“You’re a parasite,” she spat, eyes cold. “I worked for this. I won’t support you.”
The Weight of Silence
I wanted to shout. To remind her of the years I paid her rent, the nights I watched her children while she drifted from one job to another, the savings I sacrificed so she could “start over.” I wanted to scream that her life had been carried on my back.
Ezoic
But I said nothing.
I bent down, gathering my clothes with hands that trembled not from weakness but from rage. She thought I would crawl away. She thought I would accept the insult.
What she didn’t know was that she had overlooked something small—something that would change everything.
Ezoic
She never read the back of the ticket.
A World She Thought She Owned
Within days, her face was everywhere. The newspapers called her a “young single mother who defied the odds.” Cameras captured her wrapped in designer clothes, clinking champagne glasses, her smile wide enough to split the sky. Social media crowned her a queen.
I watched it all from the guest room at my sister’s modest home. The old television buzzed and flickered, but the images were clear enough: my daughter, unrecognizable, her pride shining brighter than the gold jewelry on her wrists.
Ezoic
The rage inside me simmered, but I remained quiet. Because tucked away in the drawer beside me, inside a yellow envelope, was the truth.
The real winning ticket.
