I won a massive lottery jackpot — $384 million — but I didn’t tell a soul. And the first thing I did wasn’t celebrate. I just sat there, letting the silence swallow the room. I wanted to know who would really still be there for me, so I called my family and pretended I’d hit rock bottom and needed help right away. I sat alone in my living room, the TV still on… and when the numbers started appearing, the remote slipped right out of my hand…

I wanted to tell her I was trying to protect her, but that sounded hollow, so I just said I was sorry.

Before she got out of the car, she said something that stuck with me.

“Money makes people cruel. Don’t let it make you stupid, too.”

When she closed the door and walked away, I felt like something inside me cracked.

That night, I got another message. This one was different. Longer, colder.

You’re not careful enough. You think hiding the ticket will save you? It won’t. People talk, lawyers talk. Someone always wants a cut. You’ll give us what’s ours or we’ll take it from her.

Her.

They meant Lily.

I called her immediately, but she didn’t pick up. I drove to her place again. Lights off, no car, no sign of her. I called hospitals, friends, even her school. No one had seen her since she left the clinic that afternoon.

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