Chapter 1The Big Win

I won $8.88 million in the lottery. When I went to claim my prize, the presenter handed me a donation form.

"Sir, as is customary, winners of large prizes are expected to make a charitable donation. The minimum is five thousand dollars. How much would you like to contribute?"

I shook my head. "I'm not donating."

"Sir, this is standard procedure. It's for a good cause."

Her smile vanished. "You shouldn't be so selfish. You've come into all this money for nothing. What's wrong with giving a little back?"

"I'm not donating. Not a single cent."

"What a cheapskate," she spat, her voice dripping with contempt.

"If you're not going to donate, then you can just wait for your prize money to be processed."

She confiscated my original lottery ticket and had security throw me out.

That night, "The Greediest Lottery Winner in History" trended on social media. I became public enemy number one.

"He's rich and heartless! Let's find him!"

"We should go to his house and livestream, force him to donate!"

Angry netizens swarmed towards my home.

The next day, the lottery commission respectfully delivered the check to my door.

* * *

Two security guards grabbed me by the arms, one on each side, and dragged me out of the prize claim center.

"Get out of here, you pathetic loser!"

I was thrown onto the marble floor, my knees slamming into the hard surface.

Behind me, the presenter, a woman named Lisa, sneered.

"Look at this trash. Wins a bit of money and forgets who he is."

"Let him go through the official process. The long process. Until he agrees to donate."

I scrambled to my feet and rushed back to the entrance, but the guards blocked my way.

"Give me back my ticket!" I screamed at them. "That's my money! I need it urgently!"

Lisa crossed her arms, a smug smile on her face.

"Urgent? In a hurry to buy a luxury car or a mansion?"

"Mr. Cole, I'll give you one last chance. Sign the donation form. Five thousand dollars is nothing to you."

Her voice boomed through the hall's sound system.

"I said, I'm not donating," I repeated, refusing to back down.

Lisa's expression turned cold.

"Fine. Very well."

"Have it your way."

"We'll follow the procedure then. Identity verification, tax processing, financial review... best-case scenario, it'll take a month. Worst case, half a year."

A month?

Half a year?

My heart sank into an icy pit.

No.

I couldn't wait.

I couldn't even wait a single day.

"Please," I begged, pressing my forehead against the glass door. "Give me the money. I really... I really need it!"

"Get lost!" was her only reply.

The guards shoved me away again, this time with more force.

I stumbled back and fell to the ground.

People in the crowd pointed and whispered, their eyes filled with disdain.

It was as if I wasn't a lucky lottery winner, but a despicable thief.

I pulled out my five-year-old phone, its screen crisscrossed with cracks.

I opened a news app.

A bold headline popped up.

【The Greediest Lottery Winner in History is Born! Wins $8.88 Million, Refuses to Donate $5,000 to Charity!】

Below it was a high-resolution photo of me being dragged out of the lottery commission, looking utterly pathetic.