My name is Fiona Knight. That day, a woman named Camila Acosta came to my lottery shop claiming she had won a hundred million dollars. She held up a lottery ticket and shouted at the camera, “I won a hundred million dollars! But the shop owner saw I’m from the countryside and refused to cash my prize!” “Tomorrow is the deadline to claim the prize. My parents are still in the hospital, waiting for this money to save their lives!” She pointed the camera at me. Viewers in the livestream started cursing at me. [This shop owner is so cruel! That’s her parents’ life-saving money!] [Cash the prize immediately! Or we’ll all come and smash your store!] I just looked at the camera coldly and said, “Cash the prize? Impossible. You can sue me in court.” My words ignited the anger of the viewers. They all offered to help Camila send me to jail. But she hesitated and refused, “I’m just a rural person, I don’t dare to cause trouble, I just want to get back my parents’ life-saving money.” When the viewers heard this, they cursed me even more harshly. “You scumbag! How dare you bully an honest rural person like this! You’re absolutely heartless!” “If you don’t give the prize, just go die!” “How can someone like you exist in society? Are you deaf? Her parents are waiting for this money to save their lives!” I looked at the flood of foul language in the livestream, but my face remained expressionless. Suddenly, Camila knelt down in front of me. Her forehead slammed heavily onto the ground, and blood quickly seeped from her temple. She raised her blood-covered face and hoarsely begged me, “Miss, I beg you, please let me claim the prize. My parents are still in the hospital waiting for me.” “I know you look down on us rural folks, but that’s my parents’ life-saving money.” “Those are two living lives, please let me claim the prize!” She clutched my pant leg, her voice trembling. “As long as you’re willing to let me claim the prize, I’m willing to give you half!” “I swear, we can sign a contract. I’m willing to give you half the prize money, as long as you’re willing to let me claim it.” “I beg you, tomorrow is the final deadline.” Her words won the sympathy of the livestream viewers. But I remained unmoved, calmly repeating, “I won’t claim this prize. If you have any objections, just take me to court.” The comment section was flooded with another wave of insults. [You’re just a lottery shop owner, why are you acting so high and mighty?] [What gives you the right not to redeem the prize? Just wait to go to jail!] [I’ve never seen such an arrogant lottery shop owner in my life. Are you even human? Redeem the prize now!] [Are you going through menopause? If you want to die, just go ahead!] I ignored the insults, turned around, entered the shop, and locked the glass door. Outside, only Camila’s hoarse cries remained. At this moment, someone online recognized me. [Isn’t this the lottery shop I often visit? I buy a lottery ticket there once a week, and the owner is quite friendly.] [Yeah, I also often buy lottery tickets at this shop. I have pretty good luck and occasionally win small prizes. She has never refused to pay out.] [Yeah, my friend even won a hundred thousand dollars.] But these faint voices were immediately drowned out by the netizens’ scolding. [I think you all have no conscience. Did this woman hire someone to clear her name so quickly?] [You’re accomplices too, go to jail together!] [She’s a good person? Nonsense! That girl was waiting for the money to save her parents’ lives, so why wouldn’t she cash the lottery ticket? It’s clearly malicious!] Those who spoke up for me quickly fell silent. The entire morning passed, and Camila knelt outside with a pale face. No matter how she begged, I sat there coldly, saying nothing.
