlos heard Dolores say in one of the recordings. “It’s not your role to raise the child. You were hired to clean the house.”
“Doña Dolores, I’m just trying to help,” Carmelita responded in a soft but firm voice. “Valentina is a very special girl, and whether she’s special or not is none of your business. Do your job, period.” The tension was palpable even through the computer screen. Carlos sensed two different worlds colliding in his home, and he was in the middle of a silent war he didn’t even know existed. On Thursday of that week, he received a call that would change everything.
It was from the director of the daycare center Valentina had recently started attending. “Mr. Carlos, I have wonderful news,” said teacher Luisa Hernández. Valentina finally began interacting with the other children.
Today she played house with three other girls and told stories about how she helps Aunt Carmelita around the house. Carlos threw all the papers on the table. “How’s that, teacher?” He said she learns to cook, to fix things, and that Aunt Carmelita tells stories about princesses who help around the house. It’s amazing how the little girl has changed. Have they tried any new treatments? “No, not exactly,” Carlos stammered.
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