10/10/2025
The widowed millionaire's twin sons were starved for food until the new nanny did something unexpected and changed their lives forever. When Mariana gets out of the car in front of Ricardo Navarro's enormous mansion, she feels a tingling of nerves and excitement. It's not like any other house; it's a house filled with silence.
Upon entering, she sees a long hallway, large paintings, and high windows that let in light without warmth. The staff barely respond with a brief hello, as if everything were normal, but she senses something odd in the air. Then Ricardo appears, a tall, well-dressed man with a slightly furrowed brow.
He doesn't offer her his hand; he just says good morning, and that's enough to understand that he's not in the mood for small talk. She introduces him to the children, Emiliano and Sofía, 8-year-old twins. He points them out without emotion and tells them she'll be their nanny. He sees them up close, he with a blank stare, she with her arms crossed, both dressed the same, as if they were mirrors. Mariana gives them a shy smile and asks what they want for dinner. The children look at her and shrug. The girl says nothing.
The boy repeats the word nothing. Mariana's heart sinks a little because it means her job won't be what she imagined. Ricardo watches her and nods approvingly, but without emotion. Then he takes them all on a tour of the house. They enter the dining room, and she sees fine silverware and a huge table with no food on it.
Then they go to the living room with comfortable-looking armchairs, but no one seems to have sat there for a while. In the garden, there are old toys and a round table for eating outside that hasn't been used either. The children walk past without even looking.
The flour for the cookies Mariana was planning two seconds ago slips from her mind. As they walk, the nanny notes photos on the shelves. Ricardo and his wife, Lucía, together. Smiling, hugging each other. The children are just like Lucía, especially Sofía. Mariana feels a lump in her throat. When they finish the tour, Ricardo tells her he'll start at 8 tomorrow and leaves her alone with the children. He's silent, alone with them for the first time.
He speaks to them again in a soft voice. He asks how they're doing. Nothing, you only hear the echo of his voice in the hallway. That confirms to her that it's not just a matter of hunger. Something happened at home. She leaves the room and sees Ricardo sitting in his office in the distance. He doesn't look at her, but she feels his gaze. She lowers her head for a moment and continues toward the kitchen, thinking about what to do to get those children to eat.
Outside, as the sun sets, shadows grow across the mansion. And Mariana wonders if those threads of silence can be broken with her. She stares for a moment at a cookie someone left unfinished on the counter. She brings it to her mouth and tastes it tasteless, but there's a spark of complicity in the simple gesture. She closes her eyes.
This is just beginning. Mariana changed her clothes quickly. No uniform, no strict nurse or teacher. She chose comfortable jeans and a light-colored blouse. She tied her hair back and went down to the kitchen. There she met Chayo, the cook, a serious woman in her 60s with a deep voice.
Mariana introduced herself with a smile, but Chayo barely looked up from the vegetables she was chopping.
"Why are you dressing up so much? The kids here don't even notice you, and the man even less so," she blurted out without a filter. Mariana just laughed softly. She didn't like the tone, but decided not to get involved. While Chayo finished the meal, Mariana asked how the children liked their food.
"They liked rice with plantain, but that was when Lucía was alive," Chayo said without pausing. Mariana noticed that they liked it as if they didn't like anything anymore.
"And what did you eat yesterday?" she asked.
Nothing. Mariana remained silent. Chayo didn't seem worried. That's how they are. They don't eat. Since their mother died, no one has made them eat.
