Truth or Dare? I chose Dare.

I posted a picture of a first-prize lottery ticket on Instagram, which, of course, was fake.

But after that night, my husband, Maddox Kuhn, changed.

At the same time, it also exposed a secret he had been keeping from me over the past twenty years.

***

Today, my company organized a dinner party.

After a tiring day, everyone relaxed and enjoyed the food and fun.

The party got livelier as the drink began to flow. Suddenly, someone suggested playing Truth or Dare.

We all agreed. As the bottle spun on the table, everyone was excited.

The bottle stopped, and it pointed at me.

"It's you! Loretta!" my colleagues cheered.

I was stunned for a moment, didn't expect it to be me first.

But I also had some adventurous spirit, so I chose Dare and picked up a card. My "punishment" was to pretend to win the lottery and post it on Instagram.

I suddenly found it a bit interesting. Coincidentally, I just bought a lottery ticket a few days ago and won 100 dollars. My colleagues were all excited. Under their gazes, I took out my phone, took a picture of my lottery ticket, edited it, making it a first prize, and then posted it on my Instagram.

The first prize of the lottery this time was 18 million dollars. I thought no one would believe what I had posted on my Instagram.

After all, it was really rare or nearly impossible for me to win it.

Thus, I didn't hesitate to post it.

On my Instagram, it said: [After years of hard work, I finally made it!] And a picture of a lottery ticket was attached. Then, I put down my phone and waited for the next round of games to start.

Little did I know that soon after I put down my phone, messages started filling my various chat groups as well as the comment section of that post.

After the party, I returned home. Maddox was still on a business trip, so there was only me at home. I closed the curtains and, feeling dizzy after drinking, went to bed early.

Early the next morning, the doorbell rang abruptly, and the sound was sharp and piercing.

The dazzling sunlight shone through the gap between the curtains and fell on my face.

I turned over, but the doorbell kept ringing nonstop. I half-opened my eyes, yawned, got up reluctantly, and walked to the door slowly.

As I walked, I pondered with doubts and confusion.

After opening the door, I saw a thin face with high cheekbones, narrow eyes, and a faintly cold smile at the corners of her mouth.

When she saw me, she forced a smile, with a hint of flattery.

I was a little surprised because she was my mother-in-law, Martha Kuhn.

In my memories, Martha had always been arrogant and never showed me any warm smiles. So, now, her weird smile with a hint of flattery really surprised me.

I stood still in a daze, not knowing how to respond for a while. Martha's smile seemed to also carry a hint of embarrassment, looking like she was trying to break the barrier between us.

After a while, I reluctantly showed a smile and asked softly, "Mom, why are you here?"

When Martha heard my question, a hint of imperceptible panic flashed across her eyes. She coughed lightly and then said, "I just came to check on you, and I also brought you something."

I looked down and found that Martha was actually carrying a live chicken, which was obviously carefully chosen by her. Before I could figure out what was going on, Martha hurriedly entered my apartment.

Right after she came in, she threw the things in her hand to the side and stared at me sharply.

She snapped, "You changed the password without telling me first. What's wrong with you?"

Facing Martha's sudden accusation, I explained helplessly, "No, Mom, there have been too many thieves recently, so I changed the password to make me feel safer."

Martha's face flushed with anger, and she frowned and snapped sharply, "You changed the password to prevent thieves? Then why didn't you tell me before you did it? Am I also a thief?"

I took a deep breath, trying to keep calm. Then, I looked at Martha and said, "Mom, it was not my idea. It was your son who wanted to change it." As I spoke, I stared at Martha's face without blinking, wanting to see her reaction.

As I expected, a trace of embarrassment flickered in her eyes. She immediately turned her head away, not looking at me or speaking.

When I was about to take the chicken to the kitchen, Martha suddenly stopped me, saying, "I'll stew the chicken. My son loves my cooking the most."

I looked over and saw Martha tilting her head slightly, with a hint of imperceptible pride at the corner of her mouth. It looked like she was showing off her cooking skills and her importance in her son's heart.

I felt a little puzzled, wondering, Isn't Maddox on a business trip now?

