But then, as I scratched off the third row, a long string of numbers appeared beneath the symbol. It was… fifty million dollars?!
I rubbed my eyes, and once I confirmed I wasn't dreaming, I glanced at the shopkeeper. I nearly screamed.
The shopkeeper asked, "Did you win anything? These fifty-dollar tickets have a pretty high payout rate."
I glanced down at the top right corner of the ticket, where it said the maximum prize was fifty million dollars. I couldn't believe it. I had actually won the jackpot.
Just in case, I held back my excitement and pretended to be disappointed. "Just one win, only fifty dollars. Lost fifty."
I cashed in the fifty-dollar ticket, carefully tucked the winning ticket into the inner pocket of my bag, and zipped it up.
It wasn't the time to celebrate. Most of the residents in this old neighborhood were elderly, and if word got out, everyone would know I'd won within two days.
If Felipe found out I'd won, what would he do? Would he regret it and come crawling back? Or would he just come up with more excuses to drain me and keep supporting Jewel?