Her name was Elena Cruz, the daughter of his former housekeeper in Chicago. He had met her one evening when she was helping her mother clean his office. She was reading a business magazine from his desk when he walked in.
“Trying to learn my secrets?” he had joked.
She smiled nervously. “Just trying to understand how people build something from nothing.”
That curiosity had caught his attention. Soon, their conversations turned into long evenings over coffee. She was twenty-three, studying education, and full of dreams. She wanted to open a small school for children who had nowhere else to go.
He had never met anyone like her. She didn’t care about his money or his influence. When she laughed, the world seemed simpler. When she spoke about helping others, he almost believed he could be someone better.
Then one night, she told him she was pregnant.
He remembered every word. “I know this is unexpected,” she had said softly, “but I want to keep the baby. You do not have to be part of it if you are not ready.”