I gave 100 euros to a young woman who was asking for milk for her baby; a month later I found out who she really was.

He took my hand.

—You made me look like an idiot.

—No, Alberto.

I smiled.

—You did that part by yourself.

She started laughing.

And I think that was the real lesson of it all.

The twist in our story was not discovering that the poor young woman was actually the daughter of a businessman.

Because that could teach exactly the wrong lesson.

Lucía did not deserve respect because she happened to be the daughter of the man whose company could decide my husband’s financial future.

She deserved it too when she looked like a penniless stranger holding a  baby in front of a supermarket shelf.

If his father had been unemployed, Alberto’s cruelty would have been just as wrong.

If Lucia had never returned to work.