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Manuel approached Daniela and spoke in a low voice. “Miss, if your family doesn’t feel comfortable with my presence, I can leave. I just wanted you to know that your father is a good man, much better than you imagine.” “No,” Daniela said firmly. “You can come back tomorrow. I want to know more about that story.” Alberto left the room huffing angrily, followed by Dr. Velázquez. Daniela was left alone with Manuel for a few moments. “Mr. Manuel, can you tell me when and how you met my father?”
Manuel looked at Rodrigo in bed and sighed deeply. It was 1995, miss. Your father had just graduated with a degree in engineering and gotten a small job at a construction company. I was in charge of a team of bricklayers. He was so young and full of dreams. And what happened that made them become so close? There was an accident on the construction site. A slab was poorly braced and collapsed. I was underneath when it happened. Your father saw me and, without thinking of his own danger, went under the rubble and pulled me out.
If it weren’t for him, I would have—Manuel stopped, too excited to continue. After that, we became partners. He taught me about construction, about how to read plans, about management, and I taught him about manual labor, about how to treat workers, about how to earn respect on a construction site. So why did they lose touch? Your father progressed in life, and that’s normal, but when he opened his own company, he invited me to be a minority partner.
We were going to build an empire together. Based on honesty and respect for the workers, Daniela was fascinated by the story. She had never known that version of her father. And what happened to the partnership? For a while, it worked. We built a few small buildings, always treating our employees well, paying fair wages. But then her father met other businessmen. He began to frequent different social circles. Manuel hesitated, as if he didn’t want to hurt Daniela. “Please continue.” He began to change.
He cared more about appearances, about status. One day he called me and told me I didn’t have the profile to be a partner in a large firm. He offered me money to leave the company. And you accepted? Yes, because I saw he was ashamed of me and I didn’t want to burden his life, but we agreed that we would always be friends, that he would never forget where he came from. Daniela nodded, a lump in her throat. The story explained many things about her father that she had never understood.
When was the last time you saw each other? Five years ago. I was working on a construction site and learned the building belonged to you. I went to your office, but the secretary said you were too busy to see me. I tried a few more times, but it was always the same response. I’m so sorry, Mr. Manuel. You don’t have to apologize, miss. I understand your life got complicated. But when I saw you there in bed, all that pride and status didn’t mean anything, did it?
That night, Daniela couldn’t sleep. She thought about Manuel’s story and how little she knew about her father’s past. She decided that the next day she would look for old company documents to try to better understand that period. The next morning, Manuel returned to the hospital carrying an old plastic bag. Daniela was already there, eager to see him. “I brought some things that might help,” Manuel said, taking an old, yellowed photo out of the bag. The photo showed two young men smiling in front of a building under construction.
One of them was clearly Rodrigo, much thinner and with dark hair. The other was Manuel, also young and radiant. “This was the first project we did together as partners,” Manuel explained. Look how happy her father was. Daniela studied the photo intently. She had never seen her father with such a genuinely happy expression. “Can I put this photo where he can see it?” Of course. Manuel placed the photo on the nightstand, tilted so that Rodrigo could see it if he opened his eyes.
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