Unlike other employees at the hotel, Heather didn’t smile when she walked into the premises, nor did she greet her colleagues and the doorman. Instead, she shuddered every time she crossed the hotel’s front door, afraid of the lies deep in her heart.

Six months ago, Heather’s entire world had changed. She had gone from being a frivolous woman to a responsible adult, struggling to support herself and her baby. Heather was pregnant, and none of the employees at the hotel knew that.

When she first joined the job, she had read the contract twice, and her hands trembled as she read the terms and conditions. “Single mothers are not qualified for the position.”

Heather was very much a single mama-to-be and jobless and heartbroken. She had to drop out of college after her boyfriend walked out on her, claiming he wasn’t ready to become a father.

To Heather, it had seemed like something inside her had died that day. But she had delicately caressed her belly, where the little life was growing, and said, “Mumma’s not leaving you, baby. No matter what, we will fight. I will fight.”

Heather had always been like that. A loving and caring woman who wanted a BIG family. But fate had other plans, and the man she loved had broken her trust and dreams.

If only fate had been kinder, Heather could have at least sought a relative’s help to care for her baby. But unfortunately, she was an orphan, with nobody in this world to hug her and console her and tell her that it was all going to be OK, that her baby would be OK.

So when Heather realized she had to deal with her problems on her own, she dropped out of college and began looking for a job. A young woman with no degree and no work experience was who she was, so she struggled a lot. But then she came across an opening at The Seaside Paradiso.

Our hatred and resentment destroy our families and us.

Heather could never forget that day. It was a bright, sunny day, and birds were merrily chirping in the morning sky. Nothing seemed wrong with the outside world. But Heather felt like her existence was becoming bleak and uncertain, and pointless.

She had received her fifth rejection letter that morning, and she didn’t feel she had the strength to keep going. Then somehow, after crying for hours, she stumbled upon a job opening for a maid at the luxury hotel – The Seaside Paradiso.

“They will never hire me,” she had thought, filling out the job application in tears. “I won’t be able to give my baby a good life. I failed at everything!”

That’s how depressed Heather had been when she applied for the job at the hotel, but the moment she checked her email two weeks later changed everything.

“Congratulations on your selection!” the mail read.

Heather had cried and laughed and cried again when she was miraculously offered the position. Things were changing and becoming better, she had thought.

Then on her first day at the hotel, she was asked to sign the contract of employment, and her face changed colors when she read that single mothers were not allowed for the role.

“That’s a weird clause, don’t you think so?” she smiled nervously at the woman who was also hired for the job.

“I’ve heard the boss hates single mothers,” the woman said with a silly smile. “Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of babies either… Turns out he wants his hotel to have peace and quiet, and he wants to avoid the whole ‘single mother’ mess,” she said, making quotes with her fingers.

‘Single mother mess’ was a very rude term to use, Heather thought. At one point, she hesitated to sign the contract and wanted to turn around and leave. But she had responsibilities now, and previously, she had not been able to get a job anywhere else.

So Heather hid the truth from everyone and became a maid at The Seaside Paradiso. She took a risk by joining the job but didn’t have a choice.

She lied about the morning sickness during her pregnancy as exhaustion and stress. And when her baby bump became more conspicuous, she began wearing baggy clothes and a coat over her uniform. One day, she fainted while cleaning a room, but luckily, she managed to cover it up with the excuse that she’d skipped breakfast.

But lies have a way of getting out, and Heather soon found herself in hot water. She had just left a suite after cleaning it and wasn’t wearing her overcoat that day. As she drew the trolley outside and turned around, she froze in place at the sight of the man behind her.

“Mr. Faulkner? Have a good… good day!” she wished her boss as she hurriedly pulled the cleaning trolley in front of her. But Heather knew it was too late.

“Are you pregnant?” Mr. Faulkner asked angrily, his gaze fixed on the baby bump. “How long has this been going on? Jesus! How were you hired?”

“No, no, it’s not what you think, please!” Heather begged. “I can explain!”

“In my office in ten minutes!” he fumed. “And oh, don’t expect me to keep you here any longer. But I do want to know how you pulled this con off! This is absolutely crazy!”

Heather couldn’t keep her tears at bay. She couldn’t believe her secret was out and that she would lose her job now.

Shivering in anxiety, Heather walked into Mr. Faulkner’s office, and his first words were: “You’re fired! But, certainly, I deserve to know how long you’ve been taking the pay unlawfully by breaching the contract.”

“I’m sorry,” Heather said quietly. “I didn’t intend to… I really shouldn’t have done it. In some ways, I felt compelled.”

“Look, I don’t need your excuses, OK? I asked you a question, and you can leave if you don’t have the answer. The exit is directly behind you.”

Heather couldn’t utter a word and stood still, a stinging pain growing in her baby bump.

“What? Are you going to accuse me of being cruel now because I’m firing someone who was illegally working at my hotel?” he asked.

“Sorry,” she said. “Please don’t fire me. I needed the job for—”

“Now that’s the whole reason I don’t like women, you know?” He interrupted her. “Why do you all have to be the same? Lying? Shedding tears? Deceitful? And oh god! You had the audacity to work under my nose by violating established procedures? Where do you get the guts… Ms. Heather?” he remarked sarcastically, looking at her name badge.

