Carmen didn’t have a simple answer. She only knew that, for the first time, she felt she was doing something truly important.
At three in the morning, Carmen woke up and went to Lucía’s room. It was empty. On the desk, a note: “Thank you, but I don’t belong in this beautiful world. I don’t want to cause you any problems.”
Desperate, Carmen searched the entire city. She put up posters, hired investigators, and spoke to the police. Five days later, she received a call: a little girl had been seen under the arcades of Atocha.
There she found Lucía, sick, dirty, trembling with fever. Carmen hugged her.
“I’ll never leave you again, little one. You are the most precious thing I’ve ever known.”
Lucía was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. Carmen didn’t move from her side. When she woke up, the little girl asked:
“Did she stay here the whole time?”
“Where else could she be?”
That’s when Carmen decided to adopt Lucía. The little girl cried with emotion. “Can I have a mom again?”
“I’ll be the best mom in the world to you.”
Six months later, the adoption was official. Carmen had founded the Lucía Vega Foundation for homeless children. Lucía attended a private school, but the ghosts of her past haunted her. One day, she came crying:
“A little girl said I was homeless. Maybe I don’t deserve this life.”
Carmen knelt down and replied:
“You’re not here because I bought you. You saved my life. Before you, I was rich but empty.”
On Lucía’s 13th birthday, Carmen made a surprising announcement: she was donating half of her estate to the foundation: one billion euros to help homeless children in Europe.
“True wealth isn’t money. It’s the love you give and receive. And I’ve received more love from you than I ever imagined.”
Three years later, Lucía, now 14, had become an ambassador for the foundation. At the opening of the 50th center, she told the cameras:
“Every child we help is a life changed.”
That night, they returned to the restaurant where it all began. Sitting at the same table, Lucía ordered Iberian ham.
“That night, it wasn’t me who asked for leftovers. It was fate that brought us together. You needed me as much as I needed you.”
Then, an eight-year-old girl approached, dirty and with frightened eyes.
“Excuse me, could I have some of your bread?”
