The day I won the lottery, my biological parents, who abandoned me years ago, showed up at my door with my younger brother. They asked if I could give the lottery ticket to Leo, my brother, as a wedding gift. I readily agreed, wishing Leo and his fiancée, Isabelle, a lifetime of happiness. My adoptive mother, Eleanor, who was seriously ill and desperately needed that prize money for her treatment, was heartbroken. She lay in bed, sobbing uncontrollably. My adoptive father, Arthur, pointed at me, calling me an ungrateful wretch and threatening to throw me out. Even so, I stubbornly insisted on handing the five-million-dollar winning ticket to Leo, a brother I’d never even met. Leo and my biological parents happily took the ticket to cash it in. But as I watched them leave, I couldn’t help but smile, a look of pity in my eyes. Just as I was about to hand the lottery ticket to Leo, Arthur stopped me. “Chloe, have you forgotten how heartlessly they abandoned you at the train station all those years ago? How you almost got taken by traffickers!” Of course, I hadn’t forgotten. It was Arthur and Eleanor who, without a thought for their own safety, rescued me from the traffickers and brought me home to raise me. Now, Eleanor was gravely ill, tormented by her sickness in bed. But I simply smiled and took my biological parents’ hands. “I’m sure Mom and Dad had an extremely difficult reason back then. Even if they couldn’t keep me, I know they must have thought of me.” Arthur shook his head, pleading with me earnestly, trying to talk some sense into me. “Chloe, you’re being foolish. If they truly cared about you, why didn’t they ever look for you all these years? And now, the moment you win the lottery, they show up? Isn’t their motive obvious?” Valerie draped an arm over my shoulder, looking at Arthur with undisguised disdain. “Chloe is my flesh and blood. Our hearts are connected, a bond that your words can’t possibly break. As for you two, didn’t you just raise my daughter because your own child died, hoping she’d take care of you in your old age? You’re always so petty and self-serving. It’s no wonder your own child couldn’t wait to escape your household.” Arthur closed his eyes in pain, struggling to hold back from striking her. He was too stunned to even argue. Years ago, Arthur and Eleanor’s biological daughter was killed. They spent every penny they had on lawyers to fight the case. During their toughest times, they were so poor they could barely afford food. But even then, they never once mistreated me, their adopted daughter. Yet here I was, watching them being vilified without a word, and ignoring their protests to give that lottery ticket to my biological brother. What surprised me was that after taking the ticket, Leo suddenly fixated on the bracelet on my wrist. “My fiancée, Isabelle, isn’t here, but as her older sister, preparing a welcome gift for your future sister-in-law isn’t too much to ask, right? I think this bracelet would be perfect.” Valerie’s gaze also landed on my gold bracelet. She chimed in, supporting her precious son, “Oh, yes, it’s beautiful! Perfect as a gift, very classy. Go on, take it off and give it to your brother.” This bracelet was a gift from Arthur and Eleanor for my eighteenth birthday. They had spent several years’ worth of savings on it. They told me that if I ever encountered an emergency and needed money, this bracelet would be there for me. Now, with Eleanor’s sudden illness, selling it would cover her surgery and follow-up treatments. Seeing them eye the bracelet, Arthur quickly grabbed my hand, even kneeling to beg me. “Don’t give it away! We have no savings left. Your mom is counting on this bracelet to save her life. It’s our last resort!” Arthur’s voice trembled, but I remained expressionless. “Since the bracelet was given to me, how I choose to deal with it is my own business.” With that, I smoothly removed the bracelet and personally handed it to Leo. “We share the same blood; we are family, the closest kind. This bracelet is a small token from your older sister. I wish you and Isabelle a happy marriage and a lifetime of love.”
Valerie burst out laughing, pleased that her objective was achieved. She and Marcus left first. Leo, however, suddenly changed his expression, looking at me with undisguised triumph. “Mom was right, you really are as dumb as a rock. Did you truly believe Mom and Dad never looked for you all these years? You don’t know, do you? After high school, you actually got into a prestigious university. It was my mom who deliberately found Ashley to impersonate you and steal your academic spot. She intercepted your admission letter, making you believe you failed and didn’t get in.” Arthur’s brows furrowed in anger, his eyes wide with shock. “What did Chloe ever do wrong? Why would you do that to her? As Chloe’s biological mother, how could Valerie be so cruel?” Leo folded his arms, scoffing at me with disdain. “Why else? Mom just couldn’t stand you being better than me, couldn’t stand you succeeding. She wanted to prove that abandoning you all those years ago was the best decision she ever made.” Meeting Leo’s taunting gaze, my expression remained blank, but my fingers involuntarily curled, my heart shattering into pieces. Proof? Those two light words denied not just all my efforts in high school, but my entire life. When I didn’t receive my admission letter back then, I blamed myself so much that I became depressed. On one hand, I felt I had disappointed my parents’ expectations, and on the other, I endured the cold ridicule of relatives and friends. But the family’s financial situation at the time didn’t allow me to repeat a year, so that incident became an eternal pain in my heart. Arthur tried to snap me out of it, gritting his teeth as he said, “Chloe, they treated you like this, and you still think ‘blood ties’ are everything? Wake up, child. They don’t deserve to be your parents!” I clenched my fists so tightly that my nails dug into my palms, drawing blood. Yet, the expression on my face remained unchanged, still that stubborn, misguided look. “Regardless, Mom’s suffering from carrying me for ten months is not fake. And their coming to find me today shows they still care about me. If they ask me for anything, let alone a bracelet or a lottery ticket, I’d even go to hell and back for them!” Eleanor wept, her eyes swollen, her sobs filled with utter disappointment. Arthur slapped me, his hand trembling with rage, threatening to throw me out of the house. Several neighbors, who had been eavesdropping at the door, couldn’t help but sigh. “Oh, I always thought Chloe was such a filial child. Who knew she’d be so cold-hearted towards her adoptive parents?” “Exactly. I even heard her confidently say she’d make her parents proud and give them a good life. Turns out she meant her biological parents.” “Those two worked themselves to the bone to raise her, and now that Mom’s so sick, she just sits back and does nothing? What a completely ungrateful wretch!”
