DAWN

Madison's POV

I spent the entire morning on my daily chores—scrubbing, dusting, ensuring everything shone before a complaint could ever be lodged. My hands were scorched, my back was sore, but nothing could prepare me for what followed.

Samuel appeared around half past eleven, alighting from his carriage in haste that sent my pulses racing. His face was aglow with something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Excitement? Relief?

"Madison!" he shouted, advancing towards me.

I looked up, stunned. "Mr. Samuel?"

He rolled his eyes at the appellation but didn't scold me this time. Rather, he grabbed my hands, the warm, solid grip.

"You won," he panted.

My brows furrowed. "Won?"

Samuel grinned, blue eyes twinkling. "The lottery, Madison. You won! The scholarship—the foreign trip on all expenses—you're going!"

The world around me froze.

The world beyond me spun.

I looked at him, not breathing, not believing.

Then, in an instant, I shrieked.

I shrieked with joy, my hands flying to my mouth, my knees buckling. But before I could collapse, Samuel caught me.

"You're serious?" I whispered, my voice trembling. "This isn't—this isn't some awful joke, is it?"

He laughed, a low, rumbling laugh, and in the next instant, before I could keep up with what was happening, he scooped me up and whirled me around in the air.

I laughed.

For the first time in years, I laughed in happiness and fearlessness.

"I told you so, Madison! You can do it!" he shouted, still twirling me. "You're getting out of this place—you're finally leaving!"

I was so excited that I didn't even hear the steps coming towards us.

Not until I heard the firm voice of my stepsister.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Samuel stopped twirling me immediately, but he didn't let go.

We turned around to see Savannah and Jennifer standing in the doorway, their faces twisted in pure fury.

Savannah's icy blue eyes glinted, her eyes flicking from me to Samuel. "Why are you touching her?" she snarled, her words dripping with contempt.

Jennifer crossed her arms, her glare tinged with disdain. "Samuel," she spat, "what is happening here?"

Samuel let out a slow breath, then turned to them. His hold on me eased, but he didn't step back. "Madison won the lottery," he said, voice steady. "She doesn't have to live here anymore. She's leaving."

The air thickened.

Savannah's face twisted with something wicked.

Jennifer's lips curled into a cruel smile. "Leaving?" she repeated. "Oh, you poor, poor girl. And you really thought you'd leave?"

Before I could get a word out, Jennifer's hand flashed out and slapped Samuel across the face.

I lurched. "No—!"

But before I could do anything, Jennifer had my ear, nails in flesh, and yanked me forward.

"You think you're leaving here?" she snarled, dragging me in. "You selfish, stupid girl."

I lurched, stunned. Samuel pushed to try to get in the way, but it was Savannah who held him back.

"Stay out of it, Samuel," she sneered. "This is a family matter."

Jennifer shoved me into the parlor, and the moment the doors closed behind us, the first blow was landed.

A burning slap across my face.

Then another.

And another.

"You ungrateful brat!" Jennifer spat, shoving me onto the floor. "Did you really think we'd let you go?"

Savannah ripped the ticket from my apron, waving it in front of my face. "You're going to give this to me," she said. "A good sister would do that."

I clutched my burning cheek, tears streaming down my face. "No," I croaked, shaking my head. "No, this is mine. I won it fair and square. Please, just let me go!"

Another slap.

My head was jerked to the side. My lip cracked.

"You think you deserve this?" Jennifer sneered. "After everything we've done for you? After all the food we've fed you? The roof we provided over your head?"

Savannah dropped down next to me, her head cocked teasingly. "What do you think people are going to say when they find out I won instead? Everyone would think so. Because who in the world would ever think that someone like you could possibly win something as wonderful as this?"

I wept. "Please…"

They kicked.

Punched.

Swore at me with every dirty name they could think of.

And then, the front doors swung open.

"What is all the noise?!";

We all stopped.

Mr. Greenhad come back.

He leaned against the door, his gaze ranging around the room. He took in my wrinkled, blood-streaked shape, Savannah clutching the folded ticket between her fingers, Jennifer's blazing countenance.

"What," he sneered, ominously, "is going on?"

Savannah sobbed, leaping right into role. "Daddy," she pouted, "Madison is being so unfair. She got an awesome opportunity, but she will not do what's right."

Jennifer nodded solemnly. "She should be happy to let Savannah go in her place. It’s only fair."

I sucked in a shaky breath, barely able to lift my head.

Mr. Greensighed, shaking his head. "Madison," he said, voice filled with disappointment. "You’ve always been an embarrassment to this family. But this? This selfishness? This refusal to do the right thing?"

Tears streamed down my face.

"I—I'm not selfish," I breathed. "I just want to leave. I just—I just want an opportunity."

The slap came rapidly.

"Ungrateful!" Jennifer screamed, dragging me to the door by the arm.

Savannah followed behind, shoving the few things I owned into a small, frayed bag.

Mr. Greenstepped in. He looked tranquil, but his tone was glacial.

"If you stay here, Madison, you'll do nothing but shame this family. And in fact, I will not stand to let you do it."

And then, without a word, he shoved me out into the rain.

I landed on the hard ground, my bag thumping down next to me.

Jennifer stooped, her lips twisting. "Don't come back," she panted. "Ever."

And then the door closed behind me.

I stood alone.

Wind blew past me.

Samuel was lost.

I grasped my battered ribs, shuddering with every muscle. The ticket—my only possibility of freedom—was gone.

I cried, cowering on the floor.

My whole body hurt.

And for the very first time in my life…

I simply didn't have a place to go.

How much hurt could one man take? How much more could I take before I completely broke?

I had nothing.

No money.

No home.

No one to turn to.

I was totally, utterly alone.

I sat up, rubbing my swollen eyes, when something touched my face. A strip of paper, carried by the wind, gently falling in my lap.

A poster.

I blinked, my eyes dim, but the big letters stood out.

SURROGATE PROGRAM

Complete accommodations offered. Make millions.

I let out a mocking laugh. What a cruel joke.

My hands shook as I re-read the details.

I was 28, with nothing. No proper qualifications, no prospects, no means of surviving independently.

Perhaps… this was my sole option.

Perhaps this was my escape.

Taking a trembling breath, I stood up, clutching the handful of things they had thrown out with me.

I knew this city. I'd been sent on errands for my family hundreds of times—I knew the

hospital wasn't far away.

And this time, I wasn't walking for them.

This time, I was walking for myself.

No more crying.

No more begging.

I was going to be free.

I owed myself that much.