I wanted to fire the children’s nanny, but when I returned home I saw something that made Renata’s smile disappear at once

When I entered the kitchen, Daniela was carrying both of my children tied to her body, while my fiancée was holding the case of my lost watch in her hand.

One-year-old Emiliano was sleeping on her chest, while Nicolás was fastened to her back with a wrapped cloth and was playing with Daniela’s braid with his fingers. The smell of warm milk and cinnamon hung in the kitchen. The small wooden bird hanging on the wall tinkled every few seconds—it was Sofia’s favorite toy, which I had attached beside their beds after the children were born.

“What does this mean?” I asked.

Daniela jumped.

“They both needed me at the same time, Mr. Alvaro.”

“And the watch?”

Renata raised the case.

“Exactly what I told you. It was found in Daniela’s bag.”

I looked at the bag. It stood by the floor, open, as if someone had deliberately left it that way. Three weeks earlier, Daniela had come from Celaya and started working as a nanny in my house. Before her, five nannies had not lasted. They all said the same thing—Renata treated the children too strictly.

But all I saw was that my fiancée was establishing order.

That morning Renata told me the watch was worth two hundred and eighty thousand pesos and that Daniela was the only new person in the house.

“We don’t need a scandal before the wedding,” she told me over the phone. “Fire her and that’s it.”

I was going to Monterrey. I had to pay eight hundred and sixty million pesos for the purchase of a hotel, and I would need the contracts folder at the airport. But on the way I remembered that I had left it in the office. I returned.

And for the first time I saw how calm my children were.

Sofia died a few days after giving birth. Since then, I could not look at Emiliano’s and Nicolás’s faces for long. They had Sofia’s eyes. I ran to work as if their mother could be brought back with money.

Renata appeared nine months later. She was elegant, polite, and headed the public-relations department of my group. Little by little, she began deciding when the children should eat, who could hold them, and who could not.

“Don’t let them get used to being held,” she often repeated.

Daniela only smiled when I repeated those words.

“Being held does not spoil a child, Mr. Alvaro. Fear does.”

That evening I touched Emiliano’s forehead and froze. It was hot.

“Does he have a fever?”

Daniela bit her lip and looked toward the hallway.

“They have been sleeping strangely for several days. Sometimes so deeply that I have difficulty waking them.”

“What are you saying?” I asked.

Renata appeared behind me.

“Are you starting again?” she addressed Daniela sternly.

Daniela grew pale.

“I am only saying what I saw.”

“You see nothing. You steal things.”

At that moment Nicolás struck the little wooden bird with his hand. The toy made a strange, hoarse sound and stopped.

I looked at both women.

I realized that that night I was no longer deciding whether to fire the nanny. I had to decide whom I would believe.

Daniela stepped forward, took a small dark bottle from the pocket of her apron, and said quietly:

“I found this in your children’s room. But before you open it, you must first look at the folder you left in the office…”

Daniela’s hand was clenched around the bottle so tightly that her fingers had turned white.

“What is this?” I asked.

“I don’t know exactly. I only know that it has no prescription.”

Renata stepped forward.

“Alvaro, are you going to believe this woman? She is desperate. She needs money for her father’s operation.”

“And why are you afraid of the bottle?” I asked.

For the first time Renata could not answer me.

Daniela put the bottle on the table. A transparent liquid moved inside it. Beside it lay a folded piece of paper.

“I found this paper in Nicolás’s stroller,” she said. “My name was written on it. As if I were the one giving them the medicine.”

A chill descended into my heart.

“Where is my folder?” I asked.

I ran toward the office. I found the door open. The contracts were arranged on the desk, but one drawer below was pulled out. Daniela followed behind me, while Renata quietly spoke to someone on the phone.

“Did you call the police?” I turned around.

“I asked them to send protection for you,” she replied.

The folder was in the drawer. Under it I saw a small memory card.

“This wasn’t here.”

Daniela said in a low voice:

“Because I did not leave it here this morning. She did.”

Renata’s face changed.

I reached for the card, but then the sound of a car came from the gate of the house. Someone knocked on the door three times.

Daniela looked me in the eyes.

“If you open the door now, you may never see the children again…”

They knocked on the door again. This time more strongly.

Renata smiled at me immediately, but I saw fear in her eyes.

“It is probably a security guard,” she said.

“No one called anyone,” I answered.

Daniela moved the children into the living room and carefully laid them on the sofa. Emiliano was holding the little wooden bird that I had brought from the kitchen. Its metal tongue tinkled faintly with every movement.

Attorney Miguel Salgado was standing at the door. With him was a woman in a white coat and carrying a black bag.

“Mr. Cárdenas, this is Dr. Lucía Montes,” Miguel said. “Daniela called me this morning.”

Renata became furious.

“You entered my house without permission?”

“This is my house,” I said.

Miguel opened the folder.

“And this is the expert’s preliminary result. A powerful sedative was found in the bottle. The dose is dangerous for a child.”

Renata stepped back.

“This is nonsense.”

The doctor looked at her calmly.

“The blood tests of both children show traces of the same substance. In a small dose, but received repeatedly.”

I clung to the sofa.

“Who gave it to them?”

Daniela took a phone out of her bag.

“I wanted Mr. Alvaro to understand this himself before hearing it.”

She turned on the recording.

Renata’s voice was heard. Clearly. Nearby.

“If they continue crying, two more drops. Alvaro will think again that the nanny is useless.”

Then a man’s voice was heard:

“Should we put the watch in her bag?”

“Definitely. This house must be in my hands before the wedding.”

Renata’s face became gray.

“It is edited!” she shouted.

I took the phone from Daniela.

“Where did you record this?”

“In the children’s room, inside the wooden bird. Sofia’s mother told me never to take that toy away. I hid a small recorder inside it when Renata threatened me.”

“Why did she threaten you?”

Daniela lowered her eyes.

“Because I found out that she had not told you: by forging your signature, she transferred two of the company’s accounts to another firm. She intended to declare you a negligent father and obtain custody after the wedding.”

Miguel handed me another document. My signature was on it, but I had never signed it.

Renata took out her phone.

“If you spread this, you will not see the children again, Alvaro. I already have everything ready.”

At that moment Miguel’s phone rang. He listened, then his face changed.

“Mr. Cárdenas, the bank is calling me. Another transfer has been made. This time the money went directly from the children’s trust.”

Renata stopped shouting for the first time.

And I realized that her most dangerous move had not yet been made…