Marco felt crushed.
It was as if his world collapsed. What would happen to his mother?
He walked toward the exit with tears in his eyes.
Suddenly, the elevator doors in the hallway opened.
Two bodyguards stepped out.
Between them was an elderly man.
He walked with a slight limp—but his posture was upright.
It was the same old man Marco had helped outside.
Mr. Salazar’s eyes widened.
He rushed forward and bowed deeply.
“Chairman! Good morning, Sir! I didn’t know you were here today—this wasn’t on the schedule…” Mr. Salazar stammered.
The old man ignored him.
His eyes were fixed on the young man about to leave.
“Son!” the old man called. “Wait a moment!”
Marco turned around.
“S-Sir?”
The old man walked up to Marco.
“Chairman?” Mr. Salazar exclaimed in shock. “You know this applicant? He arrived late! I was already having him removed for lack of discipline.”
The Chairman turned to Mr. Salazar.
The gentle face he had earlier now became firm and authoritative.
“Mr. Salazar,” the Chairman said in a deep voice, “he was late because he helped me stand up when I fell outside. While you—and many of our employees who passed by—did not even bother to look at me.”
Mr. Salazar turned pale.
He couldn’t say a word.
“We are looking for employees, correct?” the Chairman continued. “There are many intelligent people. Many fluent speakers. Many who arrive early. But it is very hard to find someone with a good heart.”
The Chairman placed a hand on Marco’s shoulder.
“Skills can be learned. Punctuality can be fixed. But character cannot be taught in a classroom.”
He looked at Marco and smiled.
“Marco, don’t leave. You’re hired.”
“W-what?” Marco asked, unable to believe it. “Really, Sir?”
“Yes. And not just as an ordinary staff member. I’m appointing you as my Executive Assistant. I want someone who knows how to notice those who fall.”
Tears streamed down Marco’s face.
“Thank you so much, Sir! Thank you!”
The Chairman then turned to Mr. Salazar, who was now trembling in shame.
“And you, Mr. Salazar—pack your things. In this company, we don’t need managers who only know how to look at their watches, but not at their fellow human beings.”
That day, Marco went home carrying good news for his mother—
And a lesson he would carry for the rest of his life:
That kindness, no matter how small, is never wasted—
And sometimes, it is the key to doors we thought were already closed.
That evening, Marco sat beside his mother’s hospital bed, holding her hand as he told her everything that had happened. For the first time in weeks, she smiled with relief instead of worry. The job meant her surgery would finally happen—and their long nights of fear were coming to an end.
At Apex Global Holdings, Marco began his work not just as an employee, but as a reminder to everyone in the building. People learned that day that résumés and schedules mattered—but humanity mattered more.
As for Marco, he never forgot that single choice on the sidewalk. He could have walked away. He could have chosen his own urgency over another person’s pain. But by stopping, by choosing kindness, he didn’t just save an old man from the ground—
He lifted his own life to a future he never imagined possible.