I won a $50 million lottery jackpot, and I begged my best friend not to tell my family. She smiled and promised she wouldn't, but the second I turned my back, she told my older brother. My brother demanded I give him the money to buy a house and get a wife. When I refused, my family emotionally blackmailed me and used a live stream to whip up a cyberbullying mob against me. They locked me in a room, starved me to death, and then bricked my body into the walls of their newly built house. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the exact day the winning numbers were drawn. My best friend smiled at me and asked, "Harper, did you win?" 01 Madison walked toward me, holding her lottery ticket. I narrowed my eyes at her. In my past life, we had been out shopping when I suggested we buy a couple of lottery tickets just for fun. I never expected to actually win the $50 million Mega Millions jackpot. At the time, we were just about to graduate college. My family had cut off all my financial support after I started school, and I was stressing over how to afford rent. That money was a literal lifesaver. After claiming the prize and paying taxes, I donated a portion, leaving me with about $35 million. Because Madison was my best friend, I even gave her $2 million. I begged her over and over not to pick up my brother's calls and absolutely not to tell my family. She promised she wouldn't. But when my brother called me at work demanding money and I told him I was broke, she blurted out: "Harper won $50 million! She even donated 5 million of it. She has plenty of money!" When my brother heard that, his eyes turned bloodshot. He choked me, threatening to kill me if I didn't give him $35 million to buy a luxury house and a wife. I told him all my money was locked in long-term certificates of deposit and couldn't be withdrawn. But he kept showing up constantly, harassing me and threatening me to go to the bank. I finally quit my job and fled out of state. But my family started doing live streams, crying to the internet that I was an ungrateful, unfilial daughter who struck it rich and abandoned her family. They played the victims perfectly, winning the internet's sympathy. Their followers doxxed my address. They sent me funeral wreaths. They Photoshopped my face onto obituaries. They mailed me dolls covered in fake blood. My family eventually tracked me down and physically forced me to transfer all the money to my brother. And after they got what they wanted, they locked me in a house and starved me to death. Ultimately, my brother bought a mansion in the city and married Madison. With my money, the two of them lived a life of absolute luxury. Meanwhile, my parents tore down our old family home to build a new one, and my corpse was bricked directly into the foundation walls. I would never be found. So, in my past life, Madison did it on purpose. And in this life, I am going to make every single one of them pay the ultimate price! 02 Watching her walk closer, I pretended to be busy packing my luggage. "The odds are one in a billion. How could I possibly win?" She stopped and stared at me intensely for a few seconds. "Oh, really?" I finished packing my things, looked up, and met her eyes directly. "Yeah." "Then where's your ticket? You haven't taken it out." I had forgotten. In my past life, it was Madison who dragged me over, dug the ticket out of my bag, and checked the numbers one by one. When we realized I won, she looked even more excited than I was. But her smile vanished almost immediately, replaced by a dark murmur: "I'm so jealous. I wish I had picked that ticket." It was just a spur-of-the-moment decision to walk into that gas station. We both just asked for random Quick Picks. When the clerk handed the tickets over, Madison grabbed hers first. She specifically picked the one with an '8' in the sequence, telling me it was a lucky number. Then she shoved the other ticket into my hand. In my past life, I had laughed and said that if I won five bucks to cover the cost of the ticket, I'd be happy. Neither of us expected it to be the $50 million jackpot. I think... the moment Madison's smile vanished in my past life, the moment she realized I had the winning ticket, was the exact moment she started plotting against me. How could she possibly be satisfied with just the $2 million I gave her? In her eyes, she was only one choice away from holding that ticket herself. Therefore, she believed all that money rightfully belonged to her. So, facing her interrogation now... I generously pointed toward the door. "I threw it in the dumpster outside. Do you want to go dig it out and check?" 