A poor man coming to power

My life was never easy, I lost everything I loved the most and it's not about material things, my parents died in a car accident when I was only 7 years old, my other relatives didn't want to take care of me, so the government left me in the care of an orphanage, here all the children were treated badly as if we were a burden and many children felt they were worthless, because if their own family abandoned them, how could they find love in someone else?

The first month I preferred to stay away from everyone, many children considered me a weirdo, I preferred not to socialize, the girls, not to mention as soon as I got close they ran away, only one person was the only one I had a friendship with and that was Benito Buenaventura, his parents mistreated him until one day a neighbor called the family ministry and they managed to separate the child, both parents lost custody and were sentenced to prison, the whole family hated him because thanks to him they are in prison.

As we grew up, Benito and I made many plans, dreaming cost nothing and you could dream big, he dreamed of being a big businessman, having several companies and being in charge of thousands of people, on the other hand I preferred to enjoy life, I dreamed of seeing the whole world and being a free man, but of course it all depended on money and that was something we didn't have.

When we reached our 16th birthday the orphanage could no longer support our expenses, in any case we were already in the fifth year of high school and it was time to become independent, our promotion gift was a bonus of 500 dollars and a no return departure from the orphanage, they had already done their duty to prepare you, the rest depended on you.

Benito got a scholarship at the regional university of technology and commerce, he was one of the best students in high school and of course he accepted it, he had one thing in mind and that was to become a great businessman, on the other hand I was looking for a not so expensive apartment and a job, it was not my dream, but what can you do, having a place to sleep and eat was enough for me.

Three years have passed since I left the orphanage and guess what?

...my life is still the same, except that I owe more and more money to the state, my job sucks, I live in a 2 by 6 meter hole that I could barely afford.

-Shut up Javier, no one is interested in your failed life, move if you don't want me to fire you right now - interrupts a voice.

The guy who just yelled at me is my boss and yes, my name is Javier Ignacio Santos Palacio, my name is not that cool, I work at Tony's Hamburgers I had no choice, I'm a waiter and the customers sometimes suck, they treat me like I'm their slave, but I have no choice but to put up with it, i have not been able to get a better job.

-Table Order 4- shouts the cook.

-Isabel, don't get tired of cooking here? -I ask him.

-Sometimes I just want to go away and leave this job, but I have a son who depends only on me and I can't do that, besides it's the best I can do.

-But you studied to be a professional chef, not to fry hamburgers.

-When you have a house to keep, you have to adapt to whatever comes your way, otherwise you'll be on the street.

-The day will come when you will be a chef in a prestigious restaurant.

-And you will be the owner? You haven't even studied a profession and owning a restaurant like you describe implies a lot of money.

-Hey, you lazy pair, stop falling in love and get back to work," shouts the boss again.

We both continue our work.

The clock strikes 10 pm, it's time to leave, how I wish my life was different, to be able to leave my job and go wherever I want, to have someone to share it with, but what can I expect, I don't have a rich relative to inherit, I don't play the lottery and I don't even like casinos, to say that I will become an expert in something is a lie, I just have to work all my life.

I've made up my mind that I'm going to do it! I'm going to try my luck at the lottery, if I never try it I won't know if I'm lucky, I'm going to play a ticket for the 10 billion dollar Mega lottery, definitely if I try it I'm going to get big, how crazy, the most I've ever had in my hands is $1k dollars and that goes in an instant now that amount, I don't know what I'm doing, this is crazy, I'm going to spend my last $100 dollars to buy a simple ticket, in any case tomorrow I'm going to get paid.

-Good evening, he sells me a Mega Lottery ticket.

-That would be $100 dollars.

- Here you go.

You hear the sound of the printer pulling the ticket out.

-You know the odds of winning are almost zero.

I look at my ticket number and it was 000, 985, 864, 068. I just lost all my capital. I didn't know until now, but it's too late.

-Why didn't you tell me before,

-I am only in the business of selling

-I wouldn't have, I'm out of here.

I get home, to my misfortune the elevator is damaged and I live on the eighth floor, when I get to my room I am exhausted, I open the bedroom door and my bed is waiting for me.

I am hungry, but I have just wasted my money, all I have left is a loaf of bread and a soda, my misery is visible.

Days passed, the landlord told me that if I didn't pay in a week, he was going to evict me, I'm 3 months behind on the rent, I don't know what to do.

