Minutes later, his assistant arrived with paperwork.

“I’m funding your education,” Victor said. “Private school. Language mentors. Everything you need.”

Lucas blinked. “Sir… my mom—”

“She won’t have to clean another office,” Victor said firmly.

Tears filled his mother’s eyes.

“But there’s more,” Victor added, sliding a card across the table.

“I run an international foundation that negotiates peace treaties, humanitarian agreements—things most people never see. We need minds like yours.”

Lucas stared at the card, hands trembling.

“I don’t want you to work for me,” Victor said quietly. “I want you to outgrow me.”

Lucas smiled—small, shy, and genuine.

Years later, headlines would read:

“Youngest Polyglot Negotiator Appointed to Global Council.”

But Victor would remember him differently.

Not as the boy who spoke five languages—

But as the one who taught a room full of powerful adults a language they had forgotten.

Humility.