‘I’m sick of fucking freeloaders. You want a bed, you earn it. Now go. Don’t come back till you’ve got money in your pocket or something worth trading.’
He shoves me towards the door and I look at Mum.
She shakes her head.
‘Just do as he says.’
And so I run, barefoot, straight out into the cold. My eyes sting. My skin too.
Christmas lights blink in other windows, families laughing inside. It makes me run faster, harder…
I don’t stop until I reach the cages. I grab the bars and hold on tight. Breathe in the air until my chest stops hurting.
People walk by, but they don’t stop. Their eyes slide right past me, like I ain’t even there.
Dad’s right. No one’ll ever see me coming.
I’m invisible. Worthless. Just a kid nobody wants.
I slink into the shadows and quickly learn the rest:
How to stay out of trouble.
How to take what I need.
How to survive.
Because it ain’t the law I’m afraid of.
It’s him.
3
TAYLOR
Present Day – Theo & Sadie’s Wedding Night!
I want a baby.
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking:
Your sister just got hitched to your best friend, and now you’re all broody and sentimental, wishing for the same.
But I’ve never been one for sappiness.
Not love, not marriage, not kids. None of it.
At fifteen, I became mum to my three-year-old sister, Sadie. And as much as I adored her – still do – it was enough to put me off motherhood for life.
So this whole ‘I want a baby’ revelation?
Yeah… didn’t see that coming.
Especially not at thirty-eight.
Not with the life I’ve built, clawing my way up from the wrong side of everything to become the woman who owns her world. The empire. The address. The freedom.
Every inch earned with blood, sweat, and sheer determination.
