“Yes,” he said softly. “I’ll stay.”

At the hospital, Victor discovered that fear wasn’t like losing money. This was something raw and painful.

Emma eventually fell asleep in his lap, exhausted. He held her awkwardly, afraid she might slip away.

Dr. Mitchell approached them.

“She’s stable,” the doctor explained. “But the situation is serious. Malnutrition, severe anemia… and it seems she’s ignored symptoms for weeks.”

Victor felt guilt twist in his chest.

For him, a few thousand dollars meant nothing. For Ana, survival had become impossible.

“Does she have family?” Victor asked.

“No emergency contacts. Only her workplace,” the doctor replied, looking at him.

On the drive back later, Emma woke in the back seat.

“Do you have food at your house?” she asked softly. “I’m hungry… but I don’t want to bother you.”

Victor glanced at her in the mirror.

“You’re not bothering me,” he said gently. “Not at all.”

Bringing Emma to his mansion felt like colliding two completely different worlds.

She stopped at the marble entrance, staring at the chandelier and sweeping staircase.

“Wow… you live here?”

For the first time, Victor noticed how cold his house felt. It wasn’t a home. It was a display.

The housekeeper, Diana, appeared, clearly surprised.

“Mr. Alvarez, I didn’t know we had guests.”

“We didn’t,” he said calmly. “But she’s staying.”

In the kitchen, the cook Rosa asked Victor about food allergies as if Emma weren’t there.

“Ask her,” Victor corrected.

“I don’t know what allergies are,” Emma said while eating a sandwich hungrily. “My mom says we shouldn’t waste food.”

The room fell silent.

That night, Victor heard crying.

Emma was curled up in the huge bed.

“I dreamed my mom didn’t come back,” she whispered. “And that my dad takes me away. I don’t want to go with him. He yells a lot.”

Victor sat beside her awkwardly.

Years earlier he had a son, Ethan, but after a divorce they barely spoke anymore. He believed fatherhood was something he had already lost.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he promised. “I’ll stay until you fall asleep.”

The next day Ana woke up in the hospital and asked to see her daughter.

When Emma hugged her, the love between them filled the room.

Ana cried with embarrassment.

“I thought if you knew about my problems, you’d fire me. You always seemed so distant.”

It hurt because it was true.