The Daughter They Didn’t Want Won The Lottery Chapter 03
Mom laughed.
“Di, use your head. If both my girls fly the coop, who takes care of me and Rob when we’re old? Chloe’s the one built for the world—outgoing, ambitious. Emma? She’s the steady one. Perfect for keeping close.”
“Hmm. But she was your straight-A kid. What happened on that SAT?”
Mom’s voice went casual, almost bored.
“Oh, that. Slipped a little something in her orange juice that morning. Just a laxative. Nothing serious.”
A beat of silence. Then Aunt Diane’s shocked gasp.
In the stall, every drop of blood went out of me at once. My nails dug into the door.
That morning. That glass of orange juice.
The one time in my life Mom had ever made me breakfast. I’d stood in the kitchen staring at that glass like an idiot, thinking she finally loved me a little.
She’d sabotaged me. On purpose. So I’d stay small. Stay close. Stay hers.
The tears came without a sound. I bit down on my sleeve.
Her heels clicked out.
My phone buzzed. Ms. Hayes.
“Emma? Good news. There’s a spot. But they need a ten-thousand-dollar deposit by end of day tomorrow to hold it—”
“Send me the wire info. I’ll transfer it right now.”
“Emma—”
“I’m sure.”
I hung up. I transferred the money right there in the stall.
She called back twenty minutes later. “You’re in. Flight in a week.”
I stood up. Splashed water on my face. Stared at the girl in the mirror—red eyes, puffy nose—and knew something in her had changed for good.
I wasn’t the Emma who lived in that house anymore.
I just hadn’t left yet.
My stomach growled again. For the first time in my life, I didn’t ignore it.
There was a Chick-fil-A two blocks over. I ordered the biggest combo they had, plus a milkshake, extra waffle fries, and a brownie, and carried the whole tray to a corner booth.
Mom had never let me eat fast food. Fast food was Chloe’s. I got what Chloe didn’t finish—cold, over the sink, an hour later.
I picked up a nugget still hot enough to burn my tongue, and the tears started.
I ate and I cried. Fries dipped in ketchup, salt on salt.
From now on, I eat what I want.
Then, through the window, I saw them.