The Lottery Betrayal
It was a Tuesday morning ritual. Mrs. Gable, a 78-year-old grandmother, walked into the corner convenience store to buy her milk and check her weekly scratch-off ticket. Her eyesight wasn't what it used to be, so she handed the ticket to the clerk, a young man she had chatted with for years. "Did I win anything, dear?" she asked. The machine beeped—a specific, loud jingle reserved for major jackpots.
But the clerk didn't smile. His heart raced as he looked at the screen. It wasn't a small prize. It was the grand prize: $10 Million. In a split second, greed took over. He crumpled the receipt, looked the old woman in the eye, and lied. "Just $5, grandma," he said, handing her a five-dollar bill from his own pocket. She thanked him and walked out, unaware she was leaving a fortune behind.
"He thought he had committed the perfect crime. He forgot about the cameras."
The next day, the clerk drove three hours to the state lottery headquarters to claim "his" prize. But lottery officials are trained to spot fraud. It is statistically impossible for a store clerk to win a jackpot on a ticket sold during their own shift without raising flags. When they pulled the CCTV footage from the store, the truth was undeniable.
The video clearly showed Mrs. Gable handing him the ticket, and him pocketing it after the machine confirmed the win. The celebration he planned never happened. Instead of a check, he was met with handcuffs. The lottery commission became suspicious immediately. He has been charged with grand larceny and fraud, and prosecutors are seeking a sentence of 15 years in prison. As for Mrs. Gable? Police delivered the $10 million check to her front door personally.
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