Maria sat at her desk, adjusting the car door panel with shaking hands. She couldn’t hear her coworkers chatting nearby. Her mind was elsewhere.

The paper in her pocket was heavy, almost breaking on her back.  What if they laugh at me?  she whispered to herself.

Maria was one of Tesla’s most diligent employees. Everyone loved her, but they didn’t know much about her. She was always quiet, always in the background. Maria worked and that was all they saw. What they didn’t see was how much money she was hiding.

Every day the machine creaked as another set of parts shifted into gear. Maria shuddered, her leg throbbing. She bit her lip to control her breathing. She couldn’t hide it anymore. She couldn’t pretend she was okay anymore.

He reached into his pocket and brushed his fingers over the folded note. It wasn’t much, just a plain piece of paper with a few scribbled letters, but it held the weight of a thousand secrets.  What would happen when he read it? Would he laugh, or dismiss me, or maybe ignore me entirely?

She felt a tightness in her chest. It was Eloisa Musk. She was writing to the map that she dreamed of Mars and built rockets.  Why would she care about a disabled factory worker like me?  Maria’s eyes scanned the room. No one was paying attention to her. Slowly, she got up from her seat and walked to the supervisor’s office.

She set the note aside on the desk. It was addressed to Eloi Musk himself. “  You’ll always see this,”  a voice in her head told her. Maria didn’t listen. She turned and walked back to her station, trying not to limp too visibly. But deep down, she sensed it: something had changed.

Maria couldn’t sleep that night. Every time she closed her eyes, the same thoughts kept running through her mind.  What did I do? She’ll always see it. What if someone reads it and laughs?  The note she’d left on her supervisor’s desk seemed like a mistake. It was foolish to think that Eloí Musk—the  Eloí  Musk—would care about a little factory worker like her.

The next morning, Maria headed to the factory. As usual, the chatter of her coworkers woke her, but she barely heard them. She focused on her steps, careful not to limp too visibly, praying that someone would notice her discomfort. She took her position in the assembly as if she were moving mechanically.

Then she heard it. “Maria,” her supervisor Greg called loudly from across the factory. Heads turned. Workers looked at her from their stations, watching her curiously. Maria froze, her heart pounding in her chest.  Had they gotten the memo? Was I in trouble?

Greg waved impatiently at her, his expression unreadable. Maria wiped her sweaty palms and stood up, each step feeling heavier than the last, her muscles threatening to swallow her up. “Come with me,” Greg said quietly.

When he reached her side, Maria followed, breathing heavily. The noise of the factory faded behind them as they walked through the halls, passing the supervisor’s offices. She frowned. This wasn’t the usual meeting place.  Where are we going?

Her feet stopped as Greg pushed open the door to a conference room. Maria gasped. There, sitting at the low table, was Elo Musk himself. He looked different than she imagined, less like the austere businessman she’d seen in interviews and more human. His eyes were focused, his expression soft but serious.

Maria couldn’t move. She felt as if the world had tilted beneath her feet.

“Maria,” Elop’s voice cut through her haze, “please sit down.”

She stumbled to the chair opposite him, barely able to look up. “I read your note,” Elop said, holding up the small, crumpled piece of paper. “Let’s talk about this.”

What was I going to say? What would happen next?

Maria sat frozen in her chair, staring at Eloisa Musk. Her presence seemed alien, as if she had entered someone else’s life. The crumpled note lay in her hands, a small, fragile piece of her heart exposed for him to see.

“I read your note, Maria,” Eloí repeated calmly, bringing her out of her daze. “You said they had called you to pay for your prosthetic leg. Why didn’t you tell them before?”

Her face sank as she looked down in shame. “I… I didn’t expect anyone to know. I was afraid they would see me differently, like I couldn’t do my job.”

Eloi tilted his head and frowned as he listened. “Have you been hiding this pain all this time?”

Maria felt awkward, her hands gripping the sides of her chair. The words stuck in her throat, but she forced them out. “I have an old prosthesis. It doesn’t fit me anymore. It’s outdated, worn out, and it hurts me every day.” She paused, her voice cracking. “But I didn’t want to be a burden.”

The room was silent for a moment. Eloï looked at her with something that wasn’t pity. It was admiration. “Maria,” he said, taking a small leap forward, “you’re not a burden. You’re strong. Most people would have been gone a long time ago, but you’re still here. That’s amazing.”

Maria blinked, tears threatening to spill over. She hadn’t heard words like that in years, maybe never.

Eloí said something that made her heart stop. “I want to help you. I’ve already started making arrangements.”

Maria’s head shot up. “What?”

“I called a specialist this morning. They are going to make you a custom-made, state-of-the-art prosthetic leg, something that fits perfectly and doesn’t cause you pain.”

She gasped and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

“But there is more,” Eloï said. “I heard about the difficulties you are facing at home. That is going to change too. My team is organizing renovations to make your life easier.”

Maria stared at him, dumbfounded. This was too much. How could this be real? Why was he doing all this? What did he see in her that no one else had?

“You don’t have to do this,” Maria whispered, her voice breaking.

Eloí smiled slightly. “No one should have to live with pain, especially someone as strong as you.”