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H appy fucking eighteenth to me, I thought as I stood at the bottom of the steps of the last care home I’d ever live in.

Mrs Jefferson had said goodbye and handed me an envelope.

Inside was a credit card in my name with two thousand dollars on.

It was pretty kind of her. Mrs Jefferson had also arranged an apartment for me and a job.

Strangely, I had left school with top marks.

Mrs Jefferson had been as surprised as anyone, well apart from me.

I knew I was clever; it was just nobody had ever showed an interest in me.

Now, I was legally an adult and basically on my own.

No one cared if I lived or died or even if I turned up for work tomorrow.

If I was a weaker person, I’d throw a pity party.

Not me. Something inside me was stronger than that.

I picked up my backpack with all my worldly goods in and headed for the bus. Luckily, it stopped outside my apartment.

I’d secured a job as an intern in an office. I was quick to learn and thankful for employment. Some kids left the care home and ended up on the streets, drugs and whoring soon took care of them. I didn’t care how bad shit got, I’d never prostitute my body.

The wind was chill today and blew through my thin coat.

Thanks to my less-than-ideal childhood, I knew how to budget and manage money.

I’d buy some smart outfits with the card Mrs Jefferson had given me and a new coat.

It wouldn’t do to arrive at a new job looking like what I was—an unwanted kid who nobody cared about.

2017

I stared at Belinda, the HR officer for the company I worked for.

“I don’t understand,” I stammered.

“Callie, when you signed the contract, you agreed to no interoffice relationships,” Belinda said slowly.

“I’m not retarded, I just don’t remember that clause,” I snapped.

“It’s there. And you’ve admitted to having a relationship with Adam Drake.”

“Is he being fired, too?” I demanded, anger flaring.

“Well, he is—”

“In other words, no. Because he’s management. Let me inform you I know I’m not Adam’s only girlfriend who worked here. Did you sack all of them too? You have a predator working here. And you’re as guilty as him for defending him,” I hissed.

Belinda had the grace to look shamefaced. “We’re giving you six months’ severance pay—”

“And in the meantime, I get blacklisted like all his other ex-girlfriends? Oh, the girls in the office couldn’t wait to tell me Adam’s past. You are as culpable as him.

Adam will keep getting away with this shit, and young women will have their lives ruined.

I wonder what a lawyer would say!” I continued and got to my feet.

“You can’t sue us!” Belinda cried.

“Wanna bet? You’ll be hearing from my lawyer!”

With all my dignity, I left the room. I passed the offices of the managers and saw their knowing looks. Yet another woman who’d fallen victim to the office Lothario.

Adam was nowhere to be seen. That wasn’t a surprise.

I was furious. I’d been up for promotion and everything and honestly had not known about that rule.

If I had, Adam could have done one. I’d been flattered by his attention, and, over time, he’d gained my trust and worn me down.

Adam had known what he was doing was wrong and hadn’t batted an eyelid. I wasn’t going to take this lying down.

2018

I despaired as I left my apartment, which had been in a semi-decent area, and headed towards my new shitty apartment.

Even though I’d won my case against Adam, I had been blacklisted.

Who’d want to hire someone who slept with management and then sued the company?

That was how I’d been labelled. The money I’d won wasn’t much, but I’d been vindicated, and other women were suing.

Sure, the job hadn’t been brilliant, and it hadn’t paid enough to let me build up savings, but it had allowed me to live like a human being. My payout showed just how low on the totem pole I was. Two steps above poverty. And I was in trouble.

The compensation had kept me afloat until now.

I was down on my luck and spiralling. A local restaurant had given me a waitress job, but it didn’t even come close to my old wage.

I had to downsize and sell most of my furniture.

The world was grinding me down, and I couldn’t stop it, no matter how hard I fought.

Standing in the street, I blew my cheeks out and bent my head.

I had to remember I was a fighter. But somehow, my strength seemed to have fled.

I’d gone from a nice job to a waitress making minimum wage.

How had that happened? I wasn’t stupid. I should have seen the warning signs with Adam, but I hadn’t.

The unwanted child had raised her head when Adam had showed affection, and, like an idiot, I had fallen for it. My entire life, I’d been ground down, ignored, a burden, and here was Adam with candle-lit dinners and romance. My inner self had gone after him like a dog with a hambone. Fool!

