Forget flowers and chocolates, a Virginia man spared no expense for Valentine’s Day – by giving his wife his $10 million lottery ticket.
Stay-at-home mom Maria Chicas’ husband bought the Extreme Millions Scratcher ticket at the In & Out Mart on Mathis Avenue in Manassas a few days before the romantic holiday, the state lottery said.
After realizing he had a winner, the happy hubby called Maria to share the good news.
“Aw, you’re lying!” she told him.
“I thought he was joking!” the resident of Haymarket in Prince William County told Lottery officials.
But he was not kidding – and turned the ticket into the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for his stunned better half, who had the choice of taking the full amount over 30 years or a “one-time cash option” of $6,570,302 before taxes.
She chose the latter.
The store, meanwhile, receives a $50,000 bonus from the Virginia Lottery for selling the winning ticket, the fourth and final top prize in the Extreme Millions Scratcher Game.
“It is the Virginia Lottery’s policy to end scratcher games after the last top prize is claimed,” the Lottery said.
The odds of winning the top prize were 1 in 2,937,600.
