Of Truths and Lottery

After I won a total of one million dollars from the lottery, I planned to spend four hundred thousand dollars paying off my wife Jocelyn's debts, then buy our son, Sean, the sports models and Lego set he had always wanted.

But after waiting and waiting, the only thing I got was a call from my son. "Dad, there's an event at the kindergarten today, so go eat by yourself. Mommy and I will miss you!"

I said nothing.

Because just half a minute earlier, a screen of bullet comments had suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.

"The supporting male lead is just so sad. He's working three jobs to pay off the female lead's debts, and even his stomach is bleeding due to pure exhaustion. Meanwhile, the female lead is out buying the male lead a gold watch!"

"But if the supporting male lead doesn't work himself to death, how are the male lead and female lead supposed to end up together?"

At first, I did not believe those comments.

But just then, my phone buzzed, and a credit card charge alert came in. My stomach dropped.

I never would have thought the wife who always seemed to love me so deeply and the son I had worked so hard to raise would lie to me like this.

In that case, my ten million lottery winnings had nothing to do with them anymore.

After I hung up, I stared at the lottery ticket blankly.

[That's weird. Why hasn't the supporting male lead told the female lead he won the lottery?]

[The supporting male lead needs to hurry up and disappear. I want to see the male lead and female lead get together already.]

[I agree with what the supporting male lead is doing right now. This is beyond sad. He went through all that hardship with the female lead, but she was out spending one thousand dollars from her paycheck on the male lead instead.]

I froze when I saw those comments.

One thousand dollars?

Jocelyn only made three hundred dollars a week. How could she spend a thousand on another man?

[The female lead is awful. She has always been wary of the supporting male lead and hid her real salary from him!]

In order to protect Jocelyn's pride all these years, I even delivered food to help support the family after work. It turned out it had been one-sided all along.

That night, when Jocelyn got home, she came over with a sweet, careful smile. "Honey, why are you so upset? Is it because we spent some money? Our son wanted to treat his classmates to a meal. I couldn't say no to that, right?"

As she spoke, Jocelyn shot Sean a look.

Sean figured it out quickly and ran over. He then started acting cute as he held my leg. "Daddy, I'm my friends' big boss! I already promised I would treat them to a fancy dinner! I can't break my promise. Don't be mad, alright? It won't happen again! I promise!"

He looked upset as he pouted at me. Every time he did something wrong, he would use that same routine to win me over. And every time, I forgave him without hesitation.

[Don't be fooled just because the kid is young. He's a fantastic liar.]

[When he was eating with the male lead, he even called the supporting male lead an old loser!]

[Having a son like that really makes you feel bad for the supporting male lead. The son's an ingrate.]

Those comments sent a chill down my spine.

I could not believe that the child standing in front of me had been helping his mother deceive me for so long, despite only being five years old. But the truth was right there in front of me. I had no choice but to believe it.

Just as I was about to speak, the door flew open. I turned and looked in panic, and I saw four muscular men blocking the doorway.

"Dad!" Sean burst into tears and hid in my arms, terrified.

"Is Jocelyn home?" one of them asked.

Jocelyn's face turned pale as she ran for the bedroom, but she was too slow. One of the men grabbed her easily and dragged her back into the living room.

"When are you paying back the four hundred thousand dollars you owe us?" One of the men demanded, tugging her by the hair.

"Franco, give me a little more time! My husband can make money! He can even work in clubs at night if he needs to. I'll pay off the debt soon!"

When Franco heard that, he narrowed his eyes and looked at me.

My heart sank. I hurriedly said, "Leave now, or I'll call the police. You'll get your money in ten days. Otherwise, you can sell my wife's kidney to pay you back!"

Jocelyn stared at me in shock, as though she had never expected those words to come out of my mouth.

"It's not four hundred thousand dollars anymore. It's five hundred thousand now! If you still don't pay, it will be six hundred thousand dollars soon enough!" Franco said with a cold sneer.

He then glared at Jocelyn and warned her, "You heard him. If you still can't pay, you'll just have to pay with your kidney. One won't be enough, but two might just cut it. And if that still doesn't cover five hundred thousand dollars, I'll take your heart too!"