---- In the background, a voice came from a television ----

Today is the day when the annual Mega Lottery is played, we will see if a new billionaire emerges today or if it will continue to accumulate, we have 15 consecutive years where the winning number is not sold. The big moment begins

First number 0, Second number 0, Third number 0, Fourth number 9, Fifth number 8, Sixth number 5, Seventh number 8, Eighth number 6, Ninth number 4, Tenth number 0, Eleventh number 6 and our last number that will define our winner is 8.

****** 985, 864, 068 ******

We are checking the system, if the ticket has been sold, this will only take a few moments, I have just been told we have a new billionaire, if you are tuning in, remember you have to go to the lottery offices and you only have one month to claim your prize, but if it were me, I would be there first thing in the morning.

I turn off the TV; just as I imagined, this is a waste of money, where did I leave that ticket, here it is, I compare the numbering, I get quiet, at that moment you could hear the buzzing of a fly-.

IT CAN'T BE! NO IT CAN'T BE! IT CAN'T BE! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! I'm the winner of the 10 Billion dollar mega lottery, I'm sure I'm dreaming. Yes, you sure are! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! A pinch maybe. Ouch! That hurts, I'm off to the offices tomorrow.

The next day I arrive with my ticket hoping this is true.

-Good morning - I tell the receptionist.

-Aha, what do you want?

-I want to claim my prize.

-Fill out this form and wait, prizes usually take 1 week to be delivered.

I take the form and take a few minutes to do it.

-Here it is, already filled out.

-Give me the ticket and sit down while we check the prize.

-Oh, yes.

A few seconds pass when the receptionist makes a call, she seemed nervous, and a man comes out; I can see he was approaching the receptionist and pointing at me.

-I'm sorry, are you Mr. Javier Ignacio Santos Palacio? - asked the man.

-Yes, that's me.

-Please come with me.

I followed him into a room and there were several people waiting for me to arrive.

- Mr. Santos, you are a very lucky person, tell me, since when do you play the mega lottery? - said another man.

-I had never played until just a few days ago.

-Your luck is unique, many people spend several years playing before they get a small prize, but you spent only $100 dollars and won $10 billion dollars, hard to believe.

- I only played once, with only one ticket.

-Your luck is unique; many people spend several years playing before they get a small prize, but you spent only $100 and won $10 billion, hard to believe.

-I will tell you something, that $100 was all my capital and I starved that night.

-Well it was the best investment you made, now after taxes you will have a total of $8.5 billion, the prize will be delivered in 3 parts, the first in 3 days for $100 million, the second will be delivered in 3 months for $4.2 billion and the last part in another 3 months, that means in 6 months you will be getting your total.

-I thought you were going to deliver it all at once.

-We are doing it this way because we have to wait to collect all the sales and we also have other prizes to hand out, now present this document to the bank for the opening of a special account where you will receive your prize and the only thing missing is a picture with this big check.

They take the picture, it was a big check and it was for 10 billion dollars.

-Go to the bank and ask for Mr. Lee and indicate that you are going on behalf of the mega lottery board.

-All right, I'll be right there.

I leave the office and on the street I jump for joy, although I didn't have all the prize already, but I will have a large sum in 3 days; I take a cab and go to the bank, in all my life I had not been in this place is immense, I approach the receptionist and ask for Mr. Lee.

-Good morning Miss, I would like to see Mr. Lee, they sent me from the Mega Lottery.

-Wait a moment I will notify him, your name is?

-Javier Santos.

I waited a few minutes until the receptionist called me.

- Mr. Santos, Mr. Lee is waiting for you in his office, go straight ahead and then the third door on the left.

I went where I was told, knocked on the door.

-Come in -heard on the other side.

-Good morning, Mr. Lee.

-I followed, Mr. Santo, sit down, would you like a cup of coffee?

-Not at the moment, thank you for your kindness.

-I was notified of your arrival, the director of the Mega Lottery called me, let me have the document.

-Yes, here.

-Let's see, it says here that you are the winner of $8.5 billion

of dollars, unbelievable and they require you to open an account with us, so they can send you your prize, in this case you will be given a maximum account, this account will allow you to have a bank certified checkbook, where you can write checks up to 10 million dollars, We will also give you a gold card with which you will have access to a number of exclusive clubs and a maximum withdrawal limit of 100. 000 per day, your account will be assigned to one of our premium executives so that whenever we need an authorization exceeding these funds, our executive will contact you and if you need any information, you can call him directly.

----Knock on the door ----

-Come in -Mr. Lee said.

-Good afternoon, Mr. Lee, you sent for me.

-Yes, this is Mr. Javier Santos, he will be assigned to your account, he will have a fund of $8.5 billion in a period of 6 months, in 3 days he will receive in his account the sum of $100 million dollars, so I ask you to advise him as best you can.

