My house had always been a haven of peace. A young family, a married couple, a two-year-old toddler, stable income, and Hanh, the new domestic worker who had only been with us for five months, a kind, hard-working person of few words.

My character is to be prudent. Choosing someone to come into the house is a task that requires care. Hanh was recommended by a prestigious agency, with her record and background. When I interviewed her, her voice was so soft that she seemed afraid to be heard. His eyes were always downcast. But I had the feeling that I could trust her.

From the day he arrived, my life became much easier. Hanh did his job perfectly: he would get up early to cook, do laundry, and help me with the child so I could go to work. He never went out, had no friends, and never used his phone outside of the permitted hours.

And then, one day, all that tranquility exploded for a single sentence.

 

1. THE HOUSEKEEPER ASKS TO LEAVE HER JOB – AND THE DOWNCAST LOOK THAT DISTURBED ME

 

It was raining that day and I got home from work a little late. Just as I put my bag down on the couch, Hanh walked out of the kitchen, scrunching his apron with his hands and his eyes red.

“I have something to tell you, ma’am…” – her voice trembled.

I got a little worried. Since he started working, he had never had an unusual expression.

“I… I would like to quit the job.”

I was stunned.

“What’s going on? I’ve raised your salary, your work is good, isn’t it?”

She shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“I… I’m pregnant.”

I was paralyzed. The two words, “I’m pregnant,” were like lightning.

I looked at her, remembering that for the past five months she had barely left the house. My husband went to work, I went to work, and only she was home all day.

The first thought hit me like terrible news.

¿It could be… my husband?

I felt my heart fall into an abyss.

I asked him, my voice trembling without being able to help it:

“Whose is he… baby, Hanh?”

She bowed her head, hugged her belly, and sobbed:

“The … I am sorry… Please don’t ask… just let me go…”

Crying, she backed up to her room and closed the door.

I felt everything darken before my eyes. Conflict, confusion, fear… everything swirled.

 

2. SUSPICION – AND MY HUSBAND’S STRANGE LOOK

 

That night, my husband came home from work. I tried to act normal, but my heart was burning.

He searched for Hanh all over the house:

“Where’s Hanh? Why didn’t you cook today?”

I stammered:

“She… has resigned.”

My husband frowned:

“Why is he resigning? The salary is good, the work is easy, no one has treated her badly.”

I watched his face, trying to find signs of evasion, of guilt. But, either because of the confusion or because of my excessive confidence in him, I saw nothing.

I said holding my breath:

“She said… that she is pregnant.”

My husband was silent. His face paled for an instant.

Just a second. But I saw it.

My heart shrank with pain.

“You… are you hiding something from me?” – I asked.

“Me?” – my husband frowned – “What do I have to do with it?”

His voice sounded a little rough. That made me feel even more insecure.

Was that attitude a sign?

Was he afraid of being discovered?

Suspicion poisoned every cell.

 

3. THAT NIGHT – AND THE PAPER THAT TORE ME APART

 

Hanh picked up his things very quickly. I tried to hold her back to ask her more, but as soon as she saw me, she moved away scared.

At ten o’clock at night, he left the house dragging his suitcase, leaving in a hurry, as if fleeing.

I stared at his diffuse silhouette in the rain-reflecting light, with a bitterness in my soul.

After she left, I opened her room to clean it.

That’s when I saw the corner of a piece of paper sticking out from under the mattress.

I took it out.

It was an ultrasound.

Underneath the ultrasound was a folded piece of paper.

I opened it.

The trembling lyrics read:

“I’m sorry. I don’t want to ruin his life. I beg you to let me go quietly… If no one knows, it will be better for everyone.”

I felt devastated.

“I don’t want to ruin your life”?

“Nobody knows”?

My god…

I fell on the edge of the bed.

I only had one name in my head: my husband.

 

4. THE LAST ARGUMENT BEFORE HE LEFT THE HOUSE

 

I took the papers to the living room.

My husband was lying there staring at his phone.

I threw them the table:

“Give me an explanation!”

He was startled, picked them up, looking at them briefly.

“What is this?”

“Are you still asking? She’s pregnant! In the last five months he has not left the house! How do you explain it?”

He stood up suddenly:

“Are you suggesting… that I was with her?”

I screamed in pain:

“Tell me it’s not true!”

He looked at me, his eyes bloodshot, and slammed his fist on the table.

“What’s wrong with you? The last five months I’ve gone to work in the morning and come back in the evening, she stayed home with the child! Do you think I’m that kind of person?”

“But she doesn’t say who the baby’s father is!”

“Do you think a normal person would tell their employer that?”

I drowned:

“But she wrote clearly… that I didn’t want to ruin my life!”

