A humble cleaning woman, having no one to entrust her daughter to, decided to take her with her to work — little suspecting that the reaction of her millionaire boss would change everything.

She was living in a house that wasn’t hers, with a man from a completely different world. One afternoon, while Claudia was cleaning the second-floor bathrooms, Leonardo came up, stopped in the doorway, and greeted her. Then he asked if Renata was already in kindergarten. Claudia said no, that she didn’t have the money for registration. At the time, he said nothing; he nodded and left.

Two days later, Marta arrived with a cardboard folder and gave it to Claudia. It was an application for a private preschool. Leonardo had spoken to the headmistress. Renata had a place reserved; everything was paid for. Claudia was stunned. She wanted to thank him, but she couldn’t find him. He didn’t come down that day. She only saw him from afar, on the balcony, on the phone. She didn’t know whether to be happy or not.

It was a help, yes, but it also made her feel indebted. The atmosphere in the house was different. Marta set up a small chair in the kitchen for Renata to sit on. José made her a makeshift swing on a low branch at the far end of the garden. Dolores brought her a new notebook with stickers, and Leonardo…

Leonardo didn’t laugh all the time, but he was no longer the cold man who walked by without looking. Sometimes he went out just to see what Renata was doing. One day, he brought her an ice cream and told her that if she didn’t eat it quickly, it would melt… like her problems. The little girl didn’t understand, but laughed anyway. And Claudia, though silent, noticed everything, every glance, every little gesture. Something was being born; she didn’t know what, but it was there.

It wasn’t normal, it wasn’t ordinary. And that scared her, because when something changes too quickly, it’s sometimes a sign that something is about to turn things upside down. But for now, all she could do was carry on, keep cleaning, keep taking care of her daughter, keep watching how her presence pulled everyone out of their dreary routine.

Starting with the man who, without realizing it, had begun to smile again thanks to a four-year-old girl who just wanted to play.
**Part 2 — Italian translation**

That morning, the sky was overcast, with a heavy smell of storm in the air. Claudia left her house, holding Renata’s hand, in silence. It wasn’t a normal day. At dawn, she had dreamt of her husband and the accident, which still hurt as if it had happened yesterday. She had woken up with a tightness in her chest, but without time to cry. Life went on. On the bus, Renata spoke less than usual. She stared out the window, half asleep. Claudia put the vest back on her shoulders, trying to think of something else, but she couldn’t.

When they arrived at Leonardo’s house, the atmosphere seemed different too. Quieter than usual. José greeted them, but without his usual smile. Even Marta didn’t speak much. Claudia left Renata in her corner of the garden with her pencils and got to work, even though her mind was elsewhere. As she scrubbed the kitchen, she remembered how her husband had told her that one day they would have a house like this, with trees and large windows. Claudia had simply smiled, because she couldn’t imagine something so far off.

Around noon, while she was cleaning the downstairs bathrooms, Leonardo came downstairs, saw her, and stopped. This was different from other times: he wasn’t in a hurry, wasn’t carrying files, he was simply there. Claudia greeted him quietly. He looked at her intently and asked if she had a minute. She thought it was about work, but nodded and followed him into the office.

Leonardo sat down in an armchair and gestured for her to sit in the other. Claudia sat with her hands on her thighs, unsure of what to expect. He remained silent for a few seconds, staring out at the window. Then he spoke.

He told her he had been thinking a lot, that seeing Renata had brought back memories, and that he hadn’t spoken about it in a long time. Claudia listened without interrupting. Leonardo told her that his wife, Daniela, had been diagnosed with a tumor two years after their wedding; at first, they had thought she would recover, that it would just be a difficult period, but that wasn’t the case. He watched her fade away little by little; he lived through the illness with her day after day, night after night; they tried everything—travel, treatments, doctors—nothing worked. She died in their bed one morning. Leonardo saw her go, without them saying goodbye: she had simply passed away.