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.

After work the next day, I got home to find Logan's girlfriend, Flora Butler, hanging around. Given the bad blood between Logan and me, ignoring her was my default mode. We made eye contact when nobody else was watching.

Flora started to lose it. "Logan told me you were rude and disrespectful, but I thought he was exaggerating. Turns out he was right.

I'm going to be Logan's wife. You're just a woman waiting to be married off. You can't even say hello when you see me. You really have no class."

I smirked to myself. She really could act. With a poker face, I shot back, "Aren't you also a woman?"

Flora was livid. "How can you compare yourself to me? You're just ugly and bitter. No wonder you're almost thirty and still unmarried."

Grace was sucking up to Flora. "Flora, just ignore her. She's nothing but a dead weight. You're way out of her league."

Clinging to Logan's arm, Flora complained, "Logan, look at Rebecca. What's her problem? Does she not want me here?"

Logan started banging on my door. "Bitch, get out here and apologize to Flora now."

I cracked the door open and warned, "Don't mess with me, or you can forget about your new house and the dowry."

Logan immediately clammed up.

I had to admit, that tactic worked pretty well.

Grace told Logan, "Your Uncle Jayden and his wife Maria are coming to dinner. Your dad's made reservations."

She glanced at me. "Oh, and dead weight, you're coming too."

This was the first time Grace ever invited me to a family event. Jayden was always on about how useless education was for girls. He'd often said to Grace, "Rebecca should just get married instead of wasting time at college."

I'd almost never been included in meals with Jayden's family. Something felt off about today.

At the restaurant, Grace made a big deal about introducing Logan's girlfriend, Flora, who was all sweetness and light. She was quite the opposite of her earlier self. And She charmed Jayden and Maria into fits of laughter.

As we ate, the talk shifted to Logan's wedding. Grace boasted about my lottery win, openly declaring that I'd be funding Logan's new house and dowry.

Jayden looked pleased. "Grace, you've raised a good daughter. Rebecca, with her college education, clearly knows the importance of supporting her brother."

Then, Jayden turned to me and said, "Rebecca, when Flora joins the Watson family, make sure you treat her well. She'll be carrying on the family line."

I just smiled and said, "Well, I'll be married off soon myself. I'm practically an outsider."

Grace shot me a glare and snapped, "Brat, how can you say that? Jayden is just trying to help you. If you can't be grateful, at least stop with the backhanded comments.

I can't believe I wasted my efforts on you, you ingrate."

Logan was busy tearing into his crab, grease dripping from his chin, clearly enjoying my discomfort.

I slammed down my fork. "Is everything I do just expected?"

"Logan's getting married but has no money. I didn't even blink before agreeing to hand over 5 million dollars. Can't you show me a little kindness?" I played up the sympathy card.

Pushing further, I said, "All my efforts are just to win a bit of love from you. Is wanting to feel part of a family too much to ask?"

The table went silent. They weren't expecting my raw plea for affection. Even Brian seemed touched. "Well... You've never spoken up like this before."

I thought to myself, "Of course not, I just made it all up."

As Grace and Brian began to respond, I couldn't keep pretending. So, I secretly pinched my thigh to squeeze out some tears and, with trembling lips, I rushed out.

Ever since that day, it looked like Brian and Grace were finally starting to reflect on how they treated me. Now, they were even including me in house hunting for Logan.

"This place is pretty nice. It's big and bright. We could even stay here too," Grace said, clearly pleased as she looked around.

Grace completely ignored Flora's displeased look. I overheard Flora quietly ask Logan, "Didn't you say we wouldn't live with your parents after getting married?"

Logan didn't seem to care much, but noticing Flora's concern, he soothed, "Babe, my mom's just talking. She's not actually going to live with us."

I could tell Flora was nearly persuaded. That couldn't happen. I quickly interjected, "Oh, Mom, what are you talking about? Young couples today don't want to live with their in-laws." Then I turned to Flora and said, "Right, Flora?"

Flora's face fell again at my words.

Grace snapped at me, "Brat, always got to open your mouth, huh? I'll be there to help when she's pregnant and has kids. Flora, you'd welcome that, right?"

Flora, not too keen, replied, "Of course, Mrs. Watson. You're always welcome."

I caught the real estate agent Yvette's eye and gave her a look, signaling her to follow the plan we'd agreed on.

Picking up on my cue, Yvette quickly chimed in, "Mr. and Mrs. Watson, you've got great taste. This place has seen a lot of interest. It's a hot property."

Grace always loved flattery. She beamed, saying, "See? I always had a good eye. This house suits my son's style perfectly."

Inside, I almost burst out laughing. I thought, "What style does Logan have? He's a mid-twenties, jobless guy who lives off his parents. If anything, he's got a 'freeloader' vibe."

Yvette chimed in, ""Mrs. Watson, if you like the place, you could make a deposit today. Others are eyeing it too. It might be gone any second."

Logan and Flora got antsy. "Mom, what are you waiting for? Let's get the deposit down."

Grace winced, turned aside, and whispered, "We don't have the cash right now. Rebecca's lottery winnings haven't come through yet."

Logan threw a tantrum. He told Grace and Brian, "I don't care. I want to put the deposit down now. If we lose this house, it's on you.

How can you be so useless? I'm trying to buy a house, and you can't even fork over the money. What good are parents like you?"

Instead of getting angry, Brian just looked worried and started scrambling for solutions. "What do we do? The deposit is 100,000 dollars. Should we try to borrow some money?"

I offered a "helpful" suggestion. "Mom, Dad, why not mortgage our home in the meantime? Once my lottery money hits, we can just buy it back. It should be in my account within a month."

Logan's eyes lit up. "Exactly! Let's go home and get the property deed to get the mortgage started."

Grace was still hesitating. Logan snapped, "Don't you want to help? You just want to see me fail to get this house, right? If I can't marry Flora because of this, you'd be happy, huh?"

I snickered quietly, thinking, "What a great son you've raised, Mom."

Once Logan started his tantrum, there was no stopping him. Grace and Brian had no choice but to nod in agreement.

As we were leaving, Yvette really played up her part, calling out, "Mrs. Watson, better hurry. I can't promise this house will be available much longer."