The maid secretly dyed a pot of cheap rice yellow and called it “gold rice” so the four little boys would feel like princes… But the day the billionaire came home early and saw it, he froze—because the boys looked exactly like him, and that “gold rice” was the secret that kept them alive.

Alejandro staggered back, denial flaring into fury and grief.
“That’s impossible,” he choked out. “I buried them. I have death certificates. I have graves.”

Elena’s voice shook: “I’m telling you what’s real.”

Then she pulled a worn locket from beneath her uniform.
“If you don’t believe me… believe this.”

Alejandro recognized it instantly—it was Lucía’s. A unique piece from Italy. Inside was a tiny photo of him and Lucía, smiling. On the other side, engraved:
“For my four miracles.”

Alejandro’s legs finally gave. He dropped to his knees in his expensive suit, staring at the boys like he was seeing life return to a place he’d buried.

WHERE ELENA FOUND THEM
Alejandro forced the words out: “How?”

Elena told him the truth. Six months earlier, after work, she’d heard crying near dumpsters behind a restaurant. She found the four boys huddled together, weak and starving. She spent her entire week’s pay on a taxi and brought them to her small servant room inside the mansion—because she didn’t believe they would survive another night outside.

She admitted she’d fed them what she could afford—cheap rice colored yellow to make it feel “special.”
“If it looks like gold,” she said softly, “it gives them hope.”

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