03 Madison didn't go. The next day, we packed up our dorm to go our separate ways. In my past life, because I won the jackpot, Madison insisted we live together. Thinking it would be nice to have my best friend around, I generously rented a massive luxury apartment and paid a full year's rent upfront for both of us. But this time, facing her invitation to room together... I rejected it outright. "I found a cheap hostel. It's only $50 a night, and I can pay day-by-day. Do you want to come?" Madison shot me a suspicious look. "Harper, why do I feel like you've been acting weird since yesterday? Did you actually win the lottery?" My heart skipped a beat. Then, I laughed out loud. "If I won the lottery, would I be miserable enough to live in a $50 hostel? But since you brought it up, want to go buy another ticket? Who knows, maybe it'll change our destiny!" Madison gave an awkward, strained laugh and linked her arm through mine. "Oh, stop. I didn't mean it like that. It's just... you never showed me the numbers, so I feel like I don't have closure." "Stop overthinking it. Your family is local, right? Why would you even need to rent a place?" Madison leaned her head on my shoulder. "Because I want to live with you, duh." I sneered internally: You just want to stick around to find out if I actually won. But I didn't call out her hypocrisy. Instead, I pulled out my phone and called my older brother, Jackson. "Hey, Jackson. My college roommate actually has a huge crush on you." "Yeah, Madison! The one you met before. But don't tell her I told you. She's super shy." 04 Using the hostel as a cover, I went completely incognito to claim my prize. This time, I donated $10 million to charity. After taxes, I had exactly $30 million left in my bank account. I split the money into several different bank accounts for security. Then, I deliberately flaked on signing the employment contract for the job I had lined up, and started preparing my applications for grad school. But to my surprise, Madison still tracked me down. "Harper, I heard from the professor that you broke your employment contract. Why?" I was sitting in the hostel lounge, reading a textbook. I answered her casually, "I just decided I want to go to grad school." "Are you sure you didn't win the lottery and decide to retire?" I put the book down. "Look at my family. Do you really think I can afford to retire?" "Right. Has your brother been harassing you lately?" In my past life, Madison knew my family situation better than anyone. She knew I had wildly sexist parents who favored boys, and a useless, deadbeat brother who leeched off them and fully intended to leech off me. And yet, while constantly telling me how "sorry" she felt for me, she pushed me directly into the fire. I shook my head, grabbed Madison's hand, and patted it. "My brother changed! He got a job at a massive tech company in Silicon Valley. I heard his starting salary is like $150k a year, and he has tons of girls chasing him." Madison gasped, clearly not believing it. I pulled out my phone and handed it to her. She scrolled through. Jackson's Instagram feed was suddenly full of photos of him working in a sleek office, and pictures of him posing next to a luxury car. I watched as she tapped to enlarge the car photo. I leaned in. "What kind of car is that? I don't recognize the logo." Madison pursed her lips. "That's a Porsche. It costs over a hundred grand." I quickly snatched the phone back. "That's terrifying! If his salary is only $150k, how can he afford a car that expensive?" Madison looked thoughtful. "Do you think he suddenly came into some money?" Then she turned her head, looking at me with a faint, probing smile. "Harper, I saw a banner outside the gas station where we bought our tickets. It said someone won the $50 million jackpot. Who do you think it was?" I picked my book back up and chuckled. "How should I know? Hundreds of people buy tickets there every day." But Madison suddenly leaned in close, making my skin crawl. "Harper, I went to the gas station. I asked the owner for the physical description of the winner." My heart gave a violent jolt. Did she actually figure it out? 05 "Harper, what are you so afraid of?" Madison stared at me, a fake, chilling smile on her face. Maybe the trauma of my past life—giving her $2 million only for her to orchestrate my brutal murder—was too fresh. The memory of being slowly starved to death, the pure despair and helplessness, made my whole body tremble. For a split second, I genuinely thought she had been reborn alongside me. Otherwise, why