A successful entrepreneur returns unexpectedly… what he discovers changes everything.

Now the revelation about his own neglect as a father and husband. Gabriela, I want to change this. Change what? Everything. I want to be present in Elena’s life, in your life. I want to be a true family. Gabriela looked at him skeptically. Ricardo, you’ve said this before. Remember when Elena was born? When she was diagnosed, you always say you’re going to change, but the work always comes first. This time it’s different.

Why? Because today I saw my daughter for the first time. I really saw her, and I realized that if I don’t do something now, I’m going to lose the most important years of her life. Gabriela sighed. Ricardo, I want to believe you, but I need actions, not words. So, tomorrow morning, come and see. I’m going to watch the exercises Antonela does with Elena. Did you miss your meetings? I canceled them.

Gabriela opened her eyes in surprise. In 16 years of marriage, she had never seen Ricardo cancel meetings for family reasons. “Maybe it really will be different this time,” she murmured. “It will be different, I promise.” The next morning, Ricardo woke up at 6:00, showered, dressed in casual clothes, something he rarely did on weekdays, and went downstairs to the kitchen.

Antonela was already there preparing breakfast. “Good morning, Antonela,” he said, surprising the employee. “Good morning, Mr. Ricardo. You got up early today. I got up. Where’s Elena? Still resting, sir. She usually wakes up at 7:30. And they do the exercises. What time? 8, sir.”

After breakfast, Ricardo looked at his watch. 6:45. Can I help with something? Antonela looked surprised. Sir, can I help prepare breakfast? Oh, of course, sir. Elena loves pancakes on Tuesdays. Hotakes. I didn’t know that. Antonela smiled. She says she needs extra energy for our thinking activities.

Ricardo watched Antonela prepare the pancake mix, noticing the care she took in everything. She wasn’t just preparing food; she was preparing something special for Elena. Antonela, can I ask you a question? Of course, sir. Why do you care so much, Elena? Antonela stopped whisking the mix and thought for a moment.

Mr. Ricardo, when I was a child, I saw my cousin Paloma being rejected by other children because of her difficulties. I saw the sadness in her eyes when she wanted to play but couldn’t keep up with the others. When I look at Elena, I see that same look Paloma had when she was little.

Today, Paloma is studying graphic design online, helps out around the house to the best of her ability, and is one of the happiest people I know. She still has limitations, but she never lets that stop her from living. And do you want the same for Elena? I want her to be happy, Mr. Ricardo. I want her to believe she can achieve anything, because with the privileged family she has, with all the love and support you can give her, she can go much further than my cousin ever dreamed of.

Ricardo experienced that mixture of admiration and embarrassment again. Antonela was right. Elena had all the advantages in the world, but she was still sad and lonely because she lacked what mattered most: her parents’ attention and love. At that moment, Elena appeared in the kitchen, still in her pajamas and in her wheelchair. “Daddy!” she cried out in surprise.

“You didn’t go to work. Good morning, champ. I’m going to stay here today to watch your exercises, remember?” Elena smiled from ear to ear. “Seriously, you’ll see how clever I am. First, let’s have breakfast. Antonela made special cakes for you. During breakfast, Ricardo watched the interaction between Elena and Antonela.

They chatted like old friends, laughing at inside jokes, planning the day’s activities. Elena was beaming, talking nonstop about things she wanted to show her dad. Daddy, did you know I can now write my full name without help? Your full name. That’s amazing. And I know how to do concentration exercises like adults. Toñita taught me special techniques.

What kind of techniques? To calm my mind when it gets too restless, like taking deep breaths and counting to 10 while imagining butterflies. Ricardo looked at Antonela, impressed. She really knew what she was doing. Helena transferred from her wheelchair to the blanket with Antonela’s help and began doing breathing and concentration exercises that surprised Ricardo with their precision and seriousness. “Excellent, Elena.

“Now we’re going to work on fine motor coordination,” Antonela said. She took out a box with different materials: colorful beads, threads, and small blocks. “Remember the pattern we practiced yesterday? Yes, I have to make a blue, red, and yellow sequence and repeat it three times.” Elena carefully took the beads and began threading them onto the thread.

Her small hands trembled slightly from the effort of concentration, but she managed to complete the pattern without mistakes. Perfect, Antonela celebrated. Want to try a more difficult pattern? Yes. Ricardo was amazed. His daughter was demonstrating fine motor skills that the doctors had said would be very difficult to develop.