Turns out my father hadn’t stopped caring about me after all. It was Maeve who had been poisoning our relationship.

She’d manipulated both sides – feeding me lies to make me resent him, while telling him things that made him hesitant to reach out to me.

It was all her doing. Every ounce of my pain, every moment of estrangement, stemmed from her twisted actions.

The hatred I felt in that moment was beyond words.

But now, I had a second chance. A chance to change everything. I had come back to the very day I won the lottery.

After cashing in my winnings, I dialed a familiar number I hadn’t called in years.

“Holly? Why aren’t you saying anything? What’s wrong?

“If something’s happened, don’t worry, I’m here. I’ll be right there – I’ll get a ticket and come see you at school!”

Hearing my father’s voice again brought tears to my eyes.

Maeve had made sure we were estranged for so many years, poisoning my thoughts against him.

I steadied my voice before speaking. “I’m okay, Dad. I just wanted to hear your voice. I miss you.”

I could tell he was holding back tears. “I’ll come visit you right away!”

“No need, Dad. I’ll be home soon for break.”

I had more important matters to take care of first.

As soon as I pushed open the door to the dorm, Maeve rushed toward me like a bullet.

“Holly, you were joking on the phone earlier, right? You hit the jackpot, didn’t you? 10 million dollars, right?!”

“I checked the winning numbers, and it’s your birthday – you always play that set!

“That’s 10 million dollars! I’ve never seen that kind of money before. But listen, you absolutely can’t tell your dad about this. He’s got a new family now, and a son! If he finds out you won, they’ll bleed you dry like a cash cow!

“And what if they get wind of it and try to track your bank account? How about you just keep the money with me? There’s no way they’d trace it back that way.”

Her words mirrored exactly what she said in my previous life. Every sentence sounded like she had my best interests at heart.

But this time, I wasn’t as naive as before.

I pretended to joke, “But my dad is still my dad. If you’re eyeing my money too, I’d be left with nothing!”

I didn’t miss the fleeting stiffness in her expression, so I continued, “Besides, I already transferred all the money to him.”

At this, Maeve exploded.

“Holly, are you out of your mind? You gave the money to your dad?! Haven’t you heard? Stepmoms bring stepdads, and they’ll just spend your money on your brother! You’ll end up with nothing! I’ve never met anyone as stupid as you! What’s wrong with you?”

While Maeve was still screaming at me, our other two roommates, Sara and Emily, walked in.

They thought I was having a full-blown argument with Maeve and rushed to break it up.

“What’s going on here?” they asked.

With tears in my eyes, I explained everything that had just happened.

Their expressions were priceless, exactly what I expected. After all, they’d overheard how awful Maeve had been.

Sara was the first to speak up.

“Come on, it’s Holly’s money. She should be the one deciding how to use it.”

Emily chimed in, “Exactly! And if you can’t trust your own dad, who can you trust?”

Maeve’s face turned bright red from their comments, stammering before finally storming out with a huff, saying, “None of your business!” and slamming the door behind her.

After she left, I took Sara and Emily out for a celebratory dinner.

That night, Maeve didn’t return to the dorm.

When she finally showed up the next day, she acted as if nothing had happened, speaking to me like everything was normal.

It was obvious why – she wasn’t about to lose her long-term meal ticket, especially now that she knew I’d won the lottery.

Trying to butter me up, she suggested, “Holly, why don’t we go out and celebrate your win over dinner?”

Her shamelessness knew no bounds.

Suppressing my sarcasm, I smiled and replied, “Sure, but I transferred the money to my dad yesterday, so I’ve only got about a thousand left for myself.”

“A thousand dollars?”

Her face was filled with disbelief, but then she quickly added, “Well, okay, a thousand it is.”

“I’ve been dying to try out that new sushi place by the school.”

We hadn’t even made it to the restaurant when a group of guys approached us.

The moment Maeve spotted them, her eyes lit up, and she waved eagerly.