Mateo’s footsteps echoed like thunder down the long marble hallway. He pushed the heavy wooden door to the children’s room so hard that it slammed against the wall.
“Get away from my son right now!” Mateo roared, turning on the lights abruptly.
Elena let out a muffled scream and jumped back, tripping over a box of toys. Her face turned completely pale. The three little ones, startled by the sudden noise, began to cry in unison.
The commotion was so great that, in less than two minutes, the door opened again. It was Doña Leticia, who had stayed overnight at the mansion after a family dinner. She was wearing a silk robe and had an expression of utter triumph on her face.
“I told you, Mateo!” she shrieked, pointing an accusing finger at Elena. “I told you that this penniless wretch from who-knows-what ranch was going to hurt the children! Call the police! Have her locked up and send these kids to Houston right now!”
Mateo ignored his mother-in-law. He walked straight to Santi’s crib and pulled out the blinking device. It was a rectangular box, hand-assembled, with an exposed microprocessor and four electrodes that emitted an almost imperceptible buzzing sound.
“What is this?” Mateo demanded, his voice trembling with rage. “You have exactly one minute to explain to me what you were doing to my son before I call the police and make sure you never see the light of day again.”
Elena was trembling from head to toe, tears streaming down her cheeks. But instead of running away or begging for mercy, she stood up. Surprisingly, her gaze became resolute.
“You can fire me, Mr. Garza. You can put me in jail if that makes you feel safer,” Elena said, her voice trembling but full of conviction. “But first, listen to me. I’m not just a nanny. Until eight months ago, I was a seventh-semester student at Tec de Monterrey. I was studying Biomedical Engineering on an academic excellence scholarship.”
Mateo frowned, confused. Doña Leticia let out a mocking laugh.
“Please! What a ridiculous lie!” scoffed the mother-in-law.
“Silence, Leticia!” Mateo shouted, without taking his eyes off the young woman. “Continue.”
Elena swallowed.
“My team and I were developing a prototype for non-invasive neurostimulation. A project specifically designed to stimulate dormant neural pathways in children with severe brain damage. It was my dream. But… my parents died in an accident on the National Highway. I was left alone. I had to drop out of university, lose my scholarship, and find a job to survive.”
Elena pointed toward Santi’s crib. “
When I arrived at this house and read your children’s medical records, I realized something incredible. Leo, Santi, and Diego’s condition… it’s exactly the same neurological profile we used in our simulations in the lab. I knew my prototype could help them. I knew that low-intensity electromagnetic frequencies could trigger their motor responses.”
“And why the hell didn’t you tell me?” Mateo asked, his anger slowly turning into deep confusion.
“Because you’re a businessman surrounded by the most expensive doctors in the country!” Elena replied, weeping openly. “Do you think a millionaire was going to listen to a 22-year-old nanny who couldn’t finish college? No conventional doctor would have allowed the use of an unpatented experimental device. But I knew it would work! And I couldn’t just stand by and watch them wither away while their families treated them like they were already dead.”
The room fell into a deathly silence. Elena’s words had struck Mateo straight to the core. He looked at the device in his hands. Then he looked at his mother-in-law, who was watching him with disdain.
“Fire her, Mateo. She’s a dangerous lunatic,” Doña Leticia demanded.
Mateo looked down at Santi. The little boy had stopped crying and was staring intently at the red light of the device Mateo was holding. For the first time in two years, the child tried to stretch his fingers toward the light. A tiny, clumsy movement, but real.
Mateo made a decision that would change the course of his family forever.
He turned to his mother-in-law.
“Leticia, I want you to pack your things and get out of my house. Right now. And don’t you ever come near my children again. They’re not going to any nursing home.”
The woman opened her mouth, indignant, but seeing Mateo’s lethal gaze, she turned around and left, slamming the door.
Mateo approached Elena. He handed her back the device.
“Tomorrow at 8 AM, my legal team and the directors of Monterrey’s most important hospital will be in my office. You’re going to present your project to them. If you’re lying to me, I’ll destroy you. But if you’re telling the truth… I’ll give you all the millions you need to finish this.”
