Divorce After Lottery Win

Synopsis

I heard the door slam with unusual force, rattling the cheap frames on our apartment wall. Jake never came home this excited. Something was different tonight. "Sarah!" His voice rang through our cramped Portland apartment, breathless with excitement. "Sarah, where are you?" I emerged from the kitchen, dish towel still in hand, to find my husband's face flushed with an almost manic energy. His blue eyes gleamed in a way I hadn't seen since our early dating days, before the subtle criticisms and cold shoulders became routine. "You won't believe what happened," Jake said, his fingers trembling as he pulled a small paper from his pocket. He held it up like it was the Holy Grail. "Ten million dollars, Sarah. Ten. Million. Dollars." My stomach dropped. The lottery ticket fluttered between his fingers—just a small slip of paper from the gas station down the street. The same gas station where I'd overheard the owner complaining about counterfeit tickets circulating.