“I didn’t mean to, Mr. Faulkner,” she said softly. “I really had to get the job and—”

“All right then,” he cut her off again. “I no longer require you ON THE JOB. That being said, I also don’t think I can stand your pitiful face any longer. So, help yourself and leave my hotel before I call security! I hope you know how to take orders?”

“Can I—”

“Out, Ms. Heather! NOW!”

In the end, Heather had to leave, and Mr. Faulkner was fuming in rage. What a strange woman, he muttered angrily under his breath as she left.

Suddenly, a loud thud outside his office distracted his attention. Mr. Faulkner dashed outside, only to find Heather on the ground and realize her water had broken.

“What a mess! Oh, God. This is crazy!” he sighed. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and dialed 911 immediately, but after seeing Heather’s condition, he knew he didn’t have time to lose.

“I so wish I wasn’t caught in this mess!” he grumbled as he dialed his driver.

Mr. Faulkner rushed Heather to the hospital in his car, and while he didn’t like women and single mothers, he stayed at the hospital with her during the delivery.

“She used to be an employee at my hotel. Please take good care of her,” he told the staff at the hospital.

Mr. Faulkner waited outside the OR, nervously watching doctors hurry in and out. He was hoping Heather was fine because he blamed himself for her condition. Perhaps he shouldn’t have yelled at her and been so harsh.

After a while, which seemed no less than an eternity to Mr. Faulkner, a nurse approached him, and she had good news. “The new mother and child are safe, although we had to do a C-section. It’s a boy! A premature baby. But healthy!” she announced. “You can see the patient once she’s shifted to the regular ward.”

“God. That’s great! Thank you very much,” Mr. Faulkner said, sighing with relief.

At that point, ignoring his particular dislike for women, Mr. Faulkner decided to ask Heather if she needed help and wanted to call her relatives, so he decided to meet her. When he entered her ward, he saw her holding a beautiful baby boy in her arms.

“Are you doing OK?” he gently asked.

“Yes, thank you,” she said quietly. “Despite what I did, it was very sweet of you to bring us here on time. Thank you, Mr. Faulkner. You are a good man.”

“Well, I… I don’t know… Do you want me to call someone? Your husband or family? Anyone?”

Heather’s eyes welled up. “I don’t have anyone,” she said. “The baby’s father didn’t want the child, and I’m an orphan. That answers your question about why I had to breach the contract and work at your hotel. I’m sorry about what I did. But it was necessary.”

“Maybe he’ll change his mind?” Mr. Faulkner said. “I mean, you should try calling him once. I’m a single father, so I know what it’s like to raise a child alone.”

“Eight, six, three… I don’t have any hope. But you could try,” Heather recited her boyfriend’s number to Mr. Faulkner, which he quickly dialed on his phone. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the name that popped on his phone screen.

“Are you sure?” he asked her, shocked.

“What’s wrong?”

“The number. The number you gave me! Are you sure this is the correct number?”

“It’s the only contact I know, so I can’t be wrong,” she said.

Mr. Faulkner couldn’t believe the baby he was dissing and cursing and hating was his kin. He was his grandson and his only son’s child!

Heather’s irresponsible boyfriend was none other than Mr. Faulkner’s son, Josh!

“I’ll have a man-to-man talk with him. Please excuse me!”

Mr. Faulkner exited Heather’s ward, called his son, and asked him to hurry to the hospital. When Josh arrived, he was shocked to see his father with a baby in his arms.

“Time to buckle up, young man!” Mr. Faulkner said. “How could you leave a woman pregnant and not bother about it? Do you even realize what you’ve done?”

“Dad! What the hell!” Josh cried. “Is this Heather’s baby? For God’s sake, I’m done with her.”

“You are, what? Done with her?”

“Dad, she was crazy! Asked me to father a child when I didn’t want it in the first place! But wait. How do you—I mean, is this really Heather’s baby? How do you know her? And even if you do, why do you care?”

Mr. Faulkner was mortified. He couldn’t believe what his hatred of women had done to his son!

Mr. Faulkner’s wife had cheated on him and abandoned him with Josh. But he loved her despite that, and somewhere, that love turned into hatred when she walked out on him and their son.

So Mr. Faulkner never taught Josh how important it was for a man to respect women, to respect others around them. Josh thought he could get away with getting a woman pregnant, but Mr. Faulkner was not having any of it.

He didn’t want Heather to suffer, so he threatened Josh that he’d cut him off from the inheritance and stop supporting him financially if he didn’t help Heather take care of her child.

Due to the pressure of his father, Josh agreed to support Heather, but Mr. Faulkner knew his son wouldn’t mend his ways so quickly. So when Mr. Faulkner was making a will, he had a thought.

He dialed his lawyer and said, “If something were to happen to me, make sure Heather and her child, this wonderful boy named Terry, don’t miss out on anything. I have decided to leave my hotel to Terry, and he’ll inherit it when he comes of age.”

What can we learn from this story?

Our hatred and resentment destroy our families and us. Mr. Faulkner’s disdain for women gave Josh the impression that women didn’t matter and that he could get away with disrespecting them.

Lying and keeping someone in the dark is wrong, but sometimes people are compelled by their circumstances. While the way Heather landed a job at The Seaside Paradiso was wrong, she wasn’t entirely to blame for it.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a single mother of three who was fired from her job and how her little son visited her ex-boss to stand up for her.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.