Chapter 1

Our family was so poor we could barely afford to eat, yet the lottery ticket I casually bought won five million dollars.

My brother's eyes turned red as he lunged at me, snatching the ticket and trying to tear it up.

My dad, who usually doted on me most, held a knife to my throat: "If you don't tear up that thing, I'll cut off your hands today."

Even my mom, bedridden and waiting for life-saving money, propped up her weak body and crawled over, crying out in terror: "You can't claim the prize."

To stop me from claiming the prize, my family tied me up in the basement and threw in a starving wolf-dog.

In the end, I was mauled to death by that beast.

When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day I won the lottery.

My brother was holding two stale pieces of bread, smiling as he handed them to me. "Stella, once our family has money, we can take you out for your favorite pasta."

"By the way, did that lottery ticket you bought win anything?"

Hearing his concerned voice, I snapped back to reality.

Looking at the familiar lottery ticket in my hand, I realized I had been reborn—reborn to the day I won the lottery.

In my previous life, I occasionally bought lottery tickets, and my whole family hoped that one day I'd win big and we could live a good life.

Our family was very poor.

I had already dropped out of school because we couldn't afford the tuition.

My brother was about to get married, but if we couldn't scrape together money for a house soon, his girlfriend would break up with him.

When Dad was working as a security guard, he accidentally damaged a resident's luxury car and still owed a huge compensation payment.

And Mom had kidney failure and was waiting for money to stay alive.

The whole family struggled even to eat enough—every meal was just nibbling on bread.

Yesterday, I dreamed of a set of lottery numbers. The moment I woke up, I went to the lottery store and bought a ticket.

After the drawing, I checked repeatedly and confirmed I'd won the jackpot.

I excitedly told my brother, who was in the kitchen slicing bread. He took the ticket, looked closely at it, and his smile froze on his face, replaced by a look of terror. Without a word, he tried to tear up the ticket.

I quickly snatched it back and said urgently:

"Once we claim the prize, our family will have money! You can buy a house and get married, and Mom will have money for treatment."

But my brother acted as if he couldn't hear me, frantically fighting me for the ticket.

In the chaos, desperate, I bit down hard on his hand. He cried out in pain and staggered back a few steps.

My brother's eyes were bloodshot, his face twisted as he roared at me: "Stella, you can't claim that prize! Tear up the ticket now!"

That terrifying look left me frozen in place, trembling all over.

Just then, Dad came home.

Seeing my brother cornering me, he didn't say a word—just slapped my brother on the back of the head: "How dare you bully your sister!"

My brother pointed at me with a shaking finger, his voice breaking:

"She dreamed of a lottery number sequence and bought a ticket that won five million dollars!"

Hearing this, the anger on Dad's face instantly turned to terror.

His eyes went wide as he rushed into the kitchen like a madman, grabbed a knife, and charged at me.

"Tear up that winning ticket right now, or I'll kill you!"

Dad's knife was about to come down when Mom came in just in time and shielded me.

"Have you lost your mind? You're going to use a knife on our daughter!"

Dad gave a cold laugh.

"Stella's lottery ticket won."

"So what? Stella's always been lucky—she wins five or ten dollars all the time."

"It's the jackpot. Five million dollars."

Mom, who had just been protecting me, turned deathly pale, as if she'd seen a ghost. She shoved me out of her arms and shook her head frantically: "No, no, you can't."

At that moment I realized my whole family didn't want me to claim the prize. I waved my hands frantically, trying to explain:

"This money isn't just mine! With this money, my brother can start a family, Dad won't have to hide from creditors, Mom can get treatment and surgery, and I can go back to college. This is a miracle for us!"

But neither parent paid me any attention. They frowned and exchanged panicked glances.

Then Dad spoke: "We can't let her leave the house anymore."

Mom's face darkened.

"I have an idea. Lock her in the basement with the wolf-dog."

I stood frozen, my whole body numb, unable to believe what I was hearing.

I couldn't understand why, after learning I'd won five million dollars, they'd all changed completely.

Our whole family desperately needed money. This windfall should have been a blessing, so why had things turned out this way?

Before I could figure it out, my parents started dragging me toward the basement.

In my panic, I turned and tried to run, but my brother grabbed me.

I cried and begged them to let me go, even saying that if they didn't trust me, I'd give them the ticket and let them claim the prize.

However, they turned a deaf ear to my pleas and forced me into the dark, stinking basement.

They wouldn't let me eat or drink, and they put a starving wolf-dog in the basement with me.

My whole family knew that I'd been bitten by a wild dog as a child and was terrified of dogs.

The moment I saw the wolf-dog, I nearly collapsed in fear. I pounded on the door with all my strength, begging them to let me out.

But no matter how much I cried and screamed, no one responded.

The wolf-dog suddenly lunged at me and tore a chunk of flesh from my thigh.

The intense smell of blood rushed into my nose. I passed out from the pain.

After one night, my parents and brother came to the basement to see me.

My mom asked with a smile: "Stella, you must be hungry? I brought you some bread."

I laughed bitterly, not understanding how she could act like nothing had happened.

I demanded like a madwoman: "Why? Why are you doing this to me?"

The smile vanished from her face instantly, replaced by cold indifference.

Dad's face also darkened, his eyes full of disgust. Then he kicked me in the chest.

"You ungrateful bastard."

The pain made it hard for me to even breathe.

A terrifying coldness churned in Mom's eyes as the corners of her mouth curved into a chilling arc.

"Since Stella doesn't want to eat bread, let's bring in a few more wolf-dogs to keep her company."

"These beasts have all been specially trained. They know how to 'entertain' disobedient brats."

Then they released several wolf-dogs that surrounded and trapped me, tearing at me viciously.

My two arms were torn clean off. In less than a day, I died in excruciating pain.

Even in death, I didn't understand why they wanted to kill me after learning I'd won five million dollars.

The terror from my previous life surged through me. I clutched the lottery ticket tightly and took a deep breath.

This time, I had to find out the truth.