Chapter 2The Big Win

I clicked on the article. The comment section was already a warzone.

"What the hell! Who is this guy? Does he have a soul?"

"$8.88 million! And he won't even donate five grand? Is he that cheap?"

"Does this kind of person even deserve to win? God must be blind!"

"He looks like a bum, and he's rotten on the inside too."

"【Angry emoji】Someone find this guy! Let's see what this piece of trash is really made of!"

I turned off the screen and took a deep breath. My lungs ached as if they were filled with ice.

My phone rang. It was my mom.

"Joel! You're on TV! Did you really win the lottery?!"

Her voice was filled with unrestrained joy.

"Mom, I..."

"Eight point eight-eight million dollars! Oh my God! Why didn't you tell us sooner, son!"

"Your brother needs to get married, and his fiancée's family is asking for a thirty-thousand-dollar dowry. I was so worried! This money came at the perfect time!"

Before I could say anything, she had already planned everything out.

"And your uncle needs fifty thousand for his new house, and your cousin needs ten thousand for college, and..."

"Mom," I interrupted, my voice hoarse. "I need this money for something else."

The line went silent.

A few seconds later, my mom's tone changed.

"Joel! What are you trying to say?"

"Mom, I'm not giving this money to anyone."

Her anger flared.

"You think you're so big now, don't you? You win a little money and forget your own family?"

"I raised you for nothing! You won't even share your winnings with us? You're going to be cursed!"

She started screaming at me, her words more vicious than any of the online comments.

I quietly hung up and switched my phone to silent.

The world was quiet again.

But my heart was in turmoil.

I leaned against the cold wall and pulled a faded photograph from my pocket.

In the picture, a group of young men stood with their arms around each other, their faces beaming with joy.

The one in the center was me.

Back when I still had two legs.

I gently traced the faces in the photo with my thumb.

I whispered their names, a silent prayer.

"Wait for me. I'm almost there."

My phone screen lit up again. A text from an unknown number.

【Joel Cole, right? We have your address. Apartment 401, 3rd building, XX complex.】

【So you won't donate, huh? We're coming to deliver some justice.】

【We're going live. The whole country is going to see your ugly, greedy face!】

My pupils constricted.

They had found my home.

I clutched my phone tightly.

No.

I couldn't let them go there.

I wasn't the only one living in that apartment.

I staggered to my feet and ran towards the subway station, a single thought pounding in my head.

Go back.

I had to get back before they did.