Chapter 5: The Fine Print
Dana blew us a kiss and walked to the cashier.
“How?!” Brian choked.
She held up his phone. “Find My iPhone, remember? You never logged me out. I tracked you here. And while you were screaming at Kevin, I used your Face ID. You were asleep on the table, Brian.”
I looked at Brian. “You slept through a casino?”
“I was stressed!”
Security stopped Dana. “Ma’am, large payouts need ID and a tax form.”
Dana smiled. “Got it right here.”
She pulled out a wallet. Brian’s wallet.
The one that was “stolen.”
“Wait,” I said. “You had his wallet this whole time?”
Dana shrugged. “He left it at my place when he was ‘packing my stuff.’ I was gonna give it back… until he texted me ‘LOL’ after I lost my job. So I kept it. For luck.”
The lottery office rep showed up. “Okay, who’s Brian Miller?”
Brian raised his hand.
“Sign here. The $850k is yours. Minus the 24% federal withholding. And since you reported it stolen, we flagged it. Nobody else could cash it.”
Brian blinked. “So… the ticket Kevin had?”
“Fake,” the rep said. “He printed it online. We see this scam weekly.”
Kevin got arrested for fraud. Dana got nothing except banned from the casino.
And Brian?
He got $646,000.
And immediately wired $10k to Dana.
“Why?!” I screamed.
“She looked sad,” Brian said. “And she needs it more than me.”
I walked out.
Last I heard, Brian bought a Lambo.
Totaled it a week later.
No insurance.
“Chill,” he texted me. “I’ll win it back. Double or nothing.”
May you like
I blocked him.
Some people just love being broke.
The End.
