Page 1 of The Lucky Winners

The hillside looms, steep and silent. The damp earth slips beneath your feet, moss and rot thick in the air. Overhead, the light is fading fast, dusk becoming night.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

You keep your gaze pinned on what lies up ahead. That pinnacle of perfection, the ostentatious prize.

The floor-to-ceiling glass windows gleam, a mocking beacon against the fading day. Perched on the hill like a trophy you do not deserve.

The interior is alive with light, every bulb burning as if to banish each and every shadow. The rooms within are impossibly modern and stark. Clean lines, white walls, polished steel. A place without history, without heart, without conscience.

Look at me, look at me and what I stand for!

Greed and excess. A reward for betrayal and lies.

Behind you, Lake Windermere shimmers like a restless serpent. The hillside winds ahead, steep and treacherous, but your steps are steady and your intention is strong.

The air grows colder as you climb, the damp seeping into your skin. Your fingers brush the solid metal in your pocket – its weight cold and familiar. The pulse in your temples is steady, even as the house draws near.

As you get closer, the glass panes reveal more. A figure moves within, a shadow against the light.

Your hand brushes a low branch, slick with rain, the comforting weight in your hand pressing heavier with each step.

You reach the door, your breath a faint mist in the chilled air, heart drumming slow and steady beneath the skin.

One moment stretches into another, taut as a stretched wire.

Your fingers find the door handle, cold and smooth.

One step, two steps, three steps. Four.

The light shifts inside, and there she is. Her head tilts, catching the glow of a pendant light, and for a heartbeat, she looks almost innocent. But you know better. That face – it’s the one that shattered everything.

The memory burns hot, twisting deep in your chest, until your knees threaten to buckle.

But you do not falter. You can’t. Not now.

It’s finally time to put things right.