Of Truths and Lottery

After I won a total of one million dollars from the lottery, I planned to spend four hundred thousand dollars paying off my wife Jocelyn's debts, then buy our son, Sean, the sports models and Lego set he had always wanted. But after waiting and waiting, the only thing I got was a call from my son. "Dad, there's an event at the kindergarten today, so go eat by yourself. Mommy and I will miss you!" I said nothing. Because just half a minute earlier, a screen of bullet comments had suddenly appeared in front of my eyes. "The supporting male lead is just so sad. He's working three jobs to pay off the female lead's debts, and even his stomach is bleeding due to pure exhaustion. Meanwhile, the female lead is out buying the male lead a gold watch!" "But if the supporting male lead doesn't work himself to death, how are the male lead and female lead supposed to end up together?" At first, I did not believe those comments. But just then, my phone buzzed, and a credit card charge alert came in. My stomach dropped. I never would have thought the wife who always seemed to love me so deeply and the son I had worked so hard to raise would lie to me like this. In that case, my ten million lottery winnings had nothing to do with them anymore. Chapter 1 After I hung up, I stared at the lottery ticket blankly. [That's weird. Why hasn't the supporting male lead told the female lead he won the lottery?] [The supporting male lead needs to hurry up and disappear. I want to see the male lead and female lead get together already.] [I agree with what the supporting male lead is doing right now. This is beyond sad. He went through all that hardship with the female lead, but she was out spending one thousand dollars from her paycheck on the male lead instead.] I froze when I saw those comments. One thousand dollars? Jocelyn only made three hundred dollars a week. How could she spend a thousand on another man? [The female lead is awful. She has always been wary of the supporting male lead and hid her real salary from him!] In order to protect Jocelyn's pride all these years, I even delivered food to help support the family after work. It turned out it had been one-sided all along. That night, when Jocelyn got home, she came over with a sweet, careful smile. "Honey, why are you so upset? Is it because we spent some money? Our son wanted to treat his classmates to a meal. I couldn't say no to that, right?" As she spoke, Jocelyn shot Sean a look. Sean figured it out quickly and ran over. He then started acting cute as he held my leg. "Daddy, I'm my friends' big boss! I already promised I would treat them to a fancy dinner! I can't break my promise. Don't be mad, alright? It won't happen again! I promise!" He looked upset as he pouted at me. Every time he did something wrong, he would use that same routine to win me over. And every time, I forgave him without hesitation. [Don't be fooled just because the kid is young. He's a fantastic liar.] [When he was eating with the male lead, he even called the supporting male lead an old loser!] [Having a son like that really makes you feel bad for the supporting male lead. The son's an ingrate.] Those comments sent a chill down my spine. I could not believe that the child standing in front of me had been helping his mother deceive me for so long, despite only being five years old. But the truth was right there in front of me. I had no choice but to believe it. Just as I was about to speak, the door flew open. I turned and looked in panic, and I saw four muscular men blocking the doorway. "Dad!" Sean burst into tears and hid in my arms, terrified. "Is Jocelyn home?" one of them asked. Jocelyn's face turned pale as she ran for the bedroom, but she was too slow. One of the men grabbed her easily and dragged her back into the living room. "When are you paying back the four hundred thousand dollars you owe us?" One of the men demanded, tugging her by the hair. "Franco, give me a little more time! My husband can make money! He can even work in clubs at night if he needs to. I'll pay off the debt soon!" When Franco heard that, he narrowed his eyes and looked at me. My heart sank. I hurriedly said, "Leave now, or I'll call the police. You'll get your money in ten days. Otherwise, you can sell my wife's kidney to pay you back!" Jocelyn stared at me in shock, as though she had never expected those words to come out of my mouth. "It's not four hundred thousand dollars anymore. It's five hundred thousand