The Day My $8.8 Million “Fake” Ticket Won Chapter 2

The manager arrived quickly.

Less than five minutes later, a middle-aged man in a suit with slicked-back hair emerged from the inner office.

His name was Robert Davies.

I’d researched this lottery station’s information last night. While he wasn't the legal representative or the actual controlling owner, he’d been the manager here for five years and supposedly had connections.

“What’s going on? What’s all this shouting about? This is unacceptable!”

Robert first reprimanded Cora, then smiled, reaching out to help me up.

“Sir, the floor is cold. Let’s stand up and talk. We are a legitimate establishment; we would never bully anyone.”

A master move.

This was a true pro.

Calming the public’s anger, establishing an image of reasonableness.

I took the opportunity to stand up, dusting off my pants.

“You’re the manager?”

“I am.” Robert nodded, still smiling.

“I heard you brought a lottery ticket to claim a prize, but my colleague said it was fake?”

“It’s not fake, it’s real.”

I stared into his eyes. “$8.8 million, the grand prize.”

When I mentioned “$8.8 million,” I noticed a subtle twitch in Robert’s eye. Very faint.

“Whether it’s real or fake isn’t just about what you say.”

Robert sighed, putting on a professional air.

“The ticket? Let me see it.”

Cora handed the lottery ticket to Robert.

Robert took it, held it up to the light, then felt the texture of the paper.

“Sir.”

Robert placed the ticket on the counter, tapping the surface lightly with his finger.

“This ticket, it really does have issues.”

“What issues?”

“The paper quality is wrong.” Robert looked at me with a regretful expression.

“This thermal paper isn’t from the same batch we use at the center. And this anti-counterfeit code, while it looks similar, a professional can spot the flaw instantly. And… ”

He paused, raising his voice slightly.

“And, the serial number on this ticket doesn’t show up in our system at all. That means this ticket has no record of being issued.”

A collective gasp went through the crowd.

“No record? Is it a private lottery?”

“Oh, that young man looked so honest, turns out he really was trying to pull a fast one.”

“Almost got tricked by him, these people are the worst!”

The elderly folks who had just been on my side instantly turned against me.

That’s how easily people are swayed; they believe whoever sounds loudest or looks most authoritative.

Robert was clearly pleased with the effect.

His eyes held a hint of disdain, as if to say: *Kid, trying to mess with me? You’re still too green.*

“Since it’s a fake ticket, we’ll have to deal with it according to regulations.”

Robert said, casually tucking the ticket, supposedly worth $8.8 million, into his pocket.

“Hold on.”

I spoke up.

“You said it’s not in the system?”

I pulled out my phone and opened a video.

“This is a video I took when I bought the ticket yesterday. From me paying, to the machine printing it out, to me holding the ticket in my hand—it’s an uncut, single-shot video. It even shows the time on the ticket machine and your store’s identification number.”

I held the phone screen up to Robert.

The video clearly showed the lottery ticket being dispensed from their machine.

Robert’s smile froze.

He hadn’t expected me to record it.

Who records buying a lottery ticket?

But he was an old hand; he only paused for a second before regaining his composure.

“Videos can be doctored, or shot with tricky angles.”

Robert sneered.

“Current AI face-swapping technology can do anything. Making a fake video is nothing. Besides, how do you prove that the ticket in this video is the same one you brought here now?”

Shameless.

Utterly shameless.

This was exactly why I suffered from paranoid personality disorder.

In this world, bad people don’t need logic to do evil; they only need power, or a thick skin.

“So, what do you want?”

I asked.

“Nothing much.”

Robert shrugged.

“To prevent you from scamming other places, we must destroy this fake ticket.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” I roared, taking a step forward.

The security guard immediately blocked me, pushing me back.

“What are you doing? Are you trying to rob us?”

Cora shrieked.

The scene instantly spiraled out of control.