Trapped in the Billionaire’s Deal

Mila’s POV

When my dad smiled at me, I knew something wasn't right.

My dad never just smiled for no reason. He smiled when deals were done. When the numbers went up, he smiled. When something valuable changed hands, he smiled.

That something was me tonight.

People thought I was going to laugh, but I stood in the middle of the room with a glass in my hand and laughed anyway. Nodding along as they talked. When they praised me, I smiled. The dress I wore was one my dad picked out. I stood where he told me to stand. I played the role I had learned since my youth.

The perfect kid. The obedient kid. The useful kid.

It was my birthday. Twenty-five. Everyone said it like it meant freedom, like it meant growth, like it meant choice but it didn’t.

I felt empty. Not sad. Not angry yet. Just hollow. Like something important had already been taken from me and I hadn’t noticed when.

My father raised his glass.

The sound of it hitting against the crystal cut through the noise. Conversations stopped. Music softened. Every eye turned to him.

That smile widened.

My chest tightened.

“Thank you all for coming,” he said. His voice was calm. Controlled. The voice he used in boardrooms and talks.

 “Tonight is a special night. Not just because it’s my daughter’s birthday.”

I swallowed.

He reached out and put a hand on my shoulder. Possessive. Heavy.

“But because tonight, we celebrate a new beginning.”

A wave of interest passed through the room. My heart started to race.

“My daughter, Mila Gerald,” he added, “has agreed to an engagement.”

The word hit me like a slap.

Engagement.

The room blurred. The looks. The lights. The sound of people gasping, cheering, and talking.

I didn’t move.

I couldn’t.

“Her fiancé,” my father said easily, “is Ace Garren.”

The name struck harder than the word engagement.

Ace Garren.

I stared straight ahead, my ears ringing. Who is that? 

I hadn’t agreed to anything.

I felt my father’s fingers tighten on my shoulder, a quiet threat. Don’t embarrass me.

Applause filled the room.

I smiled because I was trained to smile.

But inside, something cracked.

I’m being sold, my mind whispered. This isn’t a marriage, this is a deal.

Someone hugged me, someone congratulated me, and someone joked about possible grandkids.

I didn’t hear their words.

All I could hear was my own heart beating. Fast, loud, and very much terrified..

When the crowd finally changed, when attention moved away from us, I turned to my father.

“Excuse me,” I said, my voice steady even though my hands were shaking. “I need a word with you.”

He nodded, already knowing this moment was coming.

We stepped aside. Not far. He never liked private life when power was at risk.

I looked up at him. Really looked.

He looked happy.

That broke something in me.

“You don’t get to do this,” I said quietly.

His smile didn’t fade. “Lower your voice.”

“You don’t get to trade my life like a business share,” I snapped, unable to hold it in anymore. “You didn’t even ask me.”

His eyes hardened. “I didn’t need to.”

“I’m not an asset.”

He leaned closer, his voice dropping. “Everything you have comes from me. Your schooling. Your culture. Your name. Your future. Don’t pretend you built any of it yourself.”

My throat burned.

“This is my life,” I said. “My body. My marriage.”

He fixed his jacket. Calm again. Always calm. “Your life has always been business, Mila. You just never noticed.”

I stared at him, stunned by how easily he said it. Like it was a fact. Like it was obvious.

“I won’t do it,” I said. “I won’t marry a man I don’t know.”

“You will,” he answered. “Because the alternative is losing everything.” 

There it was.

The threat was wrapped in silk.

“You’d cut me off?” I asked.

“If necessary,” he said. “I’ve invested too much in you to let you ruin this.” “Did you really think all that money I spent trying to raise you was for nothing? I gave you everything Mila, you never had to work for anything. It’s now time to fulfill your duty to the family.”

I laughed, a sharp, broken sound. “You’re unbelievable.”

“You’re emotional,” he amended. “You’ll calm down.”

“I hate you,” I whispered.

His eyes flickered. Just for a second.

Then the wall came back up. “Go enjoy your party.”

I stepped away from him before I said something I couldn’t take back.

Or maybe I already had.

I returned to the crowd like nothing was wrong. I laughed, I nodded, I let people hug me while Inside, I was screaming. I watched people celebrate my future like it was a gift. Like I should be grateful. Like I wasn’t already drowning.

My phone buzzed in my hand. A text from Anaya.

“You okay? You disappeared.”

I typed back with shaking fingers. “No.”

I looked around once more. At the faces, at the laughs, at my father talking business while my life burned quietly beside him.

Something inside me snapped. I didn’t fit here, not tonight, maybe not ever.

I walked toward the door.

My father noticed too late.

“Mila,” he called. His tone of warning.

I didn’t stop.

I grabbed my phone and clutch from the table near the door. My heart pounded so hard I thought everyone could hear it.

People stared now. Whispers followed me.

I turned back just once.

“I’m not marrying him,” I said clearly.

Silence fell.

“Mila.” My father’s face darkened.

Then I walked out.

The door slammed behind me.

And for the first time in my life, I didn’t know where I was going. Only that I couldn’t stay.

I knew my father was ruthless. He handled business as if it could kill him if he made a mistake. He took down everything on his path to build everything we have. 

With all the luxury I enjoyed, never in a million years did I think I would be a pawn in his game. 

If my father thought he could own my future, he had no idea how far I was ready to run.