Chapter 3

The clerk stared. "That's...a significant number. Are you sure you want all of them?"

I nodded, my gaze firm.

Derek, who had followed on my heels, came up and clapped a hand on my shoulder.

"I had my eye on the nines today too, honey. Let me have one."

"No."

I didn't even hesitate. There was no chance I was giving him a shot at that five million. My family's lives depended on it.

Derek's smile stiffened on his face.

Scarlett stepped in to smooth things over, pulling out five dollars.

"Derek, I think the eights look lucky today too."

"Fine."

They exchanged a sweet glance, which sent shivers down my spine.

"Derek, well? Did you win?"

Derek sighed, rubbing his forehead, and shook his head.

In my previous life, when they came out for their anniversary, Scarlett suggested buying a lottery ticket for fun.

But to their surprise, that ticket hit the $5 million jackpot. Derek immediately saw Scarlett as his lucky charm and brought her right to my doorstep to gloat.

Well. Now the winning ticket was safely in my hands. How this game would be played was entirely my decision.

The next day, I took the ticket and claimed the prize. After taxes, I walked away with a cool $4 million.

Worried Derek might snoop through my accounts, I immediately transferred the entire amount to my father's bank account.

In my previous life, because I made good money as an influencer, I'd give Derek $7,500 every month.

It was for his expenses, framed as compensation for taking care of me since he didn't work.

Ever since we started dating and then got married, Derek had never held a job.

He'd rub my shoulders, coaxing me.

"My colleagues always isolated me. I don't know what I did wrong."

"Ava, you work outside, and I'll be your supportive partner at home."

"I love cooking, cleaning, and giving you massages. It makes me so happy."

At the time, I was completely swept away by his sweet talk and kept supporting him.

And he, in turn, shamelessly used my money to keep his mistress!

The thought made me tremble with rage.

When I got home, I saw Derek and Scarlett sitting on opposite ends of the sofa.

Scarlett's hair was a little disheveled, and her lipstick was smudged.

Both their clothes had wrinkles.

It was clear how intense things had been on the sofa before I came home.

"Ava, weren't you supposed to be filming a commercial?" Scarlett adjusted her collar.

"Yeah, why are you back so soon? Why didn't you tell me? I would've picked you up," Derek said, his eyes darting away.

I found the panicked looks on their faces incredibly amusing.

"Oh, they canceled it last minute."

I took a couple of steps then suddenly turned back. "What were you two doing just now? You're both out of breath."

The two on the sofa froze. A long silence hung in the air before

Derek spoke.

"We were... just exercising. That's why we're tired."

I gave a nod of feigned understanding and retreated to my room.

In minutes, I'd created a new TikTok account. My first post went live.

"GUESS WHAT?! I just won $5 MILLION from that lottery giveaway!"

I made sure to tag my main account.

At lunch, Derek's face was stormy.

"Did you see," he demanded, his voice tight, "that post from one of your followers? The one about winning five million from your giveaway?"