was she so obsessively fixated on whether I won or not? I could have just taken my money and vanished, but then... what about them? They wouldn't face any punishment. They wouldn't get their karma. That wasn't fair. I was going to take every ounce of agony I suffered and return it to them tenfold! Thinking of this, I stood up and looked her dead in the eye. "Madison, honestly... I lied to you." In my past life, I begged her not to tell my family, and she betrayed me, leading to my agonizing death. This time, not only was I going to tell her, but I was going to redirect the target entirely. "Are you saying your brother took the money?" I nodded. I watched as Madison's face cycled through a spectrum of colors. "He threatened me not to tell anyone, not even my parents. But you're my best friend. I couldn't bear to lie to you." "But your brother's credit is ruined. How could he even open a bank account to deposit it?" Madison was suspicious. She pretended to comfort me, but I saw the unmistakable glint of pure greed flashing in her eyes. "That's the other secret. The money... is actually in my bank account." "WHAT?!" Madison shrieked, losing her composure. There were too many people in the hostel lounge looking at us, so I pulled her out onto the balcony. I watched her expression morph into pure, giddy excitement. "Harper, we're best friends forever, right?" I didn't call out her disgusting hypocrisy. I just pretended to look heartbroken. "Of course! I was even thinking earlier, if I actually had access to the money, I would definitely give you 2 million dollars!" Madison looked at me with wild expectation. She probably didn't even realize she was gripping my hand so hard it actually hurt. Just as she was at the peak of her excitement, I delivered the fatal blow: "But my brother took the debit card. You know what he's like. He's a deadbeat. If he has all that money, he's just going to blow it all." I faked a heavy sigh. Madison, breaking from her usual sympathetic act, asked urgently: "Can I look at his Instagram again?" I nodded and handed the phone over. She looked at it, quickly memorized Jackson's username, and then practically ran out of the hostel. Her next move was glaringly obvious: she was going to seduce my brother. Which was exactly what I wanted. I dialed a number. "Mom, my classmate gave me some extra money. I'm transferring it to you. Give it to Jackson. We can't let the only son in our family suffer, right?" 06 Madison didn't contact me for the next few days, but I could tell from her social media that she and Jackson were definitely hitting it off. That night, Jackson showed up at my hostel. I secretly turned on my phone's camera to record. Before I even got close, he raised his hand to slap me. I dodged it effortlessly. "Jackson, what are you doing?" "You little bitch, I'm out of cash!" I had previously advised him that chasing a rich city girl required spending big money. But where was that money going to come from? Predatory payday loans, obviously. I even generously provided him with a list of shady websites that approved loans instantly with just an ID. But given his atrocious credit score, he couldn't borrow much. So if he wanted to keep playing the rich billionaire for Madison, he desperately needed more cash. "But I don't have any money either!" I made my voice sound as pitiful and weak as possible. "If you don't have money, go sell yourself! You're in your twenties, you could make a fortune! Are you still a virgin?" My blood boiled. I wanted nothing more than to slap him across his smug face, but I held it back. "Jackson, how could you say something like that?!" He took a step forward and tried to drag me away. But there were people walking around, and Jackson didn't dare cause a massive scene. I shook off his hand. "Fine, I'll send you the $500 Madison just transferred to me." "She gave you money?" Jackson narrowed his eyes at me. He was aggressively average-looking, but he was tall. Since we were kids, while I was malnourished, my parents stuffed him with the best food, so he grew into a towering, intimidating brute. I opened my banking app and transferred the money. "Madison is really nice. She helps me out financially all the time." As he turned to leave, I called out to him and shoved a business card into his hand. "Jackson, there's a contact on here. You can borrow $10,000, and the daily interest is only $10!" Jackson's eyes lit up. He scoffed at me and walked away. 07 Madison asked me to go shopping for clothes. It was only then I remembered our college reunion was coming up. She was absolutely glowing. I