I still remember the day my life changed forever. I am a single mother of two struggling to make an income. Life has been a constant struggle since my husband left me. Not only was I depressed, but I was addicted to gambling. I bought a lottery ticket every week in hopes of winning and not having to declare bankruptcy to pay off some loans. I was never lucky until the day I will always remember: December 11th. December 10 started like any other day. Before, I worked as a waitress; I went to the local supermarket to buy a Lotto 649 ticket. That week's jackpot was worth about $30 million. The numbers I chose were the same as usual: 7, 17, 18, 21, 39 and 44. After buying the lottery ticket, I went to Lucky Fortune, the restaurant where I worked. The restaurant was full; every table was occupied. As I walked through the kitchen door, my colleagues greeted me. I grabbed a plate of chow mein and was about to go out when I heard a scream. I looked around and saw a rat running towards me. I suffer from musophobia, the fear of rats, so I accidentally dropped the plate of chow mein while trying to jump on the counter. The rat rushed out of the kitchen, where all the customers were eating. The customers who saw the rat acted like crazy. Someone jumped on the table screaming, others rushed to the door and others started screaming as if the rat was a devil. It took us 15 minutes to calm down all our customers after the owner called an exterminator. After the exterminator locked the rat in a cage, government health services ordered Lucky Fortune closed for a month due to unsanitary conditions. Not only am I living in poverty, but I was also fired because the owner thought... middle of paper... there was no connection. I looked at the Lotto 649 website and saw a photo of the employee holding up a check for $24.15 million (80.5% of the jackpot since the ticket contained 6/6 matches). I looked up the winning numbers and my heart sank. The numbers were: 7, 17, 18, 21, 39 and 44. I had been scammed. I called the police but was told that because I hadn't signed my name on the back of the ticket, I had no proof that the winning ticket belonged to me. I failed to take the necessary precautions and it cost me over $21 million. Even though I had more money than I ever dreamed of, I knew the scam was avoidable. Even though I thought I had no chance of winning, I should have been more careful. After paying off my loans, I had half a million to spend. I wondered what could have happened if I had been smart. I guess if something is too good to be true, it probably is...