Winning the Lottery, Losing My Marriage

After winning 800 thousand dollars, the first thing I did was rush to the hospital to pay for my daughter's surgery and treatment.

Then, out of nowhere, a colleague called.

There's an extremely urgent situation at the company. You need to come back and handle it right now!

My husband took the bank card from my hand and, with thoughtful understanding, said, "Tell me the PIN. I'll go pay for Alicia's surgery. You head back to the company and focus on work."

In my past life, I trusted him without hesitation and hurried back to the office.

Before my daughter could even make it into surgery, I received a police summons instead.

It turned out my husband had conspired with my colleague to file a report against me, pinning the crime of embezzling company fundsmoney my colleague had actually stolenon me.

With no money for treatment, my daughter died in the hospital. My parents, shattered by grief, suffered heart attacks and passed away. I ended my own life in prison, consumed by bitterness and regret.

After death, my soul drifted to where my husband was vacationing abroad. I heard him say to my colleague with my own ears, "That stupid woman wins such a huge jackpot and only knows how to waste it on that worthless daughter's medical bills, dragging me into a life of hardship!

"Now their whole family's deaths have bought us endless wealth and luxury. Consider it that idiot woman's compensation to me. Hahaha!"

When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the very moment my husband took the bank card from my hand.

This time, I still told him the transfer PIN.

Chapter 1

"Honey, I'll pay the hospital bill. Hurry back to the companydon't let work be delayed."

My husband, Russell Scholl, clutched the bank card loaded with 800 thousand dollars, his words gentle and considerate. Yet, his eyes glinted with the thrill of a scheme already in motion.

In my previous life, I had trusted him completely.

It never once occurred to me that he would take the money meant to save our daughter's life and conspire with my colleague, Kristen, to frame me for embezzling company funds.

I was sentenced to ten years in prison. In the end, my daughter died in the hospital because we couldn't afford her surgery.

Even my parents, unable to withstand the chain of blows, suffered fatal heart attacks and collapsed on the roadside, their bodies left unattended.

Now that I had been reborn, hatred surged wildly through me. I wanted nothing more than to kill the scumbag standing before methe man who abandoned his wife and doomed his own child.

But doing so would only condemn me to the same prison-bound tragedy as before. It wasn't worth it.

This time, I would make Russell and Kristen Meyer pay in a different way.

I tightened my grip on his hand and said with deliberate weight, "Then I'll leave the hospital bill to you, dear. This is our daughter's life-saving money. Make sure you don't transfer it to the wrong account."

After all, in my last life, Russell hadn't sent the money to the hospital at all. He had transferred it to another accountone Kristen had arranged.

A flicker of unease crossed his eyes. He replied guiltily, "Don't worry. I wouldn't be that careless."

I smiled. "Good."

Then I turned and walked away, the smile vanishing from my face the moment my back was to him.

As soon as I left the hospital, I dialed the police with a cold laugh.

"Officer, I'd like to report a case. Just two minutes ago, I was scammed. 800 thousand dollars was transferred out of my account. Please help me track where the money went."

"800 thousand dollars?" The officer on the other end immediately grew serious upon hearing the amount and opened a case on the spot. "The transfer was very recent. It's fortunate you reported it in time. We'll do everything we can to recover the funds. If you learn anything, be sure to inform us immediately."

I spoke with urgency. "Yes, yes. That money is meant for my daughter's surgery and treatment. Thank you for your help."

After hanging up, a slow smile spread across my face.

I wasn't worried about recovering the money at all. Before long, it would be transferred right back into my account.

This had been Russell and Kristen's method of framing me in my previous life.

But in this life, I would show them what it meant to be outsmarted by their own cleverness.

My phone began ringing insistently. The caller ID showed Kristen.

I deliberately didn't answer.

I didn't need to think to know what the call was about. Kristen was surely urging me to return to the company, so I could walk straight into the trap they had prepared.

Chapter 2

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.

They altered the winner's personal information, replacing it with someone else's, leaving me unable to prove that the 800 thousand dollars had been legally won.

After completing the notarization confirming my identity as the rightful winner, I also asked the staff to print out the transaction records showing the transfer of the prize money.

In this life, I would never again give Russell or Kristen even the slightest opening.

My phone rang once more. It was Kristen again.

With a swipe of my finger, I answered.

"Melissa, why haven't you come back to the office yet? Do you have any idea what's happened to the company? Anyway this has something to do with you. The general manager wants you back immediately!"

Her voice sounded urgent, but she deliberately avoided explaining what had actually happened.