smiled. Good. The fish took the bait. I walked over. "Madison, your skin looks amazing lately." "Oh, really? It's probably just the glow of being in a happy relationship." I feigned shock. "You're dating someone?! Since when?" Madison smiled mysteriously. "I'm going to announce it at the reunion! It'll be a massive surprise! Now hurry up and help me pick out an outfit." Watching her walk ahead, I sneered. Madison, the real show is just getting started. In my past life, after I claimed the jackpot, she dragged me to ultra-high-end luxury boutiques, telling me I had suffered for so long and deserved to treat myself. Following her advice, I bought a $1,500 pair of shoes, a $4,000 dress, and an $8,000 designer handbag. But that shopping spree ended up costing me my life. When Jackson came to extort me for money and started digging through my things, she conveniently blurted out: "Careful! Don't ruin Harper's $8,000 bag!" Jackson took the bag and immediately pawned it for cash. That was how they realized I could afford an $8,000 bag. She had been digging my grave from the very beginning. So this time, I deliberately took her to a high-end designer store and encouraged her to try things on. Clothes really do make the person. I relentlessly praised how incredible she looked, but when she checked the price tag—$8,000—she visibly flinched. It actually hurt her to look at it. I pretended to look devastated. "If only I had money. I would swipe my card and buy this for my best friend without blinking an eye." "Never mind, Madison. Let's just go to the outlet mall downtown." Hearing the words "outlet mall," Madison frowned in disgust. Seeing her still hesitating, I put on a pathetic face and turned to the sales associate. "Excuse me, this dress..." Before I could finish, Madison interrupted me loudly: "I'll take it." "Madison! You..." She patted my hand dismissively. I knew exactly what she was thinking. It was pure, unadulterated vanity. After all, you have to spend money to make money, right? I immediately snapped a photo and texted it to my parents: [An $8,000 dress, and she bought it without blinking! What kind of crazy rich family is she from?!] 08 At the college reunion, Madison's arrival instantly stole the spotlight. I deliberately dressed as plainly as possible, making her look even more radiant and glamorous by comparison. In my past life, I could never understand why she was so hellbent on destroying me. Later, I finally understood. She never saw me as a friend. I was just an accessory. By keeping me around as her inferior, she fed her own ego. At her core, she was vain and money-hungry. She desperately craved validation from others. She just used the wrong methods to get it. Sure enough, everyone was whispering: "I just looked up Madison's dress online. It's $8,000!" "Oh my god. I thought her family was just middle-class. How can she afford that?" "Who knows? Maybe she bagged a sugar daddy." Just as they were gossiping, Jackson appeared at the entrance of the restaurant. I pretended to be shocked. "Jackson, what are you doing here?!" But Madison beat me to it. She walked over, grabbed Jackson's hand, and introduced him to the room: "Everyone, this is my boyfriend. You don't mind if I brought a plus-one, right?" No one had any objections. I looked Jackson up and down. He must have maxed out those loan shark contacts. He was wearing head-to-toe designer logos, his hair was styled, and standing there, he actually looked the part of a wealthy tech bro. Someone in the crowd said, "Madison, you and Harper were already best friends, and now you're literally family!" Madison loved the sound of that. So, she made Jackson foot the bill for the entire reunion dinner. When the party ended, Jackson invited some classmates who lived nearby to ride home in his rented Porsche. A few classmates eagerly accepted. The entire ride, they endlessly flattered the two of them. I sat in the back seat, watching Madison's irrepressible smirk in the rearview mirror, and the corners of my own mouth curled up. The higher you fly, the harder you crash. I wondered what state she would be in when she finally learned the truth. 