The Lottery Book Novels & Stories

I finished my breakfast in silence. Just then, I heard Lily saying, "Ms. Lyons, I saw that the lottery draws today. Don't forget to check your ticket!" It suddenly hit me that today was the day the lottery results were announced. Which meant in one week, Lily would jump into the river and take her own life. In other words, I only had seven days to figure this out. I walked to the living room and grabbed the lottery ticket. Then, I entered the numbers into my phone.

Dante's tone remained indifferent as he tried to suppress the inexplicable unease rising in his chest. "But the wedding gifts are worth a hundred billion dollars!" Livia gasped. "I wonder which lucky young lady it is..." Dante glanced dismissively at the news, unaware that the bride receiving the hundred-billion-dollar wedding gifts was me, the woman who had waited many years for him. He did not know that I would never wait for him again.

Anything that resembled a proper wedding had come from me. At home, Rupert was a useless lump. He let his mother torment his wife however she pleased. The only reason he agreed to let her sell the house and car this time must've been because she had told him about the lottery. Unfortunately for her, that winning ticket was never hers to begin with. I soothed Shirley for a bit, then lowered my voice into a mysterious note. "I actually won the lottery a few days ago. It was for 50 million dollars." I pressed a silencing finger to my lips. "But don't tell anyone. It's a secret between you and me."

But what they hadn't expected was that I actually won the prize. To ingratiate himself with the wealthy, beautiful supervisor, Harry had been willing to spend 200,000 dollars to buy my 20-dollar lottery ticket. And every relative around us knew it. Even my childhood friend Owen and my best friend Wendy were fully aware—and willing to play along. They went from threats and bribery to conspiring with Wendy to fake my death and send me abroad. Once overseas, I would become an undocumented person, completely at their mercy. Even if I refused to hand over the lottery ticket, I would be forced to comply. My cousin could control me entirely.

"Jessica's just trying to be nice, Henry. Hurry up and take it. Why don't you scratch the rest off now? Who knows? You might even win a million bucks." I wanted to refuse again. But when I looked up and met Jessica's sinister gaze, I couldn't help but wonder if she would throw me off the building again if I kept refusing her. I had no choice but to take the lottery ticket. "Then I'll scratch it off at home. It's not often that everyone gathers together. Since we're here to celebrate my college acceptance, I don't want everyone to have to wait around just to see me scratch off a lottery ticket." However, Jessica just wouldn't let it go. "Henry, if you're turning your nose up at my gift, then

Somewhere in the city—several stories above, in a steel and glass building—Julian Blackwood lay in his dark, sleek bedroom, staring at the book she had given him. He'd never intended to keep it. When Lena Carter had offered it to him—those gentle words, that thoughtful crease between her eyebrows—he'd intended to refuse. But something in her eyes had taken away his intention. It was neither flirting nor pretense. It was genuine. Silent. Generous. He hated kindness. It broke things open. Julian gazed down at the book. The cover was unadorned, the title in gold print: *A Man Called Ove*. He remembered Lena's words:

I let out a cold laugh and hailed a cab. Instead of going to the company, I headed straight for the lottery center. "Hello. I'm the winner of the 800-thousand-dollar prize from this morning. I'd like to have a notarized certification of my winnings, please." In my previous life, I had been so anxious to pay for my daughter's surgery that I never got around to having the prize money notarized. By the time I was framed and tried to come back for it, a staff member at the lottery center had already been bribed by Russell and Kristen.

Grandma had pointed at her and screamed, calling her a self-righteous lunatic. "You either love a child, or you don’t. Why are you hiding behind this lottery nonsense? If you don’t want Silas Vale, I’ll take him back to the countryside right now. Otherwise, throw away that damned lottery box and love both children together!" Mom had sneered back coldly. "How I love my children is none of your business. I love both of them, of course. But there will always be bias. That can’t be controlled. "That’s exactly why I bought the lottery box to truly be fair. If they want something, they rely on their own luck. Their father and I won’t interfere. If he can’t draw the long stick, that just means he’s

Someone had knocked the lottery box over, and it had fallen to the ground. As it turned out, there were no long sticks inside at all. I finally learned that Mom and Dad never loved me. Grandma had been right. They were only using the lottery box as a front so that it looked like they were being fair while they were secretly favoring only Anabelle instead. I began to feel cold, despite the fact that I was supposed to be a spirit now. Mom and Dad thought that I was still being sulky. So, when they came back from the hospital this time, they began treating me like thin air, pretending that I didn't exist.

After all, you didn't have to hang up everything and that was nobody's business. When Eleanor turned to the next customer, Maddox slid to the side a little and then started on his own food. "Did you notice what was going on over in Florida?" Gian asked between bites. "You mean the thing with these animal rights activists, because of whom four people are now dead, but two cranes were able to escape the Venators?" Gian nodded. "But they weren't just any animal rights activists, the people were from Live for Animals." The piece of sausage caught in the air halfway to Maddox's mouth. "You are incinerating me."