My husband clutched his head:

“My God… do you trust her more than me?”

“Tell me what you hide. I can take it.”

My husband was paralyzed for a moment. Then he sighed heavily, took his jacket.

“It’s better for me to leave now. We’ll talk when you’re calmer.”

“Where are you going to go?”

“Anywhere. Away from this house for a while.”

He slammed the door shut.

I collapsed.

 

5. NEAR DAWN – A MESSAGE FROM SOMEONE UNEXPECTED

 

I stayed hugging my son all night. Unable to sleep or cry.

Around 3 in the morning, I received a message from an unknown number:

“Madam… I’m Hanh. I am sorry. But I cannot allow him to continue to misunderstand. The baby’s father… he is not her husband.”

I jumped up.

I replied immediately:

“So who is it? Tell me clearly!”

There was no response.

I trembled so much that I dropped my phone.

An hour later, she sent another message:

“Her husband is very good. I don’t dare look him in the face. I beg you… that he does not unjustly suspect him.”

I wrote to him frantically:

“To suspect unfairly? So what is the truth?”

He did not answer any more.

I waited desperately.

 

6. THE UNEXPECTED TRUTH IS REVEALED

 

The next morning, I told the story to the owner of the employee agency, hoping to find some clues.

After listening, she was silent for a moment, and then made a phone call.

After a few minutes, he looked at me:

“Prepare… your mind.”

“Who is it?” – I asked, my heart pounding.

She took a deep breath:

“Anh Dũng, the driver… next door.”

I was petrified.

She told me:

“Hanh had a boyfriend who was Anh Dũng, the driver of the family next door. They met when Hanh was working as a clerk for them five months earlier. They had a secret relationship, because that family was very strict and forbade its staff to have personal relationships. When they were discovered, the owner of that house fired Anh Dũng, and Hanh, fearing the consequences, asked to work in his house.

I felt like my heart was going to burst.

“Hanh hid it for fear that he would misunderstand it…” Fear of losing one’s job… Fear that people would talk about a pregnant domestic worker…

“And the note he left—” it was because he considers you a very good person… and I was afraid I was causing a problem in your family…

I slumped in my chair.

All my suspicions.

All the words that hurt my husband.

All angry looks…

Everything stuck in my heart again.

She had unjustly accused the man she called my husband.

 

7. I WENT TO LOOK FOR MY HUSBAND – AND THE HUG IN THE RAIN

 

That night it rained cats and dogs. I put on a raincoat, took my motorcycle and went out to look for my husband.

I know he usually goes to the lakeshore when he’s sad.

The road was flooded by rain. The rain hit my face, but I didn’t feel cold. I just felt my heart burning.

As I reached the lake, I saw a figure sitting silently, knees tucked together, staring at the dark surface of the water in the rain.

My husband.

I ran to him and hugged him from behind.

He was startled:

“What are you doing here?”

I burst into tears:

“I ask your forgiveness… I was wrong… I was really wrong…”

I told him everything. I told him the truth about Hanh, about the driver next door. Tears streamed down my face as I spoke.

My husband listened and his eyes reddened:

“Do you know how much it hurt? That my own wife – the person I love the most – would think that I am that kind of person?”

Agaché la cabeza:

“I’m sorry… I was too scared… I lost my mind…”

He sighed, drawing my head to his chest:

“I’m angry… but I’ve never stopped loving you.”

The rain fell incessantly.

My husband and I hugged each other on the lonely shore of the lake.

In my eyes, he wasn’t just my husband. It was the haven of peace that I almost lost.

 

8. “DON’T LET SUSPICION KILL YOUR MARRIAGE”

 

A week later, Hanh sent me a message:

“Ma’am, I’m fine. Anh Dũng has taken me back to our village. We will get married. I thank him for not saying goodbye to me or despising me. Take care of your husband. It’s very good. Don’t let suspicion kill your marriage.”

I read each word with a lump in my throat.

 

9. CONCLUSION – THE LESSON OF A STORM

 

From that day on, I understood one thing:

The person we love sometimes doesn’t need us to be perfect, they just need us to trust them.

In the five months we lived together, I understood that the housekeeper was a kind person who had suffered a lot. I also understood how easy it is for me to get carried away by emotions to the point of hurting the person who most deserves my trust.

That night, my husband took our son to the room and said:

“Wife. From now on, if something happens… Ask me first. Don’t stay silent and think nonsense. I wouldn’t stand a second time.”

I hugged him from behind and whispered:

“I know. And… Thank you for not abandoning me.”

Under the soft light of the night lamp, my family was at peace again, after a great storm that taught me a lesson for life.