Chapter 6 - THE CONTRACT REVISED
Inside the study, the morning sun poured through the massive glass windows, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air. Ricardo sat behind his desk, but this time he didn't look like a defeated billionaire; he looked like a man taking back control of his life.
He slid a fresh document across the desk toward Luía.
Luía looked down at it, her dark eyes narrowing suspiciously. "I told you, Mr. Mendonza, I am a housemaid. I study child psychology at night, yes, but I am not qualified to run a household of six grieving children, nor do I have the time."
"This isn't a nanny contract," Ricardo said calmly, leaning back in his chair. "It's a household manager contract. Double your current pay, plus a guaranteed tuition sponsorship for your remaining semesters at university. In exchange, I need you to stay."
Luía stared at the paper. The tuition sponsorship was life-changing—it meant she could finally quit her second cleaning job in Capão Redondo and focus entirely on her studies and her future. But looking after the Mendonza girls meant stepping directly into the eye of a very personal, emotional storm.
"Why me?" Luía asked softly. "Thirty-seven women with fancy degrees and years of nanny experience walked through these doors. Why am I the one you're offering this to?"
"Because thirty-seven women came in here trying to fix my daughters with pity and expensive psychology," Ricardo answered without missing a beat. "You walked in here with a bucket of bleach, told my oldest daughter she was predictable, and refused to panic when Julia screamed. You didn't treat them like broken porcelain. You treated them like human beings."
Luía bit her lower lip, looking out the window toward the garden where the girls were tentatively playing a game of tag—the first time she had seen them run in days.
"I have conditions," Luía said, looking back at him.
"Name them."
"First, I am not your wife, and I am not their mother. Nobody will ever replace Claris, and I will make sure the girls know that every single day. Second, Mr. Mendonza, you need to step out of your office before five o'clock every evening and actually eat dinner with your daughters instead of hiding behind your spreadsheets."
May you like
Ricardo winced slightly, the truth hitting him like a physical blow. He nodded slowly. "Accepted. Both conditions."
Luía reached out, picked up the sleek Montblanc pen from his desk, and signed her name firmly at the bottom of the contract.
