At eighteen, my family’s fortune changed overnight. Father’s business boomed—we moved into a mansion with staff. My brother went to a top U.S. university, marrying into wealth. But I missed finals due to flu. Parents married me off to a rural bachelor. Locked in a cellar, abused daily. When I escaped home, they sneered: "Why didn’t you die in the mountains?" My brother "cheered me up" by shoving me into traffic. ICU-bound with fractures, I heard his whisper: "We didn’t get rich from business. It was your winning lottery ticket." I died bitter. Then woke up—back to the day I bought that ticket. 1 "Here's your ticket. Hold on to it tight. You never know, you might just win the grand prize." Staring at the lottery ticket in my hand, my mind reeled. I was back. I had been reborn, sent back to the very day I bought that ticket. In my past life, I had bought this exact same ticket, only for my brother to burst into my room and snatch it away. I’d never had much luck, so I never really believed I could win and eventually forgot all about it. Soon after, my father's business suddenly boomed. We moved into a mansion, and my family became one of the city's newly minted elite. My brother was sent off to study in the States. I had asked to study abroad too, but my mother shot me down. "You're a girl. You'll get married one day. What's the point of studying abroad? It's just a waste of money." But I was the top student in my entire grade. After buying that ticket, however, my luck seemed to run out. On the day of my final exams, I came down with a severe case of food poisoning, collapsing in the exam hall. I failed. My parents married me off to a pair of bachelor brothers in a remote village, where I was locked in a cellar and abused daily. When I finally escaped and made it home, covered in scars, my parents only had reproaches for me. "Look at you, dressed like a beggar! You're a disgrace to this family! Why didn't you just die in that village?" My sister-in-law, draped in jewels, pinched her nose in disgust. "Is this really your sister?" she whispered to my brother. "She's worse than a beggar." Only my brother held me close. "Sis, you've suffered so much." He took me out to "clear my head." In a spot with no security cameras, he shoved me into the path of a speeding truck. I was rushed to the ICU with broken bones all over my body. As I lay dying, my brother, dressed in a magnificent suit, leaned over and whispered in my ear. "Let me tell you the truth, so you can die in peace. Our family never struck it rich in business. It was all from the lottery ticket you bought that day. It won a hundred million dollars. That's how we started the company. That's how I got to go to America. So, really, I should thank you." He paused, a cold smile playing on his lips. "But as long as you're alive, there's a risk you might find out. What if you decided to cause trouble? That's why Mom and Dad sent you to that village. They even told the locals to be rough with you. We never thought you'd actually escape... But this time, you're finished. You can die peacefully now. Our whole family will be grateful." I died, my heart filled with rage. Remembering my past life, I clenched the lottery ticket in my hand and made a silent vow. This time, I would not let them steal my hundred million dollars. "Sis, I knew I'd find you here!" I spun around. My brother, Joel, was standing right in front of me. His eyes lit up when he saw my clenched fist, and he lunged for it. 2 "What's that in your hand, sis? Is that a lottery ticket? Let me see." Joel grabbed my wrist, his eyes gleaming with a predatory hunger. When he couldn't pry my fingers open, he kicked me hard in the shin. A sharp pain shot up my leg, and I instinctively loosened my grip. "Heh, I knew you were hiding a ticket!" he gloated. He looked down at my hand, and his expression faltered. My palm was empty. "Where's the ticket? Where did you hide it?" Joel demanded, his eyes scanning me frantically. I rubbed my bruised leg, my voice trembling. "What ticket? I was just walking past the store. I didn't buy anything." He clearly didn't believe me. He patted me down from head to toe, and when he found nothing, a look of panic crossed his face. He ignored me and stormed into the lottery shop, grabbing the owner by the collar. "Who just bought a ticket?" The owner, used to dealing with all sorts of strange customers, shoved Joel's hand away. "I have hundreds of customers a day. How am I supposed to remember all of them?" Joel wanted to buy the winning ticket himself, but his memory was hazy after all this time. He could only remember the first few numbers. He took a deep breath, his eyes darting around. Then he dragged me back in front of him, his gaze menacing. "You buy it." "And you'd better choose carefully," he hissed, "or you'll be sorry." A chill ran down my spine. I finally understood. He's been reborn, too. To ensure he got the winning ticket this time, he had followed me here and was now forcing me to buy it for him. I selected a ticket using the first few numbers he gave me. Even with the ticket in his hand, Joel was still suspicious, his eyes constantly darting toward me, certain I had another one hidden somewhere. At dinner that night, Joel tapped his chopsticks restlessly against his bowl. My mother immediately fussed over him. "What's wrong, sweetie? Did someone at school upset you? Mom will take care of them for you." My father put down his chopsticks, his expression serious. "That's right, son. Did one of your classmates look down on you again?" Joel waited for the right moment, then looked up, a sneer on his face as he pointed at me. "She bought a lottery ticket and wouldn't let me see it." 3 My parents exchanged a look. My father was the first to speak, his voice sharp. "What's wrong with you? I've told you, as the older sister, you need to let your brother have his way! What did you do to upset him this time? Apologize to him, now!" My mother sighed, her rough hand gently stroking mine. "Ava, sweetie, it's not that Mom is scolding you, but your brother is the only boy in this family. As his sister, you need to learn to take care of him." The feel of her hand on mine sent a shiver through me. The horrors of my past life