At night, I closed the shop and went home. Sure enough, my name was trending at the top. Under the entry, it was filled with overwhelming insults and curses against me. 【I’ve already found out, the shop owner is called Fiona Knight!】 【I think she grew up without parents’ guidance and became antisocial.】 【This vicious woman! If I see her on the street, I’ll kick her to death!】 Pinned at the top was a video posted by Camila. In the video, she is in a hospital room, with her parents in the background hooked up to ventilators. Her voice trembled, “Dear netizens, I’m not trying to seek pity on purpose, but my parents urgently need surgery, or their lives will be in danger. “I don’t ask for much. I’ve said before, as long as Fiona is willing to help me claim the prize, I’m willing to share half of the winnings with her. “As long as she’s willing to help me claim the prize and save my parents…” The comment section was filled with sympathy for her and even more vicious curses directed at me. I looked at all this and just smiled faintly. Then, I started the livestream. The netizens instantly flooded in. Facing the camera, I still said the same thing, “No matter what, I won’t let Camila claim the prize.” In an instant, the curses grew even more intense. [Are you out of your mind? Hand over the money now!] [It’s not like the money’s coming from you, just redeem the prize.] [You’ll face retribution!] At this moment, some shop owners nearby came out to speak up for me. [Could there be more to this? Fiona’s lottery shop has always had a good reputation.] [Yeah, in the past three years, different customers have won the ten-million-dollar jackpot three times, and nothing like this has ever happened.] Some even provided winning photos as evidence. But this evidence only sparked resistance from netizens. [Are you guys stupid? So what if she’s redeemed prizes before? She’s clearly bullying rural folks now.] [She’ll get what’s coming to her sooner or later.] [She’s purely antisocial. She knows that girl urgently needs money but deliberately delays giving the prize.] [Aren’t you afraid her parents will come after you for revenge when they die?] Netizens fiercely warned me in the livestream. [Fiona, remember, tomorrow at 10 a.m. is your last chance.] At that moment, Camila joined the livestream. Her eyes were red, and her voice choked. “I beg you, please come tomorrow morning.” “I’ll wait outside the shop all night. Once I get the money, my parents can have their surgery.” “I beg you, have mercy on me.” The livestream viewers were filled with sorrow. [This poor girl, both her parents are sick.] [She finally won the lottery, thinking it was a turning point, but ended up facing a demon.] [Why doesn’t that scumbag just die?] I stayed silent the whole time, watching everything expressionlessly. Before I ended the livestream, I calmly said, “Sorry, the lottery shop is closed tomorrow.”
Early the next morning, I got a call from the shop owner next door. Her tone was extremely anxious. “Fiona, what on earth are you doing? Hurry up and cash in the lottery!” “Do you know how many people are crowding at your shop’s door right now?” “Your shop door has already been splashed with paint, and even those of us who spoke up for you are getting dragged into this!” Hearing the noisy shouting and cursing on the other end of the line, I said nothing and directly hung up the phone. At that moment, someone opened my door. My husband Henry Parker and daughter Bella Parker, who were supposed to return the day after tomorrow, stood at the door. As soon as Henry walked in, he anxiously asked me, “What’s going on online? Why aren’t you giving out the prize?” Seeing that I didn’t respond, he continued, “Do you have any idea how scary netizens can be? They’ve already dug up information about Bella and me!” “Go claim the prize immediately, I’ll drive you there.” I stepped aside to avoid his reaching hand. “I won’t give her the prize.” Henry frowned and questioned, “What’s wrong with you? You run a lottery shop, a customer wins, and you refuse to pay? What does that mean?” Bella whispered, “Mom, you’re not really thinking of keeping the money like they’re saying online, are you?” “But even if she doesn’t take out the winning ticket, you still won’t get the money.” “Didn’t you hear her? Her parents are in the hospital waiting for this money to save their lives!” Looking at their anxious expressions, I calmly said, “I told you, I won’t cash this lottery ticket.” Henry immediately got angry upon hearing this and grabbed my hand, trying to drag me out. “I think you’ve really lost it!” “Do you have to ruin all of us before you’re satisfied?” “My boss already recognized you! He called and told me to sort out my family issues quickly, or I won’t get the promotion!” Bella sobbed, “Mom, my classmates are all laughing at me, saying you bully people from the countryside. What’s wrong with you? You weren’t like this before!” Seeing her in tears, my heart ached terribly. But in the end, I just trembled and said, “I still stand by my words, I will never give her the prize.” Henry stared at me for a few seconds and said, “If you refuse to give her the prize, then we’ll get a divorce!” “Bella’s custody goes to me. If you’re willing to be the sinner and face the consequences, we won’t.” I took a deep breath and finally nodded in agreement. Henry, furious, packed up with Bella and left. Not long after, my mom called. “Fiona! We told you not to open a lottery shop, but you insisted. “Now, you refuse to give customers their prizes, making such a mess. You’ve completely embarrassed your dad and me. From now on, just stay out there and never come back!” After hanging up, I realized my mom had removed me from the family group chat. All the relatives in the family also blocked and deleted me. At this moment, I looked at the clock on the wall, and it pointed exactly to ten o’clock. Great, the lottery redemption deadline has passed.
