“Then why are we discussing your face?”
Mariana became a training and brand-consulting lead.
The first day she stood in front of twenty-six employees, she wore no scarf.
Her left cheek remained visibly scarred.
Her arm always would be.
She felt people notice.
Then she began speaking.
Within five minutes, they were taking notes.
Within twenty, they were laughing at one of her stories about a disastrous product launch.
By the end, nobody was staring anymore.
Months later, Casa Luminaria asked Mariana to appear in a campaign about women whose lives had changed unexpectedly.
She almost refused.
Then she saw the proposed photographs.
No heavy retouching.
No attempt to erase her scars.
Mariana touched the image with two fingers.
For years, beauty had been her profession.
After the fire, she had believed beauty had become something she used to possess.
Now she understood how small that definition had been.
She approved the photographs.
The campaign appeared in stores across Mexico City.
