After Winning the Lottery, I Became the Apple of My Eye

My mother, Sarah Murphy, mistook me for a loan shark, so she kicked me out of the house.

Besides, she transferred all the compensation for demolition into my brother James Murphy's name.

But Sarah didn't know that the debt collection call she received was actually from a lottery store.

I won ten million dollars on a lottery ticket.

As Sarah unintentionally received a call for a tax withholding reminder, she panicked and asked, "Did you borrow from a loan shark?"

I lied to her on purpose, and I nodded with an upset look on my face.

She looked pale.

As I was just about to laugh at her for falling for it, I saw her take out a bankbook from a drawer with determination and hand it to me.

"This is all I have, and you can take it. Don't come back."

There was only three thousand dollars in the bankbook.

We had obviously received a half a million dollars for demolition and two additional apartments. While the prices in the small and remote cities weren't high, our family fortune was quite a lot for an average family like ours.

I was stunned for a moment and felt a little uncomfortable.

I forgot for a moment that I was only joking, so I subconsciously asked, "Where's your money?"

Sarah's tone was unnatural and looked embarrassed.

"Your dad invested all the money in the business."

No sooner had I almost pulled the lottery ticket, which I was holding tightly, out of my pocket than I tucked it it back.

I took a deep breath, suddenly not knowing what to say.

Sarah turned around and walked out.

I stared at the pictures of our family hanging on the wall in bewilderment and frustration.

My father, Patrick Murphy, pushed the door in.

He had a cup of mango juice in his hand.

I loved mango juice, so he would always buy many boxes and keep them at home.

Then, Patrick would prepare a glass for me every day.

The mango juice he bought me was always wonderful, not too sweet and flavorful at the same time.

My depression had subsided a lot.

"Don't be upset. You know your mom's temper, and she can't take a lot.

"Listen, I'll try to transfer the funds to help you pay back the money first.

"You need to think things through from now on and never touch loan sharks, okay?"

Patrick's gentle tone soothed my aggrieved and anxious feelings.

As I was just about to clarify the facts, Patrick took my glass, sighed deeply, and said, seemingly unintentionally, "We didn't have a hard time, but James recently quit his job. He was going to start his own business, so he just borrowed my money."

My hand froze in my pocket again.

When I looked up, Patrick looked meaningfully into my eyes.

I forced a smile. "Dad, it was just a scam call, and I was joking with my Mom."

Patrick sighed in relief, his eyes filled with a relieved smile.

"I knew you wouldn't be that inconsiderate.

"Go to bed early."

The next day, Bryce knocked on my door, holding a bouquet of flowers.

Bryce Wellington was my boyfriend.

We had a fight over something not long ago, and we had been in a silent treatment for two or three days.

He apologized to me humbly.

"Eleanor, it's all my fault, okay?

"Please forgive me.

"I'm just upset that your parents favored James. They transferred the house to James' name, so I was defending you, and I was genuinely being nice."

"My parents transferred the second house to James' name because the taxes on it were too high."

I couldn't resist using Patrick's rhetoric.

However, after what happened yesterday, it was as if a thorn had grown in my heart, and I felt a vague pain.

Bryce hesitated and kept his mouth tightly shut.

His hesitant look made me even more annoyed.

I pushed Bryce out the door and threw the flowers he had brought with him into his arms.

I don't want to think about anything, so I start playing with my phone alone in bed.

Then, I saw James showing two property deeds in Instagram, both with his name on them.

In addition, there were several massive transfers from Patrick.

It was another one of my Instagram accounts.

I had never chatted with James since I added him, and he had probably long forgotten it was me.

That was why he dared to flaunt it so recklessly on Instagram. "It's a blessing to be favored by my parents!"