chapter 3
The prize had to be claimed at the state lottery center.
I didn’t waste a second.
I ran.
Thankfully, the campus wasn’t too far away. I had no money for a ride, so I walked the whole way, nearly thirty minutes, heart pounding the entire time.
Even after the staff confirmed everything and the money hit my account, it still didn’t feel real. I kept staring at the number on my bank app as tears ran down my face.
Then I went to the most expensive restaurant in the city and ate until I felt sick.
People passing by couldn’t help staring at me. I must have looked like someone who had never seen food before, someone half-starved coming back from the edge.
My mother had said it before, and now I almost wanted to laugh.
She was right.
My luck really was incredible.
By the time I returned to the dorm that evening, my phone was ringing again.
“Zoe, honey, did you win something?”
That syrupy nickname made goosebumps crawl over my skin.
I couldn’t even remember the last time she’d called me by my childhood name. When I got into college, she hadn’t even sounded pleased.
“What prize?” I said flatly. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
My mother immediately grew agitated.
“Zoe Parker, don’t push me too far. I saw the news. They said someone in the city hit the scratch-off jackpot today, and when they showed the winner from behind, I knew it was you. I’d recognize you even if you turned to ash.”
Only then did I realize my mistake.
I’d been so overwhelmed by hunger and excitement that I had rushed straight to claim the prize without thinking to disguise myself well enough to avoid being recognized.
“You’ve got the wrong person,” I said, and hung up.
When she kept calling, I let it ring.
Then I blocked her.
I thought that would quiet things down.
It didn’t.
Early the next morning, Lauren was violently shaking my bed.
“Zoe, get up! Something huge happened!”
Her next sentence woke me faster than any alarm ever could.
“Your mother is on the roof of the science building saying she wants to see you. She’s threatening to jump if you don’t come.”
All the sleep drained from my body.
I leaped out of bed in a T-shirt and sweatpants, hair a mess, and ran.
By the time I got there, a crowd had already gathered.
On the rooftop, my mother stood near the edge like a madwoman, yelling for all of campus to hear.
“I want to expose my daughter, Zoe Parker, a student at this university! She got in by luck, she’s addicted to gambling, and now that she’s won the jackpot she wants to cut ties with her own mother! Does someone like that deserve to study at a top university?”
It was still early in the morning, but students had already started gathering from every direction, drawn by the commotion. Some cursed me. Some envied me. Most were simply excited to watch the spectacle.
I looked up at my mother’s frenzied figure against the sky.
I opened my mouth to tell her to come down.
Then I stopped.
If she wanted to say I was a gambler, then this time I decided I would gamble too.
I would bet that she didn’t dare jump.
So I turned around and walked away.
Back in the dorm, I calmly sat down and filled out an application for an international academic exchange program.
I won the bet.
My mother loved her own life too much to throw it away.
After screaming for a long time and realizing I wasn’t coming, she eventually climbed down. The school, wanting to avoid an even bigger incident, called me in for a private meeting.
But once Professor Bennett heard that my scratch-off tickets had been my mother’s substitute for living expenses, even he fell silent for a long time.
In the end, he promised he would stop interfering in that matter and said the school would tighten campus security so outsiders couldn’t enter so easily again.
The study-abroad application wasn’t especially hard. Because my entrance scores had been strong, I was approved for one of the spots.
Professor Bennett urged me to hurry and apply for a passport.
I didn’t hesitate.
I gathered my documents and went straight to the office.
The clerk took my ID, typed for a while, then frowned at the screen.
I watched the people around me finish their applications and leave. A strange unease crept over me.
Finally, the clerk looked up apologetically.
“Miss Parker, I’m sorry. Your application can’t be processed right now. We found that a civil complaint has been filed under your name. Under current regulations, your international travel documents can’t move forward until that issue is addressed.”
I stared at her, confused, then pulled out my phone. Buried among the blocked messages was a notification from a legal number I didn’t recognize.
I opened it.
My mother had sued me.
Reason: refusal to fulfill support obligations toward a parent.
I stared at the message until my vision blurred.
Then I clenched my jaw.
If she insisted on going this far, then fine.
I would answer the lawsuit.
And I would finally get a real ending to this mother-daughter relationship.