He thought his employee was going to a warm house, but he found her sleeping on a bench in the rain. When he saw the three pale faces she was hiding under her coat, his life of luxury crumbled in an instant.

Livia gasped for breath, an agonized sound.

“I couldn’t leave them in the system, Mr. Caio. I couldn’t let them be separated. They’re my blood. But… my landlord kicked me out. He said three crying babies were too much trouble. He gave me until today to leave. I’ve been wandering… I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to bother you. I know you don’t like trouble.”

Caio felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. “He doesn’t like problems.” That phrase echoed in his head. Was that the image he projected? A man so cold that his employee preferred to sleep on the street with three newborns in the rain rather than ask him for help?

Don Geraldo, who had been listening in silence, stepped forward. His eyes, which had witnessed so much hardship in life, were filled with tears. He took off his wool coat and, with infinite tenderness, placed it over Livia’s shoulders and the babies’.

“No one should have to go through this. No one,” Geraldo said firmly. He looked at the empty bottles in the bag. “Have they eaten?”

Livia lowered her gaze, ashamed.

—Not since this morning. I ran out of milk.

The cry of one of the babies grew sharper. It was a cry of hunger, a primal sound that tore at the soul.