09 To watch a good show, you obviously need a safe, comfortable seat. I booked a suite at a five-star hotel. But I didn't check out of the hostel. I went back every day, so if anyone asked, I could say I was pulling all-nighters at the library studying for grad school. So, when Jackson finally called me, his voice was explosive with rage: "You little bitch! Get your ass out here!" I guessed he had already caused a scene with the hostel security. And since he couldn't find me, he was losing his mind. "Brother, what's wrong?" "Madison told me you won $50 million and you gave it all to me!" My heart skipped a beat. So she finally asked him. I knew it. Madison's motives for approaching Jackson were entirely impure. She wouldn't ask him directly at first. But seeing him spend all that money on her, building this illusion of wealth built entirely on predatory loans, cemented her suspicions. Once their relationship felt stable, she definitely started dropping hints. I deflected the question. "I was just joking with her! She was acting obsessed with the lottery for days, so I just said it to calm her down. Besides, isn't her family super rich?" "She dumped me!" Jackson snarled viciously. "But I didn't let her go easy. I never wore protection once." I was speechless. I guess it's true what they say: it takes a monster to destroy a monster. Madison had been ignoring my texts. Jackson dragged me straight to Madison's office building to confront her. She refused to come down, so Jackson started causing a massive scene in the lobby. Her boss eventually told her to handle her personal drama before returning to work, leaving her no choice but to come down and face us. In my past life, this was exactly how it happened. Jackson showed up at my office demanding money. But how did he know where I worked? Madison told him, obviously. When Jackson hit me, cursed at me, and threatened to kill me for the money... Madison pretended to comfort me, but every word was a hidden dagger. Especially that one line: "Harper won $50 million, and she even donated 10 million of it! She has plenty of money!" That completely pushed Jackson over the edge. And her? She stood next to me, looking like a flawless, innocent victim, saying, "Harper, don't worry, I support whatever decision you make." This time, I was going to let her taste the blade of betrayal. Seeing me, Madison's facade finally broke, revealing her true, venomous face. "Harper Vance! Why did you lie to me?!" I blinked innocently, tears welling in my eyes. "Madison, I was doing it for your own good! You were obsessing over it every single day! It was a white lie! But wait... did you only date my brother for his money?" Madison's face flushed a violent red, then went pale. Jackson lunged forward to grab her, but Madison sneered and dodged him. "Heh! Money? It was all borrowed! You broke, pathetic loser! Stay away from me! You disgust me!" Being humiliated like that, Jackson slapped her hard across the face. In the past, he used to beat me at home all the time. He took all his anger out on me. If he wasn't banking on selling me off to a rich guy for a dowry, he probably would have beaten me to death. But now, the person getting beaten was Madison. Her eyes filled with tears. She scrambled up and tried to run. I quickly grabbed her arm. How could I possibly let her walk away so easily? I was going to make her stay and enjoy the agonizing humiliation I suffered in my past life! So, I held her wrist with one hand and pushed my brother with the other. "Jackson, you can't hit people! I'm calling the cops!" Jackson was massive. He could lift me with one hand. He glared at me menacingly. I immediately shielded Madison. "Back off! Madison's dress cost $8,000! Don't you dare get blood on it!" Hearing "$8,000," Jackson's eyes turned blood red. He lunged past me, grabbed Madison by the throat, and roared, "You bitch! I gave you my money, and you spent it on an $8,000 dress?! And you have the nerve to call me broke?!" The truth was, she bought the dress with her own money, but he didn't care. Madison's face turned purple from being choked. I pretended to panic and ran forward. "Let her go! How can you say that to her? If she was only after your money, she never would have dated you in the first place!" That sentence silenced Madison entirely. She was too ashamed to explain the truth, especially with the crowd growing larger by the second, many of them pulling out their phones to record. She didn't dare admit her intentions were impure, so she had no choice but to swallow the grievance. She even had to beg me: "Harper, save me." Save you? Of course I'll save you. Otherwise, how do we play the next round? I stepped back from the crowd and dialed 911. "Hello, police? There's a violent assault happening here." Then, I casually sent a text to my parents: [Jackson got arrested!] Taking advantage of the hours it would take them to commute from our hometown to the city, I had security cameras installed in my parents' house.
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