now! If you still don't pay, it will be six hundred thousand dollars soon enough!" Franco said with a cold sneer. He then glared at Jocelyn and warned her, "You heard him. If you still can't pay, you'll just have to pay with your kidney. One won't be enough, but two might just cut it. And if that still doesn't cover five hundred thousand dollars, I'll take your heart too!" Chapter 2 Jocelyn panicked and blurted out, "Franco, I understand! I'll work hard and earn the money!" Franco and his three men yelled at Jocelyn for a while more before they finally left. As the door slammed shut, I immediately let go of Sean and collapsed onto the floor. [The female lead owes that much money, but she still won't use her salary to pay it back. All she can think about is bleeding her husband dry.] [The supporting male lead is about to take out the lottery ticket and help his wife pay off her debt. Once she has finished moving her assets, she'll then divorce him and get together with the male lead!] [I can't wait for the flirty scenes between the male lead and female lead!] My hand tightened around the lottery ticket in my pocket. If I had not seen those comments, I would have taken it out right then and handed it over to Jocelyn so that she could pay off the debt. But realizing that she was actually planning to move our assets and divorce me after everything was said and done… I quietly slipped the ticket back into my pocket. Jocelyn looked at me in disappointment before snapping at me. "Jeffrey, what was that just now?! How can you expect me to sell my kidney?! I'm just a woman! If I lose a kidney, what will happen to you for the rest of your life?! That will make it hard for me to bear children!" I scoffed when I heard what Jocelyn was saying. She was worried she couldn't bear any children for the homewrecker, right? I did not want to deal with her, so I went back to the bedroom, wanting to call the lottery shop, but Jocelyn grabbed my arm instead. She said, "The snack shop downstairs is hiring. Hurry up and apply for work. You promised Franco you'd pay him back in ten days. If you don't have the money by then, you can explain it to him yourself!" Then, she started dragging me toward the door. Just then, my son came over, and I saw him blink at Jocelyn. "Dad, Mom and I bought this for you. Mom loves you so much, so please help her." I took the item from him, and I looked at it to see a red string bracelet with a tiny gold bead on it. But just as my heart began to soften, the bullet comments appeared in front of my eyes again. [I can't watch this anymore. What kind of a present is that? It's obviously just the freebie that came with the gold watch they bought for the male lead. It's just gold-plated silver!] [The supporting male lead is so easy to fool... he'll be touched as long as it comes from his son.] My hand froze halfway through just as I was about to pick up the bracelet. [The only reason the supporting male lead's son gives him any present is that every time he does that, he will be given something worth ten or a hundred times better! And then the son uses that money to buy even better gifts for the male lead.] [Even the Lego sets he has always been asking for are because he wants to build it into a family set and give it to the male lead.] I looked at my son in despair. So, did every gift he gave me have an ulterior motive behind it? "Daddy, I want a new Lego set. Can you buy it for me?" Sean hugged my leg and swayed back and forth. I looked at him calmly. How had I never noticed that my son was such a good liar? I then said, "Sean, not now. We're out of money. You also saw what happened today. Mom owes a lot of money." [The supporting male lead's son is about to send him to work at the male lead's shop.] That comment sent a chill down my spine. Sure enough, Sean spoke up right after, "Dad, Ethan is looking for a cleaner at his shop. Go work for him! Then, you'll have money to buy me Lego." So, Ethan Langley, the owner of the snack shop downstairs, was Jocelyn's lover. I suddenly remembered the rats scurrying through that filthy place. To think they wanted me to go there. My heart was getting colder. Looking at the mother and son playing along with each other, my heart sank even more. I took a deep breath, gave a cold laugh, and agreed. "Sure. I'll go in a little while." I wanted to see what kind of game they were trying to play. Jocelyn and Sean lit up the moment they heard that. Sean immediately said, "Dad, why don't we go with