A young girl is distraught to see her mom in tears after finding out that her dad had left them for a younger woman. She promises to work hard to one day prove that they never needed him in their lives anyway.
After going home from school, twelve-year-old Mia discovered her mom crying in the living room. “Mom, what’s wrong? Where’s dad?” she asked, rushing to her mom’s side.
“Your dad left us,” her mom Lindy sobbed. “He left us for his secretary!” she yelled.
Mia couldn’t grasp the gravity of the situation because it just wouldn’t sink in. She simply sat with her mom and comforted her.
“I’m sorry, mom,” she said, stroking her mom’s back. “I’m here. I will never leave you,” Mia promised. “I will work hard so that we can prove to dad that we never needed him anyway. I promise, mom. We have each other, and that is enough.”
Through the years, Lindy found the strength and will to move on and do better, thanks to Mia. She was the main reason why she continued to work so hard, and why she chose to power through all the challenges that came their way.
When Mia graduated from high school, her teachers told her that she was gifted in math. Lindy was extremely proud of her for that, and although she hated to admit it, she knew that her daughter took after her father. He was a brilliant businessman, and that was something she just couldn’t deny.
Lindy worked two jobs to put Mia through school. While she was on an academic scholarship, it still wasn’t enough to cover her entire tuition at a prestigious ivy league school.
“Mom, I’ll just go to a state university,” Mia told her mom after she saw Lindy exhausted after work one day. “I promise, I really don’t mind,” she insisted.
Lindy shook her head and refused. “Absolutely not,” she told her daughter. “You are destined for greatness, and you will receive the best education in a top university. You deserve to be there. Don’t worry about mom,” she smiled. “I got this.”
True enough, Mia excelled in the school she enrolled in, and was always her class representative in several mathematics competitions. One day, she was tapped as one of the representatives to the college-level Mathematics Olympiad.
“Bye, mom. I’ll bring back the gold!” Mia said, hugging her mom before she left for the competition. “I’ll see you when I get back.”
“Bye, sweetheart,” Lindy greeted her daughter. “We will have a great dinner once you’re back to celebrate this achievement. I’m so proud of you!” the mother cheered as she walked her daughter to the bus.
After four days out of town, Mia came back with nothing less than the gold medal and a handsome cash prize of $20,000, awarded by one of the foundations that sponsored the math competition. She couldn’t wait to give the prizes to her mom, so she ran inside her house. “Mom! I’m home!” she called out.
“Mom?” she said, walking to the living room. “Where are you?”
Mia had just spoken to her mom on the phone, so she knew she was home. She ran up the stairs and was startled to see Lindy unconscious on the floor of her bedroom.
“Mom!” she yelled, rushing to her. “Mom, wake up!” she said, her hands trembling in fear. She fumbled to get her phone from her pocket to call 911.
“Please help me,” she told the operator. “I found my mom unconscious on the floor. I don’t know how long she’s been here, but she has a pulse. Please come quickly!”
The ambulance came in less than five minutes to transport Lindy to the hospital. Mia accompanied her there, where she underwent a few tests to determine what was wrong.
Lindy gained consciousness after being put on an IV line. But a more serious issue had been detected: she had a blocked artery. “Your mom needs urgent surgery. We don’t want to prolong this as it could be fatal,” the doctor explained to Mia, who was crying in fear.
“I know my mom has insurance. Can we please use this to pay?” she asked.
“We will do the surgery on her, but insurance doesn’t cover these kinds of surgeries. You will need to find a way to pay for her bill before she’s allowed clearance to leave. I’m sorry, sweetheart,” the doctor apologized before rolling Lindy into the operating room.
Mia took one last glimpse at her mom, who was fighting for her life on the hospital bed. “I will get you out of here, mom, I promise,” she said to herself before leaving the hospital. She decided to approach her father.
Mia took a cab to her father’s office, where she was greeted by non-other than his secretary. “Mia!” she said smugly. “What a surprise to see you here. To what do we owe the pleasure?”
“I need to see my dad,” she replied coldly.
“Let’s see if he has time,” the secretary said, walking with Mia toward her dad’s office. After knocking, her father told his secretary and girlfriend to give him five minutes with Mia.
“Why did you only reach out now, after six years, Mia? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you,” her father, Jamie, said.
“You left us. For her!” Mia shot back. “Why would I want to spend time with you after you abandoned our family? Do you know how much that hurt us, dad?” she said, holding back her tears.
“Well then, why are you here now?” Jamie asked her. “Let me guess. You need money?” he asked arrogantly.
“Mom is fighting for her life in the hospital. Please, I’ll pay you back when I find work. Just please save mom,” Mia begged.
“I can do that…” Jamie started to say. “But my condition is that you start living with me. Don’t you want to be with dad?” he asked his daughter.
“What for?” Mia replied. “You and I were never close. Why try to be a dad now?”
“Okay, then my answer is no. Find money someplace else and get out,” Jamie said sternly.
Mia shook her head. She never realized how much of a monster her dad was. “Gladly!” she said before storming out the door.
On the cab ride back to the hospital, Mia realized that her gold medal from the Olympiad was made of real gold. She decided to sell it to a pawnshop and use this along with the $20,000 cash prize she received to pay the hospital. Luckily, it was just enough to pay for everything.
After a couple of months, Lindy recovered fully and began to work again. Mia found a part-time job at a local coffee shop, where she worked until she graduated college.
Mia decided to buy out her father’s company. At first, Jamie thought that his daughter was doing it to save him. However, he eventually realized that she did it to spite him…
Mia went on to work for a large firm, where she was their most prized asset for her great math skills. She went up the ranks until she became a managing partner, making her wealthy enough to ask her mother to stop working.
One day, Mia decided to make a big investment. She got an email about the sale of some businesses and saw that her father’s business was on sale due to it being near bankruptcy.
Mia decided to buy out her father’s company. At first, Jamie thought that his daughter was doing it to save him. However, he eventually realized that she did it to spite him, as she became CEO and managing director while he was downgraded to being a silent minority partner.
What can we learn from this story?
What goes around, comes around. Jamie abandoned Mia and Lindy for a younger woman, only for him to get hit back by karma when his daughter bought his failing company years later.
When you work hard for something, you’re bound to reap its benefits. Mia promised to become successful so that she and her mom never had to go through hardships ever again. She worked hard for years until she became a successful businesswoman.
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