Forget flowers and chocolates: A Virginia man spared no expense this Valentine’s Day when he presented his wife with his $10 million lottery ticket.
The husband of stay-at-home mom Maria Chicas bought the Extreme Millions Scratcher ticket at the In & Out Mart on Mathis Avenue in Manassas days before the romantic holiday, the National Lottery announced.
After realizing he had a winner, the happy husband called Maria to share the good news.
“Oh, you’re lying!” she told him.
“I thought he was joking!” the Haymarket, Prince William County resident told lottery officials.
But he wasn’t 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 or a ‘one-time payment 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 jackpot in the Extreme Millions Scratcher game.
“It is Virginia Lottery policy to discontinue scratch games after the last jackpot has been claimed,” the lottery said.
The odds of winning the top prize were 1 in 2,937,600.