I knew she was trying to make me anxious and confused, so I'd be caught off guard by her trap once I arrived.

"All right," I replied lazily. "I'll be there soon."

I took my time getting to the office. When I finally arrived, Kristen wore an expression of deep disappointment, her brows furrowed as she said, "Melissa, how could you do something like this? You've been so foolish."

I answered coolly, "Stop speaking in riddles. Just say what you mean."

She suppressed the triumph in her eyes and deliberately raised her voice.

"Melissa, you can drop the act. The company has already discovered that you secretly embezzled millions in company funds!"

The moment she said it, colleagues who had been working quietly looked up at me, shock written all over their faces.

"My God, Melissa always seemed so honest and hardworking. Who knew she'd have the nerve to do something like this?"

"The company noticed irregularities in the funds last week. I never imagined Melissa would be behind it!"

"You really can't judge a person by appearances. She looked so sincere, but she's this greedy behind the scenes!"

"What did she even do with all that money? Could she be keeping some lover on the side behind her husband and child's back?"

"Who knows? I heard her daughter's sick and needs surgery. Maybe she took the risk for her child."

"What surgery costs millions? It's obviously for her own selfish desires!"

"Whatever the reason, secretly embezzling company funds is a crime. Someone with such crooked morals deserves prison. Let's just wait and see."

Their contemptuous gazes pierced me from all directions, whispers buzzing endlessly around the room.

Kristen curled her lips into a smug smile.

My expression didn't change in the slightest. I said calmly, "I didn't embezzle any funds. I've never done such a thing."

"Melissa, the evidence is conclusive, and you still dare to lie! I trusted you so much. I was even planning to promote you next week. Is this how you repay the company?" The general manager, furious, slammed a thick stack of documents in front of me.

I flipped through them one by one and saw records of abnormal fund transfers from the company's financial system. The operator's name and employee number were listed as mine.

The most recent entry showed that ten minutes earlier, 800 thousand dollars had been transferred from the company's financial system into a bank account under my name.

I took out my phone and logged into my mobile banking app. Sure enough, one of my cards had received an 800-thousand-dollar deposit just ten minutes ago.

The manager glared at me, his voice brimming with anger. "Melissa, what else do you have to say for yourself?"

My colleagues' looks grew even more scornful.

"The evidence is right there. Let's see how she tries to wriggle out of this!"

"We slave away for this company and only get fixed salaries. How does Melissa get to siphon off so much money to support some lover and live in luxury?"

Chapter 3

The office erupted in outrage. We were all employees, doing roughly the same work. Naturally, no one wanted to see a colleague take shortcuts and suddenly start living the high life.

Watching the scene unfold, Kristen's eyes gleamed with the satisfaction of a plot successfully executed.

I cast her a meaningful glance, though my words were directed at the general manager.

"Sir, don't you find this a little too coincidental? Just ten minutes after I arrived at the company entrance, 800 thousand dollars suddenly appeared in my account. I assume these so-called pieces of evidence were provided by Kristen?"

Kristen's expression flickered.

"Yes, I provided them. So what? We may be colleagues, but I can't stand by and watch someone like you damage the company's interests. That's why I reported you to the general manager!"

I let out a cold laugh.

"I'm not the only one who can log into the financial system. And my login passwordlast time I accessed the system, you deliberately leaned over to watch. You must have seen it. How do I know you didn't log into my account on purpose and transfer the money to frame me?"

Even the general manager seemed to sense something was off. The investigation into the misappropriation of company funds had begun last week, and originally, it had nothing to do with me.

Yet somehow, today of all days, every piece of evidence suddenly pointed in my direction.

The general manager frowned and turned to look at Kristen.

A flash of panic crossed her face, but she quickly composed herself.

"Sir, don't listen to Melissa's excuses. The system's operation records aren't my only basis for suspicionI also have a witness!"

"That's right. I can testify!"

The office instantly fell into an uproar as everyone stared in shock at Russell, who had suddenly appeared.

"Isn't that Melissa's husband? Oh my God!"

"If even her own husband says so, it must be true!"

Kristen smirked. "Melissa, even your husband has reported you. How do you explain that?"

I wasn't surprised by Russell's arrival.

After all, in my previous life, he had also stepped forward at the moment the entire company doubted me, delivering the fatal blow.

He was an excellent actor. Within a second, his eyes were red with feigned anguish.

"Melissa, I never wanted to expose you, but my conscience won't let me stay silent."

I laughed coldly.

"Russell, if you truly had a conscience, you'd be at the hospital taking care of our daughter right nownot standing here slandering me alongside Kristen."

