Chapter 3The Big Win

I burst out of the subway station and ran like a madman towards home.

The walk that usually took ten minutes, I covered in five.

A crowd had already gathered at the foot of my old apartment building.

A group of flashy-looking young people were delivering a righteous speech to their phone cameras.

"We're here, everyone! This is the cheapskate's nest!"

"Today, on behalf of all the good-hearted people out there, we're going to bring this immoral bastard to justice!"

The livestream chat was scrolling wildly, filled with messages of "support," "go for it," and "get him."

I pushed through the crowd, trying to get to the stairs.

"He's back! That's him!" someone shouted.

Dozens of phone cameras swiveled to face me.

"You have the nerve to show your face?"

"Donate the money! Or you're not going anywhere!"

"Get him! People like him deserve a beating!"

A man lunged forward and grabbed me by the collar.

His face was contorted with righteous fury.

I didn't fight back. I just looked at him and said, word by word:

"Let me go upstairs."

"Go to hell! You're not going anywhere until you donate that money!"

He punched me in the face.

"This one's for the children in the mountains!"

Another punch landed on my shoulder.

"This one's for the lonely elderly!"

I didn't dodge or retaliate.

I just wanted to go upstairs.

There was something up there that I had to protect.

In the chaos, people started pushing and pulling at me.

I swayed in the crowd like a lone boat in a storm.

"Don't let him get away!"

"Let's go to his apartment! Let's expose what he's hiding!"

They were jealous.

Why did I win the lottery, and not them?

Why didn't I just donate the money and live a quiet, subservient life?

My refusal to donate was the perfect excuse for their jealousy to masquerade as justice.

The crowd went wild.

They pushed me along, forcing their way up the stairs.

The stairwell echoed with their excited shouts and my ragged breaths.

I pressed my body against the door of apartment 401, holding it shut with all my might.

"Get out!" I roared.

BANG!

Someone kicked the door.

The old wooden door groaned in protest.

BANG!

BANG!

Again and again.

Each impact felt like a kick to my heart.

BANG!

One final, deafening crash.

The door burst open.

The crowd surged in like a tidal wave.

I was knocked to the ground.