Suppressing the doubt in my heart, I said to Martha, "Mom, I still need to confirm with him just to avoid any misunderstandings."

As I took out my phone, I glanced at her from the corner of my eye.

Martha closed her eyes and shook her head slightly, looking impatient.

At the moment when I saw countless messages on my phone, my mind went blank.

And I was somewhat shocked.

Because of my last post, countless likes and comments filled my Instagram, leaving me at a loss.

[Oh my god! Girl, you've made a fortune!]

[Really? How much did you win?]

[You get rich now, huh? Why aren't you replying? Are you looking down on us now?]

[You must treat us to a feast, Loretta.] [Can you lend me some money to get by?]

Various messages and comments made me feel overwhelmed.

I realized that the post I made on Instagram yesterday had caused me some unnecessary trouble.

I quickly swiped to the chat interface with Maddox.

[Darling, I saw your post on Instagram. It's too showy. I'm coming back today. I'll decide how to use the money, okay? I didn't expect you to really win the first prize...]

[Back in the day when we were in school, you always had the best luck with scratch cards.]

Seeing Maddox's messages, I felt a bit speechless because I didn't expect him to believe it too. But this was somehow understandable. I told Maddox two days before that I bought a lottery ticket with my lucky numbers. I also told him I had a strong feeling that I would win this time.

But it was just a joke. I really didn't expect all of this to happen.

Word traveled fast. I guessed that Martha came for this too.

But this was really a big misunderstanding.

I started replying to those messages and comments, explaining that it was just a game, and that was not a real winning ticket.

But things seemed to be going out of control.

Some people didn't believe my explanation. They even thought I was deliberately hiding the fact that I won the lottery. Some even called me to ask about the details of my winning.

Being bothered, I immediately set up the Do Not Disturb mode.

My family group chat also got a lot of messages.

When I clicked into that chat interface, messages just kept popping up on my phone.

This group chat was filled with Martha's sisters and cousins. I was added to the group when I just got married. Except for that time, I didn't have much presence in this group. But now, it was like I was suddenly in the spotlight.

Martha: [We're really lucky! Have you all seen Loretta's Instagram? We brought luck to her! Thanks to our family, she won the lottery! It's a blessing!]

She also posted a screenshot in the family group chat, which caused a commotion.

Then, Martha began to give out money in the group chat. I also got some. But when I saw how much she had given out, I was furious. That was 10 thousand dollars, which was about the amount that I gave her at Christmas.

Maddox and I had to pay the mortgage and car loan, and we also had to give Martha some money to support her living every month. Thus, we usually lived frugally. But now, Martha didn't seem to be careful at all when spending money.

However, I knew that it was also my fault that I let Martha misunderstand, so I felt a little guilty.

Martha liked to show off, and that was part of her personality. She always talked about how good her son was and how lucky I was to marry her son.

Relatives were all complimenting Martha. But at the same time, they were also complaining about their own financial difficulties, saying that as a member of the Kuhn family, Martha should help them.

This really gave me a headache. Helplessly, I said to Martha on the sofa, "Mom, our company held a dinner party last night, and we had a game. That post was not real. I didn't win the lottery."

But Martha stared at me suspiciously and said, "Loretta, do you still see me as your family?" With that, she patted her chest with a frown, as if my words gave her a heartache.

Then, she continued, "I came all the way here to cook for you. But what did you do to me? If it weren't for our family's good luck, you wouldn't have won the lottery, okay? Or do you want to keep it all to yourself?"

Martha frowned and looked at me coldly, with dissatisfaction at me on her face.

I felt it was ridiculous.

Even if I really won the lottery, what made her think it was all thanks to her family? She had really overestimated herself and her family.

I responded coldly, "I have already clarified it. And you should also stop spreading rumors."

But I knew Martha would never listen to me.

She rested her feet on the coffee table and had a slightly annoyed expression on her face. It seemed that my clarification was insignificant to her, and she didn't want to listen anymore.

Feeling tired in my heart, I went back to my room, closed the door, and waited for Maddox to come back.