Money flows to the writer.
If you learn nothing else, understand this one concrete fact. Yes, the business of writing may cost you money. You have to pay professional editors, book cover designers, marketers, admin assistants, etc. (or whoever helps you create a publishable book and business). But no... you never pay to get published.
YOU DO NOT PAY TO GET PUBLISHED.
As creative and magical and artistic as fiction writing is, if you publish your book, you have created a product. Your manuscript or book is a product. You either polish it up and sell it yourself (self-publishing) or you sell the rights for the story to a real publisher who polishes it up and sells it for you... for a cut of the profits.
You created the product, so you should get most of the money for selling it. Makes sense, right? People who make toasters do not pay stores to put them on their shelves. The stores pay a wholesale cost to the toaster-makers for the toasters and sell them at a profit.
DO NOT PAY TO GET PUBLISHED
Publishing Fiction is a Business
The moment you submit a story for publication or decide to self-publish, you are involved in the business of publishing. You're offering a product for sale.
Everything will go a lot smoother if you understand things like copyright, rights and licenses, contracts, and how payment works.
There are far too many people out there preying on uninformed writers. The more you learn about this business, the less chance you have of getting scammed.