Right after, my phone kept ringing nonstop, with people constantly calling to harass me. Netizens have already found out my home address and are rushing over. I left home and randomly found a hotel. Meanwhile, Camila in the livestream was still accusing me, “I really didn’t expect to encounter something like this. “I won a hundred million dollar jackpot, but the lottery shop owner refuses to give me the prize!” At this point, many netizens expressed their willingness to provide her with free legal assistance. But Camila shook her head. “It’s no use, everything is too late. “Without this money, what’s the point of sending Fiona to jail? My parents can’t wait any longer.” Netizens started raising funds for her voluntarily, but she firmly refused. She said, “This is my family matter, I can’t trouble everyone.” “Everyone has it tough, how can I take your money to save my parents’ lives?” Netizens were moved to tears upon hearing this. In comparison, I seemed like a cold-hearted devil. At this moment, Camila said, “I believe God won’t let evil prevail forever, nor will He let someone like me remain in despair forever.” “Since I had good luck once, maybe it will happen again. I want to try the lottery shop again.” Many lottery shop owners rushed to invite her. Camila started a livestream and used her last remaining money to buy over a dozen lottery tickets. Netizens across the internet silently cheered her on. [Hope good luck can bless this poor girl once again.] [Trade Fiona’s family’s lifespan for Camila’s good luck.] [Scum like Fiona should rot in jail forever!] A week later, Camila went live again. In the live stream, she held a lottery ticket, her face twisted with joy. She exclaimed excitedly, “God has been so good to me! I won again!” “This time it’s ten million dollars! Though not as much as last time, it’s enough to save my parents!” A tear slid down from the corner of her eye. The entire internet witnessed how hard-earned her journey was. [Indeed, luck does protect the unfortunate!] [Congratulations, your parents are saved!] [Thankfully, we didn’t witness another tragedy.] [Good and evil will be repaid, Fiona, just wait for the law’s punishment!] Two days later, Camila started a livestream and went to a lottery shop to claim her prize. Many reporters were present to witness this historic moment for her. Just as the shop owner was about to take the lottery ticket for verification, I showed up. I pushed through the crowd, and curses erupted all around me. “How shameless can this person be, showing up here?” “This is someone else’s lottery shop. What are you doing here? Get out and wait for the law to deal with you!” Camila saw me and immediately put on a pitiful look. “Fiona, what are you doing here? Are you here to stop me from claiming the prize?” I smiled slightly. “That’s right, I’m here to stop you from claiming the prize.” Her face froze. At this moment, the lottery shop owner stepped forward, glaring at me fiercely and said, “Fiona, as a fellow lottery shop owner, I would never be as vicious and shameless as you!” “As long as the prize is won here, I will definitely follow the rules and give her the prize!” He turned to Camila, his gaze soft. “Don’t worry, I’ll give you the prize right away so you can use the money to save your parents’ lives.” As soon as he finished speaking, I shouted, “I’ll say it again, do not give Camila the prize!” At this moment, someone nearby, unable to stand it anymore, had already rolled up their sleeves, ready to throw a few punches at me. The person next to me yelled angrily, “You’re crazy! What gives you the right to stop others from claiming their prize?” Just as the punch was about to land, I pulled out my phone and shouted, “Haven’t you always wanted to know why I refuse to let her claim the prize? I’ll tell you right now!”
Leave a Reply