flashed before my eyes. "My sister bought a lottery ticket, but she hid it from me and lied about it," Joel said, a triumphant look in his eyes. "Mom, what do you think we should do?" My father slammed his chopsticks down. "Hand over the ticket! It's not like you're going to win anyway. What's the harm in letting your brother have it?" Joel chuckled. "I'm just afraid my dear sister will look down on us once she wins the grand prize." My mother stood up, pushed me into my room, and searched me from top to bottom, even checking the lining of my underwear. "Ava, where did you hide it? Hand it over now!" she screamed, pointing a finger at me. My eyes welled up with tears. "I told you, I didn't buy another ticket! Why won't you believe me?" I sobbed. "That was the only one I bought, the one Joel has." Joel frowned, his eyes full of suspicion. After all, he had arrived in a hurry and hadn't actually seen me go into the shop. Once the door was closed, I carefully pulled the real lottery ticket out from where I had hidden it in my hair. Thank God I'd had the foresight to do that. But I knew my room was no longer safe. The next time I went to the bathroom, I sealed the ticket in a waterproof bag and hid it in the toilet tank. Joel took a few days off from school, still not giving up. He constantly snooped around my room. I watched him tear the place apart, completely unfazed. My mother also took me out shopping, and while I was in the fitting room, she went through my bag. Of course, they found nothing. The ticket was hidden in a place they would never imagine. Soon, it was the day of the lottery drawing. Just like in my past life, my ticket won the grand prize: one hundred million dollars! Soon, I would be able to claim my prize and finally right the wrongs of my past. When I came home from school, the atmosphere in the house was tense. The moment I walked through the door, my mother slapped me across the face, leaving a stinging red mark. "If the toilet hadn't clogged, I never would have found this!" she sneered, dangling the winning ticket in front of my face. 4 "See, Mom? I told you she hid another ticket!" my brother gloated. I rushed to the bathroom. The toilet tank was empty. My father kicked me to the ground, his fists clenched. "You think you're so smart, don't you? Hiding it from us! You really think you're some kind of lucky charm?" He held up the ticket with a sneer. "Today, your little fantasy comes to an end!" He gripped the ticket with both hands, ready to tear it in two. "Dad, no!" Joel screamed, lunging forward and grabbing our father's leg. "Don't tear it! That ticket is worth a hundred million!" "A hundred million? Are you joking? Even if someone did win, it wouldn't be your sister!" "The winning numbers have been announced!" Joel yelled, his voice shaking. "It's this ticket! We can buy a mansion! I'm sick of living in this dump! And I'll marry a rich, beautiful woman and give you grandchildren!" My parents stared in disbelief. They glanced at the numbers on the TV screen and their faces lit up with ecstatic joy. "We're rich! We're rich!" I scrambled up from the floor, tears streaming down my face, my body trembling with rage. "That's my ticket! You can't just take it!" "The money you used to buy it came from me, didn't it?" my mother shrieked. "What are you crying about? Let me tell you, you're not getting a single cent of that hundred million!" But she didn't give me an allowance. I had earned that money by tutoring. Ignoring my cries and struggles, the three of them got ready to go claim their prize, locking me in my bedroom before they left. "Sis, you really are the chosen one. A hundred-million-dollar ticket, just like that," Joel's voice mocked me from the other side of the door. "But this time, you get to watch us collect the money! Regret it! Suffer!" I watched them leave, the look of anguish on my face slowly transforming into a smile. The real show was about to begin. I used the opportunity to pack my bags and my documents, then rented a small apartment so I could focus on studying for my exams. On their way to the lottery center, Joel video-called me. His arrogant face filled the screen. "So, sis, you were reborn too, huh? How's it feel? Too bad you're still no match for me, even in this life. You still have to watch me get the hundred million." He lowered his voice. "And don't even think about calling the police. It won't do you any good. We're family. Your money is our money. The police can't do anything." "Feeling hopeless? If you're that desperate, just jump out the window. Maybe you'll get to the lottery ticket before we do." They swaggered into the lottery center. My father marched up to the counter and announced, "We're here to claim our prize! The hundred-million-dollar prize!" "What? A hundred million?" It was a weekend, and the place was crowded. People stopped what they were doing and stared, their whispers turning into a roar. "A hundred million! Is that the grand prize from today's drawing?" "Someone actually won!" "Oh my God, why couldn't it have been me?" A crowd quickly formed around my family. "That's right! We won the hundred million!" Joel declared, holding the ticket high for everyone to see. "You can call the reporters now. You'll be on the front page of every newspaper tomorrow, and you'll have us to thank!" "Oh, and one more thing," my father added, turning to the reporters who had started to arrive. "I want everyone to be a witness!" Surrounded by a sea of flashing cameras, my father announced, "This hundred-million-dollar prize belongs to the three of us, and my daughter, Ava, gets nothing! And from this day forward, we are disowning her. After she graduates, she's on her own!" Ignoring the murmurs from the crowd, he smiled confidently at the owner. "Let's claim our prize!" The owner was sweating, his face flushed with excitement. He took the ticket with trembling hands and examined it carefully. Then, he froze. The crowd held its breath, waiting for the miracle to be confirmed. After a long moment, the owner slowly looked up. "What? Is something wrong?" a few people murmured. "Did they not win?" "They won," the owner said. "They won ten dollars."
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