Even with all the gossip surrounding her, Lance fell deeply in love with Maya. There was something different about the way Maya cared for others. When Lance contracted dengue fever and was hospitalized for two weeks, Maya never left his side. She wiped his body, fed him, stayed awake through the nights. Lance saw the purity of her heart.
“I don’t care if she has children,” Lance told himself. “I will love them the way I love her.”
Lance courted Maya. At first, she refused.
“Sir, you belong to the sky, and I am just the ground,” she said softly, her head bowed. “And besides… I have many responsibilities.”
But Lance was persistent. He showed her that he was ready to accept everything. In the end, they became a couple.
It became a huge scandal. Lance’s mother, Doña Consuelo, exploded in anger.
“Lance! Have you gone crazy?! She’s already a maid—and she has three children by different men?! Are you turning our mansion into an orphanage?!” the old woman shouted.
His friends mocked him.
“Bro, you’re an instant dad to three kids! Good luck with the expenses!”
But Lance stood by Maya. They got married in a simple ceremony. Maya cried at the altar.
“Sir… Lance… are you sure? You might regret this,” she whispered.
“I will never regret it, Maya. I love you and your children,” Lance replied.
Then came their wedding night. Their “honeymoon.”
They were inside the master bedroom. It was quiet. Maya was nervous. Lance slowly approached his wife. He was ready to accept everything about her—the scars of yesterday, the stretch marks of pregnancy, every sign of motherhood. To him, those were symbols of sacrifice.
“Maya, don’t be shy. I’m your husband now,” Lance said gently as he touched her shoulder.
Slowly, Maya removed her robe and lowered the strap of her nightdress.
When Lance saw his wife’s body, HE TURNED COLD.
He froze.
Smooth. Unmarked. No stretch marks on her stomach. No signs that she had ever given birth—not once, let alone three times. Maya’s body was that of a woman who had never been pregnant.
“M-Maya?” Lance asked in shock. “I thought… I thought you had three children?”
Maya lowered her head, trembling. She reached for her bag beside the bed and pulled out an old photo album and a death certificate.
“Lance… forgive me for not explaining sooner. I was afraid that if people knew the truth, men would pursue me—and then leave once they realized I was supporting children.”
She opened the album. Inside were photos of a burned-down house and three small children crying in front of two coffins.
“Junjun, Popoy, and Kring-Kring…” Maya pointed to the children, tears streaming down her face. “They’re not my children, Lance. They are my nieces and nephew. They are the children of my older sister and her husband.”
Lance was confused. “Where is your sister?”
“Five years ago,” Maya began, sobbing, “our house in the province burned down. My sister and her husband were trapped in the fire. They died while desperately trying to push the three children out through the window. I was the only one left, Lance. I was their only aunt. I was young then, only twenty, full of dreams. But when I saw my nieces and nephew with nothing, I made a promise in front of my sister’s coffin.”
“I said, ‘Ate, I’ll take care of them. I will never abandon them. I will be both their mother and their father.’”
Maya looked at Lance.
“That’s why I became a maid. That’s why I endured being called ‘disgraced’ by your neighbors and by other servants. I let them think the children were mine so men who only wanted to use me would stay away. I didn’t want to marry back then, Lance. I didn’t want anyone to compete with my nieces and nephew for my attention and money. I gave my entire life to them.”
“I don’t have children, Lance. I gave up my youth and my womanhood for children who didn’t come from my womb—but came from my heart.”
The room fell silent. It felt as if Lance’s world had stopped.
The woman he thought had a “dark past” was actually an angel. The woman he thought was “damaged” had the greatest heart he had ever known. Maya endured judgment and insults—being called a “slut” or “shameless”—just to protect and feed her orphaned nieces and nephew.
Lance dropped to his knees in front of Maya. He hugged her waist and cried. He cried in shame, because even he had once thought, deep down, that Maya was “wasted.” He cried out of pity—and overwhelming admiration.
“Forgive me, Maya,” Lance sobbed. “Forgive us for judging you. You are too good. Your heart is so beautiful. I don’t deserve you.”
Maya held Lance’s face.
“You were the only one who accepted me, Lance, even when you thought I had many children. You were the only one who truly loved me.”
“And I will love them too,” Lance promised firmly. “Tomorrow, we’ll bring them here. They will no longer live in the province. I will be their father. And you… you will be the happiest mother in the world.”
The next day, Doña Consuelo and Lance’s friends were shocked when the couple arrived with the three children. They assumed they were illegitimate children.
But when Lance spoke before the family, everyone bowed their heads in silence.
“Allow me to introduce the nieces and nephew of my wife. The children who are the reason she is the bravest woman I have ever known. Maya has no children, Mother. But she is a mother in thought, in word, and in action. And it is my honor to be her husband.”
Doña Consuelo learned the whole story. The proud woman broke down in tears and hugged Maya.
“I’m sorry, hija. I was terribly wrong about you.”
From then on, the family became whole. Lance legally adopted the three children. Later, he and Maya had children of their own. But in their hearts, their firstborn would always be the three angels who tested—and strengthened—their love.
This story proves that:
Do not judge. What we think is someone’s stain may actually be the gold of their character.
Motherhood is not only in blood. It lives in sacrifice and care.
True love accepts. Lance accepted Maya when he thought she had children—and that acceptance opened the door to far greater blessings.