The CEO thought his children were being raised by a stranger… But the hidden cameras revealed she was the only mother they had. Full story in the comments.
Diego stood on the grass of Chapultepec Park, feeling like a giant, dark crow in his $5,000 Armani suit. Around him, families laughed in t-shirts and jeans.
“Dad, you’re going to get your shoes dirty,” Mateo said, pointing at the mud.
“It doesn’t matter, Mateo,” Diego replied, though his heart hammered. “What do we do first?”
Elena was already on her knees, spreading out tissue paper and thin wooden reeds. “First, we build the wings. A kite needs to be light to catch the wind, boys.”
“Like an airplane?” Lucas asked, leaning against her shoulder.
“Exactly like an airplane,” she whispered, her eyes bright.
Diego watched her. She wasn’t just a nanny. She was a master of their little world. He felt a sudden, sharp presence behind him.
“Diego? Is that actually you?”
He turned. It was Isabella, a woman he’d gone on three “corporate dates” with. She was draped in designer silk, looking at the scene with a curled lip.
“Isabella. I didn’t expect to see you here,” Diego said stiffly.
“I could say the same. You’re… on the grass?” She looked at Elena. “And who is this? The help?”
Elena’s hands paused on the kite string. She didn’t look up, but her shoulders tightened.
“This is Elena,” Diego said, his voice dropping an octave. “She’s the reason my children are smiling.”
Isabella laughed, a sharp, cold sound. “Darling, she looks like she crawled out of a village. You really shouldn’t let the staff get so comfortable. It ruins the discipline.”
“Miss Elena isn’t ‘staff’!” Santiago yelled, standing up. “She’s our friend!”
“Hush, little boy,” Isabella snapped. “Go play with your sticks.”
Diego stepped forward, his shadow falling over Isabella. “You will not speak to my son like that. And you will not speak to Elena like that.”
“Oh, please,” Isabella rolled her eyes. “I’m doing you a favor. I actually called your agency this morning. I told them you needed someone more… professional. They’re sending a replacement on Monday.”
The air went still. Elena looked up then, her brown eyes filled with a sudden, devastating fear. “A replacement?”
“You did what?” Diego’s voice was a low growl.
“I told them she was inappropriate. Always overstepping. Making the children too emotional,” Isabella said, adjusting her sunglasses. “You’re welcome.”
Diego took a step closer to Elena. He saw the way she gripped the kite string, her knuckles white. He remembered the file—the husband lost, the baby girl lost. She had nothing, and this woman was trying to take her heart away again.
“Isabella, look at me,” Diego said.
She smiled, thinking she’d won. “Yes?”
“You’re fired,” Diego said.
“What? We don’t even work together!”
“From my life. From my house. From every social circle I influence,” Diego said, his face like granite. “And as for the agency, I own the firm that handles their payroll. If they listen to a word you say, I’ll pull their funding by sunset.”
Isabella’s face went pale. “Diego, you’re being hysterical over a nanny!”
“I’m being a father for the first time in two years,” Diego shouted. “Get out of this park before I have my security escort you out.”
Isabella scurried away, her heels sinking into the grass.
Diego turned back to the group. Elena was shaking. The boys were huddled around her.
“Is it true?” Elena whispered. “Am I… am I going?”
Diego knelt. He didn’t care about the Armani trousers anymore. He knelt in the dirt, right in front of her.
“You aren’t going anywhere, Elena,” he said, his voice breaking. “Unless you want to.”
“I love them,” she said, tears finally spilling over. “I don’t have anyone else. They are my whole world.”
“And they love you,” Diego said. He reached out and took her hand. Her hand was rough, calloused, and warm. It felt like life. “I’ve been a ghost, Elena. I thought money could replace a mother’s love. I was a fool.”
“You were hurting,” she whispered.
“I was. But you healed them. Now, I’m asking you… not as an employee. Not as ‘the help.’” Diego looked at his three sons, who were watching with bated breath. “I want you to stay. I want to rewrite your contract. No more agency. You’re part of this family. Whatever you need—for your mother in Oaxaca, for your future—it’s yours. Just don’t leave us.”
Mateo threw his arms around Diego’s neck. “Does this mean she stays forever?”
Diego looked at Elena. For the first time, he saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes that matched his own.
“Forever,” Diego promised.
They spent the rest of the afternoon flying that kite. It was made of cheap paper and sticks, but it flew higher than any expensive drone Diego had ever bought them.
That evening, the mansion in Polanco didn’t feel like a museum anymore. It felt like a home. Diego sat at the head of the table, but he didn’t check his phone once. He watched Elena laugh as Lucas got chocolate on his nose.
The justice wasn’t in the money or the firing of a socialite. The justice was in the fact that a woman who had lost her own child finally had a family again—and a man who had lost his soul finally found a reason to live.
As the sun set, casting a golden amber glow over the dining room, Diego realized the “millionaire” wasn’t the one with the bank account. It was the woman sitting across from him, who had nothing but a heart big enough to save them all.
Leave a Reply