I Came Home Early to Surprise My Pregnant Wife… But Found Her Kneeling on the Floor, Begging and Scrubbing Herself.H

I came home early to surprise my pregnant wife… but when I walked in, I saw her on her knees, crying and scrubbing her skin under the helpless gaze of others in the house, and the truth behind it shattered my heart, my name is David Carter, I’m 32 years old, and I’m a manager at a large bank, because of promotions I’ve been working overtime and traveling frequently, to make up for the time I couldn’t give my wife Emma, who is 7 months pregnant with our first child, I hired a highly recommended and expensive housemaid named Lora, Emma is an orphan, she has no family besides me, she’s kind, quiet, and never asks for anything except my time, loving her deeply I wanted to make sure she wouldn’t be exhausted by housework, so I left her in Lora’s care along with a generous weekly allowance for her needs, one Friday afternoon my last meeting was suddenly canceled, overjoyed I bought a big bouquet of roses and some new baby clothes, I wanted to surprise Emma, when I got home I noticed the door was slightly open, I stepped in quietly determined to surprise her, but what I saw in the living room made my blood run cold, the flowers slipped from my hands but no one noticed because my wife was crying, in the middle of the room Emma was on her knees, seven months pregnant she could barely support her swollen belly, her face pressed to the floor soaked in dirty water with the sickening smell of mop residue, she cried uncontrollably as she scrubbed her arms and legs with a rough cloth until her skin turned red almost bleeding, “Yes… I’m scrubbing… I’ll clean myself…” Emma begged, looking terrified and disgusted with herself, in front of her my housemaid Lora sat comfortably in my favorite chair lounging and watching TV while enjoying the imported fruits I had bought for Emma, “Hurry up! You’re so filthy!” Lora snapped harshly, “Look how dark your skin has become! You’re useless! No wonder your husband works late—who would want to come home to this? You have no value! If you don’t listen to me I’ll tell David you’re crazy and have you locked away!” “N-No… please have mercy… don’t tell David… I don’t want him to worry about me… I’ll clean myself… I’ll beg him not to leave me…” my wife cried through her tears continuing to scrub her skin with the dirty water, I froze at the doorway my mind unable to process what I was seeing, for a moment I questioned whether this was real, whether the woman trembling on the floor was truly my Emma, my Emma who used to smile so gently every time I came home, my Emma who would wait up for me no matter how late I worked, and now she was broken reduced to this, a surge of rage flooded through me so violently that my hands began to shake, “Lora,” my voice cut through the room like a blade, everything stopped, Emma flinched at the sound of my voice her entire body stiffening as if she had just heard a ghost, slowly hesitantly she lifted her head, when her tear-filled eyes met mine they widened in shock and then fear, not relief, fear, that hurt more than anything else, Lora jolted upright from the chair the smug expression on her face vanishing instantly replaced by panic, “S-Sir David! You’re home early—” “What is this?” I interrupted my voice low dangerously calm, no one spoke, I stepped forward my shoes echoing against the floor, the smell of dirty water hit me harder now mixed with something metallic, blood, my gaze dropped to Emma’s hands, her skin was raw reddened and in some places slightly torn, my chest tightened painfully, “Emma…” I said softly kneeling down in front of her, she immediately shook her head backing away slightly despite her weak condition, “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… I’ll clean up… please don’t be angry…” angry? she thought I was angry at her, something inside me shattered completely, “No, no… Emma look at me,” I said my voice trembling, I reached out but stopped halfway afraid even my touch might scare her more, “What happened to you?” her lips quivered but no words came out, she glanced nervously toward Lora, that single glance told me everything, slowly I stood up, the calm I had been forcing myself to maintain disappeared, “Lora,” I said again turning toward her, “Explain. Now.” she swallowed hard trying to regain her composure, “Sir… your wife… she hasn’t been taking care of herself, she’s been unhygienic, I was only teaching her—” “Teaching her?” I repeated my voice rising, “By making a pregnant woman kneel on the floor and scrub herself with dirty water?” “It’s for her own good!” Lora insisted quickly, “She doesn’t understand basic hygiene, I had to be strict—” “Enough!” the word exploded out of me, Lora fell silent, “You were hired to take care of her,” I said each word heavy with anger, “Not to torture her, not to humiliate her,” “I-I never—” “Don’t lie to me!” I snapped, “I heard everything,” the room fell into suffocating silence, Emma began to cry again softly as if she was trying not to be noticed, that broke me even further, I turned back to her immediately kneeling beside her despite the dirty water soaking into my pants, gently carefully I placed my hand over hers, she flinched, “It’s me,” I whispered, “You’re safe, I’m here,” for a few seconds she remained tense, then slowly she looked at me again, “David…” she whispered weakly, “Yes,” I said forcing a small smile despite the storm inside me, “I’m here,” tears streamed down her face, “I didn’t want you to worry… she said… she said you would leave me if I caused trouble…” my heart clenched so tightly it hurt to breathe, “I would never leave you,” I said firmly, “Never. Do you hear me?” she nodded slightly but the doubt in her eyes was still there, I turned my head slowly toward Lora, “You’re fired,” I said coldly, “Get out,” her eyes widened, “Sir please! You don’t understand—” “Get. Out.” this time my voice left no room for argument, she hesitated then quickly grabbed her things rushing toward the door, before leaving she turned back bitterly, “You’ll regret this,” she muttered, the door slammed shut, silence filled the house once more but it was different now, I exhaled deeply then focused entirely on Emma, “Can you stand?” I asked gently, she shook her head weakly, “Okay,” I said softly, “That’s okay,” carefully I lifted her into my arms, she was lighter than I remembered, far too light, as I carried her she clutched my shirt, “I’m sorry…” she murmured again, “You don’t have to apologize,” I said my voice breaking, “You did nothing wrong,” I brought her to the bathroom and gently helped her sit, turning on warm water and taking a clean towel, “I’m going to help you clean up,” I said, she hesitated, “I can do it…” “I know,” I said softly, “But let me take care of you this time,” she nodded, I carefully cleaned her wounds each wince cutting into me, “How long?” I asked quietly, she hesitated, “Since your last trip…” nearly three weeks, guilt crushed me, “I’m sorry,” I whispered, “Nothing is more important than you,” when I finished I wrapped her gently and carried her to bed, tucking her in, holding her hand, “Rest,” I said softly, “I’m not going anywhere,” for the first time she gave a faint fragile smile, “…Okay,” and within minutes she fell asleep, I stayed there watching her, and in that moment I made a silent promise… never again.