Chapter 2

Mom and Dad were being all mysterious, saying they'd reveal it after lunch.

But Maxine and I couldn't wait a second longer.

So they gave in and announced it early.

"The super surprise is a BMW worth over three hundred thousand!"

"Wow!"

"Wow!"

Maxine and I both jumped up and down.

A car worth over three hundred thousand. If I actually won it, it would be the most valuable gift I'd received in my whole life.

Next to that BMW, the phone, the tablet, the laptop were nothing.

Mom and Dad said they needed to get things ready and we'd draw in a bit.

This time it was my turn to pick.

I hurried off to the bathroom, wanting to wash my hands nice and clean. This time my luck was going to turn.

"You ready? Don't mess this up."

Dad's voice was pushed way down, leaking faintly through the gap in the master bedroom door.

Mom answered under her breath. "Relax. This round it's Rebecca's turn. Both slips are blank."

"Good. Same as always. Once she's picked, you draw her attention and I'll swap out the other one. Don't let her catch on."

I stood in the doorway, and something went off in my head like a bomb.

Why?

Why, exactly?

Since I was little, I'd never once won a drawing.

Every time, Mom and Dad said I just had bad luck, that some people are simply born with a losing touch.

They said it so often I ended up believing it too.

Only now did I understand. There was no fate, no destiny. It had all been done on purpose.

And the ones behind it were my own parents.

Maxine and I were twins. Born together, raised together, faces exactly alike.

If I hadn't been their real daughter, treating us differently might at least have made some sense.

But that was impossible.

Thinking of how, for all these years, my own parents had rigged this together, the last bit of hope I had left died.

"Heh."

My whole chest was bitter, so blocked I couldn't breathe, my eyes swollen like they might burst.

"What are you doing outside Mom and Dad's door, putting on the pitiful act to fish for sympathy?

"You've got bad luck yourself, so now you pull a cheap trick like this. You have no shame!"

Maxine spat out her poisonous little theory.

She was the favored one. The illusion our parents built for her had her convinced that everything was hers by right.

If I ever won, it could only be because I'd cheated.

"I'm not as disgusting as you. I'll beat you fair and square, and you'll have nothing to say about it."

I forced the tears back down.

It was the first time I'd ever talked back to Maxine over a drawing, the first time I'd said I would beat her.

She couldn't stand me taking that tone with her, and she actually chased after me, cursing.

Seeing us fight, Mom and Dad rushed over to smooth things out.

Once they'd calmed the two of us down, they had us draw for the grand prize right away.

"By the rules, this round is Rebecca's turn," Dad announced.

I hadn't even picked yet, and Maxine was already upset.

"Mom, Dad, this isn't fair," she complained.

"Go on, tell us. How is it not fair?"

"Compared to the BMW, the first three rounds were all small prizes. Why does she get to go first the second there's a big one?

"If I'd known the last round was a BMW, I definitely would've let her draw first."

Maxine pouted and worked her charm on our parents, begging to go first.

"No. That wouldn't be fair to your sister. You're the older one, you should set an example and respect the rules of the game."

Dad put on a stern face, scolded Maxine, and firmly shut down her objection.

They looked fair, but they were full of calculation.

If they really let Maxine pick first, their precious daughter would actually lose.

"All right, enough fussing. Let's just get started."

Mom pulled two paper slips out of her pocket and held them up in front of me.