A flicker of guilt flashed across his eyes, but the next moment, he steadied himself and shouted, "I'm doing this for our daughter! I can't watch you continue down the wrong path until there's no turning back!"

"A mother who commits crimes will only make her child hang her head in shame before her classmates. If you keep going, you'll ruin our daughter's future!" Russell spoke with righteous conviction. "Melissa, it's not too late to confess. Prison is simply the punishment you deserve for breaking the law!"

Kristen chimed in, "Russell is right. Melissa, you should turn yourself in. Maybe your sentence will be reduced."

In an instant, everyone was convinced I had embezzled the company's funds. Their voices urging me to confess and surrender rose in a relentless chorus.

"Exactly. The truth is already out. Denying it won't help. You might as well surrender."

"If you take what isn't yours, you should be prepared to pay the price!"

The excitement and triumph in Russell and Kristen's eyes were no longer concealed.

Yet, there wasn't a trace of panic on my face. I simply said calmly, "Russell, you're lying. If I had secretly embezzled company funds long ago, our daughter would have already had her surgery and been cured.

"Today, I won 800 thousand dollars and personally handed the card to you so you could pay for her operation. And yet you turn around and accuse me of stealing that same 800 thousand dollars from the company. Russell, how can you face our daughter, who is still lying in that hospital bed?"

At the mention of our daughter, his expression didn't soften in the slightest. Instead, he replied with brazen self-righteousness.

Chapter 4

"I'm not lying. What would I gain from that? Yes, our daughter needs money to save her life. But it can't come from your ill-gotten funds! If you use dirty money, she'll only be ridiculed and looked down on!" Russell said brazenly.

I fixed my gaze on Russell and spoke, "Russell, Alicia is your only child. To frame me, are you really willing to disregard her life?"

His eyes were icy, yet his voice sounded earnest.

"Melissa, I'm doing this for our daughter! Stop being so stubborn. Turn yourself in. I'll find another way to pay for her surgery. Alicia and I will wait for you so our family can be reunited after you serve your time."

His emotional performance quickly won over the crowd.

"It looks like her husband really isn't lying. What kind of father would ignore his daughter's life just to frame his wife?"

"Exactly. I heard they only have one child. Of course, a father wouldn't bear to see his daughter unable to afford surgery. But if the money is illegal, it shouldn't be used no matter what."

"Russell is being rational. If they don't have money for surgery, crowdfunding online would still be better than embezzling company funds."

"And the company's missing more than a million. Surgery wouldn't cost that much. Melissa is just using her daughter's illness as an excuse to spend the money on herself."

Standing side by side, Russell and Kristen looked at me with smug satisfaction.

My face remained expressionless, though inside, doubts churned.

Russell had often complained about our daughter's frequent illnesses, saying the medical expenses lowered his quality of life. He had even once urged me to give up on her treatment and try for a healthy baby boy instead.

But our daughter only had a heart conditionit wasn't terminal. As long as the surgery succeeded, she could be cured.

There was no way I would abandon her. After that, Russell had never brought it up again.

Now I had won 800 thousand dollars. With that money, her illness could be treated immediately, and there would still be a substantial sum left over.

I was also about to be promoted with a raise. Our future would only grow brighter.

So why was he so determined to betray me with Kristen?

After all, Kristen was already married, with a husband and a two-year-old son. What made Russell think that getting involved with her wouldn't end with her husband finding out and beating him to death?

If he insisted on having an affair, he could at least have chosen a single woman. Why entangle himself with someone who already had a family?

Seeing me stand there in silence, Russell assumed I had run out of options.

Putting on a look of gentle concern, he said, "Melissa, you've already broken the law. There's no escaping it. Think of it as setting an example for our daughter. Turn yourself in. I promise I'll make sure she gets the treatment she needs. All right?"

Kristen added smugly, "Melissa, I have a son too. I understand how a mother would do anything for her child. Precisely because of that, you should surrender for your daughter's future."

I stared at the two of them exchanging knowing glances. In a sudden flash of realization, scattered details from the past came together, and at last I understood why they had colluded to betray me.

At that moment, the general manager said impatiently, "Call the police."

I glanced at my phone and curved my lips into a faint smile.

"No need. The police are already on their way."

As soon as the words left my mouth, several officers stepped into the office.

Russell and Kristen were overjoyed. They hurriedly pointed at me.

"Officer, that's herthat's Melissa. Take her away!"

The officer looked at me, nodded, then asked, "Which one of you is Kristen Meyer?"