What am I going to do? Mary asked herself at a local park in Michigan. She was walking through it on her way to work because it was a shortcut and she had missed her bus. But as she strolled through the lovely scenery, she spotted a stroller with a crying baby inside. Usually, that would not be that odd.

Many mothers brought their kids early and walked around the area, except there was no one around today for some weird reason. The baby was all alone, so Mary picked it up for a second and rocked him. She hated the idea of leaving him right there. It was cold, but mainly because it triggered memories of her childhood.

Her parents died when she was 13 years old, and she was sent to live with a foster family that made it clear from day one that they only wanted her there as a maid. But Mary complied. She cleaned, cooked, and did chores like never before, dreaming of her 18th birthday when she could get out of there.

When she was finally free from her foster parents, Mary received what her parents had left her; a small condo and their savings. It wasn’t a lot of money, but she could start her life with it. She wanted to enroll in classes but needed money. Therefore, she looked for jobs everywhere.

Unfortunately, her only skills were domestic things, so she applied for cleaning gigs and finally got a job at a corporate office. It was perfect. It had several benefits and a good salary for a 19-year-old. The only real problem was her boss, Director Parker. He was a tyrant who thrived on seeing others sweat in his presence and purposely pinned co-workers against each other to see them compete.

Even as a cleaning lady, Mary saw his attitude and hated it, that’s why she steered clear of the man. But today, she was going to be late. If Director Parker caught her, she was going to be in big trouble. But am I going to leave that baby here? she asked herself, looking around the park. No. No way.

Of course not. Mary was not that kind of person, but she couldn’t just arrive at work with a baby. Luckily, she had an idea. When she started working at the office, she met an executive, Ronald. He was the kindest soul in the world, and despite being a cleaning lady, he loved talking to her. They had something going on.

Maybe he could watch the baby for some time while Mary figured out what to do. With that idea in mind, she placed the baby back in the stroller and rolled it through the park to her building. She changed to her uniform, watched out for Director Parker, and entered Ronald’s office.

“Hey, Mary. What is that? You have a baby?” he asked, standing from his desk and frowning at the stroller.

“He’s not mine. I found him at the park. All alone. It was crazy. There was no one around. I couldn’t just leave him. But I didn’t have time to take him to a police station. Director Parker will kill me if I’m late. Can you watch him until the end of my shift? Or until lunch?” Mary asked.

“Sure. It’s fine. We can go together to the station. Hopefully, the baby’s mother went there too, and they’re trying to find him,” Ronald answered and smiled. Mary returned the grin, but they suddenly heard the unmistakable sounds of Director Parker. They turned towards Ronald’s office door and saw the dreaded man in question.

“And here, Mr. Everett. I want to introduce the executive I’ve been raving about,” Director Parker said, pushing the door open and ushering several important-looking men into Ronald’s office. But he stopped short when he saw Mary. “Oh, I didn’t realize you were cleaning the office. Wait. Ronald, what’s going on?”

The man looked around and finally noticed the stroller. “MARY! You brought a baby into the office! We have rules for a reason! Are you crazy?” Director Parker exclaimed angrily at the young woman.

“Sir, it’s not my—” Mary tried to explain, but he cut her off again.

“I don’t want to hear your excuses. I will have a word with your supervisor, and we’ll see about getting you fired. This is an office, not a nursery. GET OUT NOW!” he yelled firmly now, and Mary moved to get the baby.

“No, Director Parker. It’s not her baby,” Ronald intervened.

“Ronald! So, it’s your baby?” the boss demanded.

“No, it’s just—” Ronald tried to continue, only to be cut off too.

“Get it out of my sight this second!” Director Parker seethed through his teeth.

“Wait a minute. What’s going on here?” one of the men who had entered the office with Director Parker chimed in.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Everett. I’ll clear this up, and we’ll continue the tour,” Director Parker said, sweet-talking the man. Obviously, that older gentleman was even more powerful than him.

“No, Parker. You idiot. I want to know what’s going on with the baby,” the older man said.

Ronald saw his chance to speak up. “Mr. Everett, Mary, here, found an abandoned baby at the park, and she was asking me to watch him until we could both go to the police station,” he said calmly.

“Ah, I see. Parker, I don’t know why you feel the need to yell at your employees over a situation like this,” Mr. Everett said, giving Director Parker a stern look.

“Sir, this is an office, and I try to maintain—” the man tried to justify his actions, but Mr. Everett cut him off.

“Yes, I’ve heard all about the kind of office you try to maintain. Do you think I came here for a tour of the place? I built this place from the ground up. I know everything about it. But it’s time to tell you the truth. There are so many complaints about you and your behavior that it has reached my office. I couldn’t put it off any longer. You’re fired,” Mr. Everett said.

Director Parker blubbered some words, but. Mr. Everett continued. “I don’t want to hear it. You’ve apparently walked around here like the CEO, demanding things, making people compete, and all-around turning the office into a battleground. AND, you seem to hate babies too. But I AM the CEO here, and I make the final decision. Leave now.”

Director Parker stared around with a red face as Mr. Everett walked further into the office and shockingly picked up the baby.

When Director Parker left the office, the CEO spoke up, “You know I was found abandoned in a park too?” he told the people in the room.

The other higher-ups with him nodded their heads, but Mary turned around and boldly said, “Really?”

“Yeah. I was raised in orphanages until I ran away at 13. I started working as a dishwasher. It was a different time, and no one batted an eye. There were no child-labor laws back then. And I paid my way through school and built all this. I didn’t do that so some horrible man could harass and insult my employees, especially someone who was just trying to be a good Samaritan,” Mr. Everett revealed while rocking the baby.

“Thank you, Mr. Everett. I have to get back to work, but I’ll take the baby to the station as soon as I can,” Mary said.

“Don’t bother. I have some contacts. I’ll do it. Come on, gentlemen. Let’s keep walking around the office,” the CEO said, putting the baby back and pushing it out of Ronald’s office. “Ronald, kindly join us, please.”

Ronald smiled cheekily at Mary and followed the important men out.

The entire office cheered as they watched Director Parker being escorted out by a couple of the building’s security guards. Even Mary and her fellow cleaning co-workers smiled knowingly too.

After that day, Ronald took Director Parker’s job, and the entire ambiance of the office changed utterly. He asked Mary out, and they started dating.

A few months later, they discovered that one of Mr. Everett’s children had decided to adopt the baby when they couldn’t find his parents. The Everett family was insanely wealthy, so Mary knew they would care for him.