The doctor said surgery within a week was the best course of action. To earn money, Arthur started frantically looking for odd jobs. At noon, I went to the construction site and saw him carrying a huge sack of cement on his back. The grimace on his face told me his old back injury had flared up again. Under the blazing sun, his clothes were soaked with sweat, and his skin was peeling from the sunburn. In an instant, tears streamed down my face. I ran toward him, wanting to help, but just then, a steel plate above us suddenly loosened. As it crashed down, Arthur, with lightning-fast reflexes, pulled me out of the way. We were safe, but another worker wasn’t so lucky. He was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with a severe, crippling injury. That evening, Arthur was suddenly called in by his supervisor for questioning about the incident. It turned out that during the investigation, several of the other workers had unanimously claimed the accident was due to Arthur’s negligence, presenting their story convincingly. Unfortunately, that spot was a blind spot for the security cameras, and no matter how Arthur tried to explain, no one believed him. This meant we wouldn’t just lose his wages; we’d also face a massive compensation claim. Eleanor’s surgery funds were still up in the air, and now this happened. The family was suffocating under the pressure. Arthur’s hair turned white overnight. A kind neighbor earnestly advised me to get the lottery ticket back. “Even if they’re your adoptive parents, with no blood relation, they’ve treated you exceptionally well all these years! You can honor your biological parents in a different way. Your family’s situation is dire right now; you have to take care of yourselves first, don’t you?” Arthur and Eleanor also looked at me expectantly, placing their last hope in me. “Yes, Chloe, the money we’re using now is basically borrowed from you. We can write an IOU. We’ll definitely pay you back slowly, okay?” How could I not know that getting the winning lottery ticket back would resolve all the difficulties our family was facing? But even at this point, I still shook my head, appearing unwilling to listen. The neighbor sighed, calling me heartless and beyond saving. “You’re utterly impossible to reason with! Oh, you two would have been better off raising a dog than this daughter. All that money for her education and upbringing was completely wasted.” Arthur and Eleanor’s gazes dimmed. Deeply disappointed in me, they both broke down in tears. Yet, despite the neighbor’s urging for them to disown me, they consistently refused. They said that no matter what I did, I would always be their daughter.
My nose stung, and I fought hard to keep the tears from falling. They didn’t understand. The lottery ticket could never be taken by me directly; Valerie had to give it to me willingly. Only then could I prevent the tragedy of my previous life from repeating itself. During this time, our family had become the talk and laughingstock of the neighborhood. Everyone sighed with regret for my parents, who had raised such a heartless ingrate. Watching the many white hairs that had appeared on my parents overnight, I clenched my fists, finally unable to bear it. “Dad, Mom, do you… trust me?” Arthur and Eleanor exchanged glances. After a few seconds of hesitation, they finally nodded, a flicker of doubt in their eyes. My eyes welled up, and I gripped their hands tightly, telling them firmly that they needed to wait three more days. It was currently a long public holiday, and the lottery agency was closed, so no one could cash in a ticket. This gave me the perfect opportunity to execute my plan. If all went well, in three days, Valerie would regret her actions. This time, I would protect my family and make those who had hurt me and my loved ones pay! Time flew by. Three mornings later, there was a sudden knock on our door. I subtly curved my lips. She’s here, just as expected. I opened the door calmly. Valerie, looking incredibly eager, pushed the lottery ticket into my hand and said the words I had already predicted: “Chloe, this lottery ticket is yours. You absolutely must keep it safe! Cash it in as soon as the holiday is over. And remember, no matter what, don’t let your father, Marcus, or your brother, Leo, get their hands on it, okay?” She seemed to be in a hurry to do something else, tossing out those two sentences before rushing away. Arthur and Eleanor, after confirming the lottery ticket in my hand hadn’t been swapped, widened their eyes in astonishment. They simply couldn’t believe that someone like Valerie would suddenly have a change of heart. I smiled faintly, telling them Valerie hadn’t truly repented. Then, word by word, I revealed the hidden truth from my previous life.
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