SURPRISE MY PREGNANT WIFE—BUT MY BLOOD COLLAPSED WHEN I SAW HER CRAWLING ON THE FLOOR TO CLEAN WHILE MY EMPLOYEES WERE EATING AND LAUGHING.
I am Adrian. I am the CEO of a large company. Due to the heavy workload, I am often away from home. The only people with my wife Mia in our large mansion are the five maids and my trusted Butler, Manang Tess.

Mia is pregnant with our first child. She is eight months along. Her pregnancy is delicate, so I have instructed all the staff to take good care of her. I love Mia very much. She comes from a simple family, and I don’t want her to feel like she is struggling in the mansion.

“Manang Tess, don’t make Mia work, okay? Give her everything she wants. Your bonus will be double this month as long as my husband is well,” I instructed before leaving for Japan for a business trip.

“Yes, Sir Adrian! We will take care of Ma’am. We treat her like a queen here,” Manang Tess replied with a smile.

I felt relieved. I thought my husband was in good hands.

I was supposed to be in Japan for three days, but because of my diligence, I finished the deal in one day. I decided to go home immediately to surprise Mia. I bought her favorite cheesecake and baby supplies.

I didn’t ask the driver to pick me up. I took a taxi home so no one would know I was coming. I wanted to see Mia’s smile if she saw me earlier.

It was three in the afternoon when I arrived at the mansion.

The house was quiet.

I slowly opened the door. I expected to see Mia resting on the sofa while the maids fanned her.

But a different scene dawned on me. A scene that broke my heart and killed the once generous Adrian.

In the middle of the large living room… I saw my pregnant wife on her knees and crawling on the floor.

She was holding a rag. She had a hard time bending over because of her big belly. She was sweating, her clothes were wrinkled, and she looked very tired. She was wiping the spilled juice on the expensive carpet.

And the maids?

They were all there on the sofa. Sitting. Watching TV. Eating snacks that I had bought for the pantry.

I saw Manang Tess lightly kick Mia’s foot.

“Hurry up, Mia!” Manang Tess scolded while chewing. “You’re so slow! Clean that up before Sir Adrian comes tomorrow! If we see any dirt, we’ll report you for being lazy and neglecting the house!”

“Yes… I’m sorry… my back just really hurts…” Mia cried as she tried to scrub the floor.

“You’re acting! Just because you’re the boss’s wife, you think you’re a lady? You’ve come from hardship too! Don’t act like it! Cook us some snacks after that!” another maid added while laughing.

My vision went dark. My blood rushed to my head. I felt my whole body tremble with anger.

I dropped the paper bags I was carrying.

BLAG!

The gifts fell to the floor. The sound echoed throughout the living room.

The maids and Manang Tess turned around at the same time.

When they saw me standing at the door, their eyes widened. They turned pale like corpses. They stood up on the sofa and dropped their food.

“S-Sir Adrian?!” Manang Tess stammered. Her voice barely came out.

I didn’t speak right away. The previously calm Adrian disappeared at that moment.

I quickly walked over to Mia. I picked her up from the floor. She was shivering, covered in cold sweat, and hugged me tightly.

“Adrian… you’re here…” she sobbed, like a child who had found an ally.

I faced the employees. My eyes were filled with hatred.

“S-Sir… we were just playing… it was just a joke… we were just teaching Ma’am to exercise…” an assistant excused, her voice trembling.

“A joke?” I asked. My voice was low but scary.

I approached Manang Tess.

“I pay you triple the minimum wage. I give you SSS, PhilHealth, and a bonus that is bigger than the salaries of professionals. I treat you like family. Then you make my husband a slave in my own house while you indulge yourself?!”

“Sir, I’m sorry! Don’t fire us! We have a family!” Manang Tess knelt down, crying.

“Do you have a family? My husband, I have a family too—me and our son. And you almost ruined my son because of your laziness!”

I took out my cellphone and called the Head of Security and my Lawyer. Loudspeaker.

“Attorney, come here. Right now. I want to file cases of Grave Coercion, emotional abuse, and violation of labor trust against my staff.”

The maids heard this and cried even more.

I faced them.

“For five years, I have been a kind boss. But today, you have destroyed my trust. You destroyed my kindness.”

“I want all of you out of my house right now. Get out.”

“S-Sir, our separation pay…” one of them demanded.

I looked at him with a frown.

“Separation pay? You are terminated for cause. Because of what you did, you will not get a single peso. And don’t worry, you will not get away.”

I approached Manang Tess’s face.

“I will make sure you are blacklisted in all agencies in the Philippines. I will use my connections. No one will hire you even as a dishwasher. I will let everyone know what kind of employee you are.”

Security arrived. They were escorted out of the gate with nothing but the clothes they were wearing. I sent the rest of their belongings to charity, because I didn’t want to see any trace of them in my house.

I took Mia to the hospital to be checked up. Thank God, the baby is okay, but Mia was traumatized. I learned that they had been doing this for a long time when I was away—they were threatening Mia that I would divorce her if she reported them. Because Mia was kind and provincial, she believed it and was scared.

From then on, I never hired a stay-in staff who didn’t go through a rigorous background check and psychological evaluation. And most of all, I never left Mia’s side until she gave birth.

The kind and trusting Adrian died that afternoon. In his place was a father willing to do anything and beat anyone to protect his mother and son.