A Different Kind of Proposal
The following morning, Alejandro returned to the restaurant.
This time, without the business card.
And without arrogance.
“I’d like you to spend time with my mother,” he told Valeria honestly. “Not as a caregiver. Just… as someone who sees her as a person.”
Valeria hesitated.
“Why me?”
“Because kindness like yours can’t be performed,” he replied. “It’s real.”
Then he offered her a salary more than three times what she currently earned.
Valeria stared at him in disbelief.
“That’s too much.”
“No,” Alejandro answered softly. “My mother is worth it.”
Before she could respond, Doña Mercedes suddenly spoke.
“You remind me of someone.”
“Who?” Valeria asked.
“A young woman named Clara.”
Alejandro immediately stiffened.
“Mother…”
But Mercedes ignored him.
“She once worked for our family many years ago.”
Valeria sensed the tension immediately.
“What happened to her?”
Mercedes looked toward Alejandro before answering quietly.
“She was his mother.”
The restaurant noise seemed to disappear.