Why the hell hadn’t I remembered that nobody really wanted me?

They wanted shit from me, but they never actually needed or cared about me.

I tried straightening my shoulders but couldn’t.

The world had won. I was moving into a cockroach-infested slum.

It was no more than I deserved. A kid dumped by her parents and with no friends or support.

2019

Sisters. I had sisters and a brother somewhere out there.

An hour ago, strangers had knocked and claimed to be my family. When I opened the door, I was blown away by an identical person staring at me. Not only was she my quint, but she was also my identical twin. I was twenty-freaking-four and had just discovered family.

Polly, my twin, seemed shocked as I brought out two bags of items that I owned.

Thalia, who was dressed in extremely expensive clothing, looked at me with pity.

Somewhere inside, a flicker of pride lit, and I drew my shoulders back.

Sure, she’d given me one hundred thousand dollars, but so what?

I wanted their stories. Had we all been adopted, or just me? Was it a kidnapping situation?

Clio, the pregnant one, held my hands.

“I thought nobody would ever come for me,” I muttered.

“We came, it just took time,” Clio murmured.

I sensed a similar person to me in Clio. Somehow, her life had been as hard as mine. But Thalia, no, she had money, obviously. And Polly, my quint-twin, seemed to have had a happy life, too.

I stared out of the window as I tried to assimilate what had just happened in the last hour.

The limo sped towards the airport as I said goodbye to Roanoke, Virginia.

The town had been cruel to me many times over, and I wouldn’t miss it.

But I was on guard. While I was quiet and usually unassuming, I wasn’t stupid.

I had strength and a temper. They were why I had survived the abuse I’d received in some of my foster homes. A small part of me was desperate for a family… okay, a huge piece of me. But it didn’t mean I was going to accept them blindly.

Firstly, the men with my sisters wore cuts.

That meant they belonged to an MC. Which could mean they were dangerous.

Fortunately, I understood about judging people and wasn’t going to make snap judgements.

Long ago, I’d been taught to be cautious and keep my thoughts in my head; that wasn’t about to change yet.

And sure, Thalia had put one hundred thousand in my bank, and mentioned ten million, but that sure as fuck didn’t mean I trusted her. In fact, it was even more suspicious. Who the hell gave away millions of dollars? Nah. I’d stay on guard.

◆◆◆

It was hard to stay on guard the next day.

Clio clearly hated shopping but was willing to do it for her sisters.

Polly also loathed it. Thalia and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Thalia had kept her word, and I had woken to ten million dollars in the bank.

I’d been totally blown away. Even so, doubt remained prevalent, and I moved all but half a million into a saving account.

No way was I going to risk that much money.

It had been wonderful to go shopping and not worry about hitting the thrift stores.

I’d never had that, not even when I had a decent job.

My style was different from the others, but I was fine with that.

It allowed me to indulge my love of slightly steampunk—and not having to worry about money made it so much more enjoyable.

A guy called Shee had shadowed us, who really did enjoy shopping. He used the four of us as clothes horses, making pithy comments and guiding us away from fashion disasters.

Clio repeatedly teased him about his taste until he refused to help her, and then she begged for forgiveness.

The whole scene was rather amusing. But while Clio warmly embraced everyone, as did Thalia, who maybe tried a bit too hard, Polly was reticent like me.

Polly was the youngest but also the most famous of us.

I could understand her wariness. But she’d had a stable home and not survived what Clio and I had.

At the end of the day, I was relieved to return to my hotel room. Because even though it seemed I had a place, I didn’t know where I fit in. Gaining what I’d always wanted came with additional problems I’d not expected. Seems there was always a freaking issue somewhere!

Callie – 2020

I grinned at the team assembled around the table.

Grandma sat next to me as I smiled at Phil, Freddie, Harry, and Jack.

Phil was our cameraman; he’d be responsible for setting up the cameras and making sure we had coverage.

Phil would also edit our footage and watch the monitors.

Freddie was the tech girl—and boy, did she have some.

Harry loved research, and Jack was a seasoned investigator; we were lucky to grab him.