The unplanned surrogacy

Into his world

Mariam sat on her bed as she started to think in every possible direction as she went home.

Did she seriously accept it?

Was she actually willing to have a baby of a stranger?

Her fingers ran tremulously in her hair and she looked blankly at the floor. She was still repeating the words used in the previous sentence in her mind, fifty million dollars. The number was nearly unbelievable. It was money that could change the life of an individual totally. But then again, at what cost?

“Having a baby will ruin my body," she said to herself, and choked. The idea of modeling had been the dream of her whole life. She could not even imagine that it was the moment to walk the runways or to be seen in the magazines. She had to make something worthwhile. She aspired to create a training center, a place where men and women would know how to model, to have confidence and pursue their goals. She also desired to develop an orphanage as a way of making children have higher chances in life compared to what she had in life.

And now, everything might be possible, should she accept this impossible bargain.

She also sat for some time staring at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were red as she had cried previously, but behind the tears in her eyes there was something new, resolution. She picked up her phone and opened her browser, then typed his name: Alexian Massimo.

The findings gave her a heart attack.

With articles on him, page after page was filled with news about the reclusive billionaire, the silent tycoon, the man who owned industries on three continents. There were darker words, however, hidden in the glittering headlines: that there were criminal networks, that there were links to underworld activities, and that the man was feared by more than thirty countries.

And his ladylove, Serena Vross, was the daughter of a millionaire, and was born rich and handed over to him like an heir. Now the disposition was evident. Power married power.

Mariam swallowed hard. “What the devil have I got into?”

Nevertheless, it is money, fifty million dollars. Enough to change everything. Enough to buy back her dreams.

Hours of trying to find a solution and over-thinking finally led her to start packing. She put her clothes in a bag, packed her necessities in two suitcases and made a final look at her small apartment. And her life here had been common, full of contention — but it was not new, it was a safe life. It was like abandoning something and plunging into the abyss.

Then, the doorbell rang.

She froze. Her heart skipped a beat. She went slowly to the door and opened it.

There was a man in a black suit, sharp as a razor, tall and unemotional and perfect in his motion. He bowed and said, “Miss Harrison. “Mr. Massimo sent me. The car is ready.”

Mariam nodded in an attempt to calm her breathing. “Just… a moment.”

She checked her bags one more time and locked her door and went down with him. Out in front of it was a slick black Rolls-Royce, shinning in the streetlights. There was the faint smell of rain. The driver closed the door after her and sat down without saying anything, as she entered.

Cities flew by at an indistinct distance. Mariam attempted to calm herself, but her heart could not quiet down. All this was surreal, as though she were in a dream which she could never get out of.

The car became a long winding driveway, with stone pillars and well-tended hedges after almost forty minutes. And here she beheld it the mansion.

It was gigantic, and it was shining in the darkness like a film. “It resembles a castle,” she thought to herself, and her eyes opened wide up. The ivy adorned the walls, tall windows had golden lights, and there were marble statues that guarded the entrance.

When they arrived there, she saw some other animals roaming in the distance. Peacocks were flaunting over the lawn, and she insisted that she could see two deer passing by the trees. He could have a zoo here, she said to herself in awe and half disbelief.

The automobile halted in front of the great staircase. Two guards opened the door to her and their faces were not readable. The entrance doors, which were high enough to ingest her, swung open slowly and she went inside.

Her breath froze down her throat.

There was a spectacular interior. The marble floors were glassy in their reflection of the gentle golden light of the chandeliers. It had a grand staircase, twisting up, wrapped in wrought-iron railings, gilt with gold. The walls were painted all over, pictures of those that had been gone many years before, but their eyes appeared to be tracking her. The entire building screamed success, wealth, and history.

There were a couple of maids as well, who bowed somewhat as she walked in. Their dresses were perfect, and their motions were lovely and noiseless. One of them, a kind-looking lady with auburn hair, came forward.

“Welcome, Miss Harrison. I’m Rosa. Will you mind, dear me, showing you to your room?

Mariam nodded, still dazed. She trailed Rosa up the staircase, and along a long passageway , with exquisite doors, till they paused in front of one of them.

Mariam strangled when Rosa opened it.

The room was magnificent. It was also high with the ceiling being painted with soft gold details that were glittering when the light hit them. It was furnished with a full-sized king bed in the middle, bedding and pillows in satin and cream. The curtains were velvet, an excellent royal blue, which was the same color as the carpet she was standing on. There was a glass door on one side of the room leading to an individual balcony facing the gardens and the moonlit lake. The air had a slight odor of jasmine.

Mariam turned slowly forward, twirling his head. She had never imagined anything of the sort — it was as though one were walking into a dream.

“I can have this... this is all I can have, all,” she said.

Rosa smiled warmly. “Mr. Massimo insists that his guests are comfortable.”

Comfortable. The term was a kind of understatement.

Mariam, having unpacked some items, sat at the bedside and picked up her phone. She had to speak to someone, a person who will not judge her. She opened her messages and sent Jayden, who was her best friend, a text.

Mariam: Jay, I am not where you think that I am.

Jayden: What have you done this time round?

Mariam: I will tell you everything later. Just know I’m safe… I think.

She smiled with a shook of the head. It is up to Jayden to make things light even when she was losing her world.

She had not reached out to type another message when there came a knock at the door.

“Mariam Harrison?” called a voice in a polite manner.

“Yes?”

The manager would like you to have dinner with him.

Her heart skipped a beat. She looked into the mirror and saw herself, with unkempt hair, slightly smudged eyeliner, wearing her traveling clothes.

Dinner with Alexian Massimo.

She sucked her breath in, flattened her dress, and said to herself, You want to change your life, Mariam. Well… here it begins.”

And with that she opened the door, and walked down the hall after the maid, who had no idea that this dinner was the start of something much more dangerous than she could have imagined.