Triplet, Lies, and a Billionaire

"MOM!" Mia Griffin shouted, you could hear the frustration in her voice. "What did you just say?" "You heard me, sweetheart," her mother, Isabella Griffin said. "You will be a surrogate for a powerful person, and he will pay us well. You don't have to worry about your father's hospital bill and also your education, everything will be sorted out." She said, drinking the glass of wine in her hand. Mia could not believe her ears, was her own mother telling her to be a surrogate? It was unbelievable. What mother in the world would propose something like that to her child? "Can you listen to yourself, Mom? Why would you suggest something like that to your own child? Mom, I'm still your daughter even if you have any issue with me," She tried to reason with her mother. She had never received her mother's love. When she was little, her mom would always leave her alone to party with her friends. She usually wonders if she is really her birth mother, because why would she never care for her own daughter. "Oh Mia, don't be a drama queen. Of course, you are my daughter, that is why I am doing this for your future, " Isabella replied, her expression still cold. "For my future?" Mia scoffed. "You are ruining my future. What would people think if they found out I was once a surrogate? They would mock me, Mom." "And would you care what others will think?" Isabella said smirking, sipping her wine. "Just sign the contract already. Your father's life depends on this." Mia's breath hitched Her father's life? No Mom no Her father. The man who kept her sane for the past 18 years of her life. The man who took care of her. He was both a father figure and a mother figure. He had sacrificed everything for them. Now, he lay in a hospital bed, unable to move. And he is dying each passing day, without treatment. "What?” Mia said in a whisper voice. "Mom, you can't do this to me. You can't do this to dad." "Oh, I can't?” Isabella said in an amused voice. "Should I show you I can? I am not sure you would like that, darling. You know what I'm capable of." Threats? She knew. She knew her mother was not making empty threats. This is what she is good at. Making people do what she wants. She was sick of it. "Your threats won't work on me this time around. This is about my future." Mia said determined. "Fine," Isabella said. Hope in Mia's eyes. "Thank you...." Isabella cut through Mia "I guess your father is going to die in that hospital since his daughter doesn't care about him."This is not the end of the world. Just think of it as a small price to pay. You will receive a generous reward and most importantly, you will save your father's life. A good daughter would do this, wouldn't she?' Mia flinched as if she had been slapped. A good daughter? "Mom, a good mother would suggest this to her daughter either" Mia scoffed, "Hahaha," Isabella laughed, amusement in her eyes. "You never refused to amaze me every time. Using my own word against me." With tears in their eyes, Mia said, "This is so wrong." Isabella's expression hardened, running out of patience. She clinked the wine glass on the table beside her, then leaned forward, her face set. "Wrong?”She said, her voice lower to a dangerous whisper. "You don't have a choice, Mia. You will do as I tell you" Mia flinched at the sharpness of her voice and the authority in it. "What if I refuse?" she demanded, though there was no confidence in her voice. "Refuse?” She gazed at her with icy indifference, her voice void of warmth. "Then your father will die in the hospital bed. Is that what you want? To watch him suffer, knowing you could have saved him? After everything he has done for you, after all, he's given up; this is how you pay him back?, well I am not surprised. You have always been ungrateful." Mia sucks in a sharp breath. Her mother is a master manipulator, she knows. Yet she was speaking the truth. Her father is dying in the hospital. Without any help, he will draw his last breath. This time, her mom was taking things too far. Her nails dug into her palm, hard enough to draw blood, as she thought of being a surrogate. "I can't do it," Mia shouted, frustration and tears in her vision. "I am not a some-some breeding machine to produce a child for anyone just for your own benefit." "Oh, but you have to, darling. Because without me, you're nothing. No future, no family, and especially no home. If your father should die, just know it was your fault for not saving him when you had the chance to." Isabella's lips curved into a smirk. Mia's breath caught. No future. No home. No family. 'Brian' Mia thought, hope filled her. "No home? Mom even if you don't care about me, someone else does. I have someone that will burn down the world for me." "Is this about that friend of yours?" Isabella scoffed. "Oh Mia darling, you can't be selfish now, can you? He has a future for himself. You should leave the young man to think about his future. You obviously can't allow him to carry a burden when he's still trying to survive on his own." No, no no. 'I can't be a burden to Brian, after everything he has done to come this far.' Mia thought. Mia's leg shook beneath her as she whispered, her voice weaker than before, "This is illegal." Isabella laughed, sharp and cruel, and Mia shuddered. "Oh, is it?" she said. "You're not being sold, my dear. You're just saving a man. A contract has been signed already. You don't need to know about the details and you will never know whose child you are carrying." Mia felt her knees buckle. Her entire world was crumbling around her. She took a quick look at the contract on the table. The black letters on white paper might as well have been a death warrant. This is not real. This is not happening. She looked back at her mother, hoping to see a spark of humanity, any sign she'd change her mind. But to her disappointment, her mother only watched, smirking triumphantly at the mutilation on her daughter's face. Mia's finger trembled as she reached for the pen. No. Her hand was clenched into a fist, refusing to give in. "I can't," she croaked, her voice rough. Isabella sighed in disappointment, shaking her head. "That is so unfortunate dear." She stood up, smoothening out the fabric of her designer gown before heading towards the door. "I suppose I have to call the hospital and inform them that we'll be stopping the treatment." Mia froze. Her heart stopped breathing. Her legs trembled, barely holding her up. The walls seemed to close in, suffocating her. If she refused, Isabella would completely ruin her. 'No. No, no, no.' She could picture it now, her father in the hospital bed, alone, helpless. His tired eyes begging. His thin body was wasting away as the machines buzzed around him. The only person who had ever truly loved her... And she would be the one responsible for his death. "Mom, no, no, no, you can't." Tears welled up in her eyes. "I will sign it, I will sign so please don't," Mia begged on her knees "You have finally come to your senses." Isabella scoffed. Tears streamed down her face. She took the pen again, her hand shaking as she held it, she looked at the contract, then at her mom's face, maybe she would tell her it was a prank, but nothing. Nothing like that happened. Her hands felt heavy, as she finally signed her name. With a slow, shaking breath, she signed her name. The ink bled into the paper, sealing her fate. And just like that..... Mia Griffin was no longer free.