He possessed every kind of wealth imaginable, but his heart held a hidden truth that tormented him daily. When he decided to visit the orphanage to make a donation, he could never have imagined that a five-year-old girl would run towards him, shouting « Papa! » in front of all the cameras. What followed changed his destiny forever.
Leonardo Valente was 42 years old and possessed a fortune that most people struggled to comprehend. His technology companies had revolutionized the Latin American market. His investments spanned the entire continent, and his name regularly appeared on lists of Mexico’s richest men.
Yet, that March morning, as he dressed in his Mexico City penthouse, his thoughts weren’t about money. They were returning to something he’d been avoiding for five years: confronting his past. His personal assistant, Daniel, had arrived early as usual, with a meticulously organized schedule. « Mr. Valente, the car is waiting for you downstairs. The visit to the Esperanza Children’s Home is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. »
« The press will be there to cover the donation. » Leonardo adjusted his tie in front of the mirror. He was a tall man with perfectly slicked-back black hair and green eyes that had graced more magazine covers than he could count.
But in that reflection, he saw something no one else perceived: the specter of guilt that had haunted him for five years. “How much is the donation?” he asked, even though he already knew the answer. “Two million pesos, sir. To renovate the facilities and create an educational program.” “Good.” But nothing was good. Nothing had been good since that December night, five years earlier, when he had made the most cowardly decision of his life.
The drive to the orphanage was silent. Leonardo looked at the city buildings through the Mercedes window, but his mind was elsewhere. He was in a small apartment in Colonia Condesa, where a 23-year-old woman had told him news that had changed everything. « I’m pregnant, Leonardo. »
Those words came from Juliana’s lips like a confession, like a hope, like a question he hadn’t been able to answer. At the time, Leonardo was 37 and had just closed the biggest deal of his career. He was at the peak of his life, single, free, with his whole future ahead of him. Juliana, on the other hand, was… complicated.
She was the daughter of his housekeeper, an intelligent young woman studying education at university while working part-time cleaning offices to help her mother. They had met one day when he came home early and found her organizing his library. She was reading one of his economics books, completely absorbed, with the concentration characteristic of someone with a true thirst for knowledge.
When she noticed his presence, she blushed and apologized profusely. « I’m sorry, Mr. Valente. I shouldn’t have touched your books. » « Do you like economics? » he asked. « It fascinates me. I’m studying to become a professor, but I believe that understanding how money works is essential to everything. » This conversation led to others.
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