you?" I agreed right away. "Sure." Before we left, I went to the bathroom and secretly called the lottery shop where I had bought the lottery ticket. The second we reached the snack shop, they let go of my hand. I looked up and saw Sean already in Ethan's arms. "I missed you so much!" He spoke to Ethan in a tone so sweet that he had never once used with me as he hugged him. Ethan shot me a provocative look, grabbed Jocelyn's hand, and held Sean close. Then, he picked Sean up and kissed him repeatedly. The warm, cozy scene made them look like a happy family of three. Chapter 3 [Does the male lead know the supporting male lead?] The comments appeared in front of my eyes again. [Of course, he does. He never stops insulting the supporting male lead in front of Jocelyn and Sean.] [Even the money he used to open this shop was earned by the supporting male lead in the first place.] "Honey, what exactly are you doing?" I said mockingly. Jocelyn froze, then quickly pushed Ethan away. She then turned to me with an awkward smile on her face and said, "Honey, I was just telling him about your situation so he'd let you work here." With his arms suddenly empty, Ethan shot me an annoyed look. My eyes then fell on the gold watch on his wrist. Jocelyn had bought it with my hard-earned money. After noticing where I was looking, Ethan deliberately lifted his wrist and showed it off. He then said smugly, "My wife spoils me so much. She just gave me this gold watch a few days ago as a present. Didn't Jocelyn buy you one too?" He then glanced at my wrist. When he saw the bracelet made of red string and a tiny gold bead, he paused for a second before letting out a mocking laugh. "One look and you can tell it's gold-plated silver. Then again, I make more in a day than you make in a month." Before I could react, Ethan picked up a pair of scissors and cut open the gold bead. The silver-colored metal inside was soon exposed for everyone to see. Ethan sneered. "So, I was right. Who are you trying to fool by pretending to be rich?" I could not hold it back anymore. "It's just a gold bead. I could buy this whole shop right now!" "Stop embarrassing yourself," Jocelyn yelled as she stared at me in irritation when I turned to look at her. She then shot Ethan a guilty glance before starting to complain to me. "Since when have you started comparing yourself with others? Don't you know what kind of situation we're in? Besides, it's normal for a business owner to wear a gold watch. If a delivery driver like you wore one, people would think you stole it instead." Even my son ran over and started criticizing me. "Dad, Mom's right. You're too poor to wear a gold watch." I was so furious I could barely breathe. Before I could recover, Jocelyn grabbed my arm and dragged me in front of Ethan. "Jeffrey is here looking for a job. Aren't you short a cleaner?" Sean hurriedly nodded. "Please hire Dad. He really needs the money." The bullet comments started to stream in front of me again. [The male lead casually said he wanted to see the supporting male lead make a fool of himself earlier when they were eating. The mother and son agreed right away, so they took him here to be humiliated.] I stood there in shock, unable to recover for a long time. Jocelyn pushed me and looked at Ethan with a sweet smile. "Do you think you can let him do the cleaning?" Ethan looked me up and down like he was inspecting some merchandise. He then pointed at the filthy restroom and said, "Of course. He can start by scrubbing the toilet clean." "Thank you, you handsome and generous man." Jocelyn did not even notice that the way she looked at him was full of yearning. "Yay! Dad has a new job! Now I can get the Lego set I want!" Sean cheered. As another rat ran past my feet, I finally snapped. "I'm not doing it!" I shouted. Sean froze in the middle of his celebration, and Jocelyn looked at me in disapproval. "What are you even saying? I worked so hard to find this job for you! How can you refuse it? Do you still think you can get some cushy office job? Look in the mirror and ask yourself whether you even have that ability!" She didn't even miss a beat as she threw accusations at me. Ethan sighed and said, "It looks like your husband doesn't appreciate it at all. I'm afraid this little shop of mine can't accommodate someone like him." With that, he sat down to the side and ignored me. Jocelyn nervously dragged me back to Ethan and said in an upset tone, "Hurry up and apologize to him! Beg him to