Life After the Million-Dollar Lottery

On my way home from work, I bought a lottery ticket on a whim and won five million dollars.

Once my family found out, my parents, who always called me a dead weight, suddenly couldn't stop singing my praises.

Even my younger brother Logan Watson, who usually wouldn't give me the time of day, started warming up to me. He said I was more capable than any other sister out there.

"Rebecca, Logan's getting married soon. But his girlfriend's family wants a dowry of 660,000 dollars. Plus, they want him to buy a house for the wedding. You know houses these days start at two to three million dollars, so..." my mom, Grace Watson, said, all smiles.

I thought, "Hell, what on earth has gotten into her? Is this really the same woman who's been calling me a dead weight and little bitch all my life?"

Logan sat there with his feet up, acting like what Grace was saying had nothing to do with him. But I caught him sneaking glances this way every so often.

Just last week, Grace forcefully set me up on a blind date. God knew where she found him. She introduced me to a nearly forty-year-old balding guy, Bob, who was divorced once.

On our first date, Bob took me to a fast food place and kept grabbing all the free ketchup and napkins. He encouraged me to do the same.

Afterwards, Grace kept raving about how great and frugal Bob was. "You little bitch, you're lucky someone's interested in you. And Bob's offering 200,000 dollars as a dowry. That'll sort out Logan's dowry.

Remember your place in this family."

If it weren't for my lottery win, Grace would've probably forced me to marry just to scrape up cash for Logan's new house and dowry.

Grace had always been like this, always trying to cash in on me from my childhood to adulthood.

But ever since I started earning my own money, my parents have backed off a bit.

I looked at my parents, who were staring intently at me. I knew that if I hadn't told them that I already registered the winning ticket with my ID at the lottery center, they'd have claimed it as their own.

Actually, I had received the five million dollars, but I only told them it hadn't been deposited yet. Once everything was set up, it would be time for me to leave them.

I couldn't wait for that day.

But, standing up to them now would likely mean I couldn't leave this place today.

So I just nodded and played along, keeping them off my back for the time being.

As soon as I nodded, Grace dropped her smile. "See, I told you this dead weight wouldn't dare say no. Brian, you're overthinking it."

My dad, Brian, added, "Right, she has cost us a fortune over the years. It's about time she paid us back."

Inside, I was rolling my eyes. I thought, "Cost a fortune?" Since I was little, I'd slaved away with chores. Grace always complained about the cost of hot water, making me wash dishes in freezing water even in winter.

Mealtime meant I got the cold leftovers, and I had to clean the plates or face a beating. I still carried scars from those beatings.

Whenever Logan had friends over, he'd point at me and say, "That's our little nanny." He even made me carry his friends on my back from upstairs to downstairs, just to show off how "obedient" I was.

If I refused Logan's requests, he'd complain to Grace, who would yell at me, "You little bitch, if you make Logan cry, you're out!"

Pretty soon, everyone in my class had heard about it, and they started calling me "Little Nanny." I spent my whole elementary school life swimming in shame and fear.

Whenever it was time to pay for textbooks, Logan and I would approach Grace together. She always dragged her feet with mine, only paying after the teacher had called repeatedly. Then she'd yank my ear and blame me for it.

The worst was when I turned eighteen. I'd just got accepted to college and worked all summer to save for tuition.

But just before the semester began, Grace and Brian stole the tuition money from under my pillow while I slept. They locked me up, saying they were going to marry me off.

They brought a man to see me. He limped, his face was covered in dark spots, and he had a mouth full of rotten teeth. He even demanded to spend a night with me.

There, on my knees, I begged Grace and Brian desperately. I promised them I wouldn't ask for a single penny while I was at school. And I even promised them all my earnings after graduation.

I was on my knees for what felt like ages before they finally nodded, acting like they were granting me mercy.

That whole ordeal ended up giving me depression.