take you in!" I could feel my heart dying at that moment. Just as Jocelyn and Sean were insulting me together, the sudden sound of drums and trumpets came from outside the snack shop. I looked up and saw the lottery shop owner arriving with a street band to congratulate me. He had even brought over a printed banner that read: [Congratulations to Jeffrey Johnson on winning the 1 Million Dollar Jackpot!] Chapter 4 Ethan had looked excited at first, but the moment he managed to read the banner, he froze in disbelief. "You won the lottery?" he questioned me, his eyes blazing with jealousy. Jocelyn looked stunned, too. Then, she turned to me, her face full of excitement. Sean still could not read, so he looked completely lost. He tilted his head up at Jocelyn as he asked, "Mom, what does winning the lottery mean?" Jocelyn ignored him and hurried over to me. "Honey! Did you really win 1 million dollars? Why didn't you tell me sooner? That's great! I can finally pay Franco off! No wonder you told him the money would be ready in ten days! So, this is what happened! You won 1 million dollars!" She reached for my hand, but I stepped aside and avoided her. Then, I walked straight over to the lottery shop owner. "You must be Mr. Johnson, right? Congratulations! This is the biggest prize my shop has ever sold!" Before I could say anything, Jocelyn made her way in front of me. Then, she said in a matter-of-fact tone, "I'm Jeffrey's wife. Put his prize money into my account." The lottery shop owner rolled his eyes at her and ignored her. "Why are you still ignoring me?" Jocelyn asked. "You're obviously jealous of me. I have 1 million dollars now, while you're just the owner of some tiny lottery shop." Jocelyn raised her chin and spoke with open arrogance. At that moment, the bullet comments appeared before my eyes again. [The female lead has finally found out that the supporting male lead won the lottery! Her good life with the male lead is about to begin!] [I do feel a little sorry for the supporting male lead, but I still want to watch the male lead and female lead live their sweet life together.] Fine. I would give the comments exactly what they wanted and let them watch those two end up together. As for whether they would be happy or not, that was another story entirely. When Jocelyn saw that the lottery shop owner still would not pay any attention to her, she quickly came back to my side. "Honey, he has no respect for anyone. If he asks you to donate anything, don't listen to him!" She even rolled her eyes at the shop owner when she said that. Even Ethan came over to join in the little excitement. "Jeffrey, you should listen to your wife. You have to hand the lottery ticket over to Jocelyn." He did not even try to hide his jealousy as he ordered me. He then looked at Jocelyn affectionately as he said, "If I were the one who won the lottery, I'd definitely give it to my wife." Jocelyn was clearly moved by his words. She was already a bit full of herself, and now, she looked even more pleased with herself. "Jeffrey, you should learn from him. When the time comes, transfer all the prize money to my account!" The owner could not be bothered with Jocelyn. He walked past her and asked me again, "Mr. Johnson, congratulations again on winning the prize. Would you like to claim it now? I've already helped you file the paperwork. You can cash it out right away!" Before I could even nod, Jocelyn answered for me. She quickly recited her bank account number and did nothing to hide the greed in her eyes as she said, "Just transfer the money into this account." The lottery shop owner frowned at once. "Do you have the ticket with you, then?" Jocelyn froze for a moment, then turned to me. "Honey, take out the ticket and throw it in his face. What a scumbag... How dare he look down on me!" I stood at the side and quietly watched Jocelyn and her performance without saying a word, ignoring her. By then, she had clearly already decided that the one million was going into her account. She didn't even bother hiding herself from trading flirtatious looks with Ethan in front of me. "Thank you, but I'm not claiming the prize right now," I said. "Jeffrey, why aren't you claiming it? Franco already said that if I can't pay in ten days, he'll take my kidney! Are you trying to get me killed?!" Jocelyn yelped. Jocelyn was not the only one upset. Ethan was unhappy, too. "That's not very manly of you. How can you treat Jocelyn like this? She'll divorce you eventually."