- Mr. Santos, my name is Máximo Cárdenas, this is my card where you can contact me, if you want you can come with me to give you more information about your new account.

-Go with him Mr. Santos, from now on he will attend to you.

-Thank you for your attention Mr. Lee.

I have been treated better here than I have ever been treated in my life.

We arrived at the VIP area of the bank, everyone stared at the clothes I was wearing, it was nothing like what these people are used to wearing, Mr. Maximo took me to his desk.

-In three days you will receive a text message, where you will be notified of the receipt of your funds, these funds will have immediate availability, for the moment you are given this provisional card while yours is being issued, you will have an available balance of $100,000 dollars, which will be deducted once you receive your deposit, I just need you to sign these documents.

-So if I want to, I can go out and spend this $100,000 right away, am I correct?

-That's true, but remember that if you want your money to work for you it's better to invest, even if it seems like a lot of money, if you just start spending and spending without investing you will see that in a few years you will run out of money, then you will start losing your assets because of the taxes involved.

-Thank you for your advice, I will tell you that even though I have earned this money, I want to go unnoticed, so I don't make big luxuries, I have other things in mind.

- For my part, that's all I can help you with, if you have any questions, call me.

-Thank you for your time.

I leave the bank, I couldn't believe that in my hands I have a card with $100,000 and that in three days I will have much more.

My phone rings

It's my boss calling me, I answer the call.

- Where do you think you are, your start time is 10am, you can't come in any time you want, I'll give you 5 minutes to come in if you don't want to lose your job, and you can be sure you have no salary today - He cuts the call off without giving me a chance to say anything.

I look at the time and it's 1 pm, I hadn't noticed the time, but I don't care about that job anymore, in any case that old man always treated me badly.

I was hungry, I see a fancy restaurant and go in, but when I go in everyone looks at me, the captain of the waiters comes up to me.

-I'm sorry sir, your presentation is not appropriate for the place, I ask you very kindly to leave the restaurant as it makes the diners uncomfortable, moreover, I don't think you have the capacity to pay for the cheapest dish we have.

-I am a customer and I demand to be respected as such and if it is about the money here is my card, charge me first if you are worried why I haven't paid you and I want the best beef dish you have.

The employee takes the card and notices that it is a temporary card, but with the VIP logo of the bank, leaves and a few minutes later arrives with the manager.

-I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Santos, you can sit at this table and one of the waiters will attend to you.

How quickly they change their attitude here.

I give you back your card, no prior check-in is necessary, we know you are a very important person.

After a few minutes, they bring me a wine.

-I didn't order any wine.

-It's on the house, I hope it's to your liking.

I have never tasted such a good wine, although I have only had those sold in the supermarket.

-Tell me why this change of attitude, if you were throwing me out before.

-I apologize and so does the restaurant, so our manager sent you one of the best wines, we have confirmed with the bank the authenticity of the card and we hope this will not be the last time you visit us.

-I was aware that I was checked before, you can leave.

After 20 minutes they bring me my plate and it doesn't compare to what I used to eat, every piece of meat was a delight, it was a spectacular lunch, I ask the waiter for the bill.

-Here you are, sir.

He checked the bill and I couldn't believe it, this lunch cost me $2800, I never imagined paying such a bill.

I handed him the card and a few minutes later he came back with my bill, I couldn't believe that something so delicious was also so expensive.

My boss calls me again.

-You're fired, don't even bother to come.

- You know, you old fool, you stink like a boss and I assure you, I don't want to work for a person as inhuman as you, I'll make my colleagues leave too.

-You'll regret all this, you'll come to me on your knees asking for a job, but I won't give it to you.

-You're very wrong, that's not going to happen.

I hang up the call, it's time to change my life a little, I want to have my own apartment, so I look up the number of real estate agent and call them, a lady answers.

-Good afternoon, I would like information about the apartments you have for sale.

-We have one that is located on the eighth floor and is a half floor, it has a great view of the city at a cost of $135,000.

-Don't you have something less expensive?

While money wasn't the issue, I didn't want something that big either.

-I have one that has a cost of $100,000, it is located on a third floor but is almost on the outskirts of the city, it has 3 bedrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen with an amazing island and the master bedroom has a walk-in closet in the master bedroom plus a jacuzzi, if you want we can make an appointment for tomorrow.

-Very nice, I'd like to see you.

-The payment method is cash or certified check.

-Perfect until tomorrow.

I go to my old room and meet the administrator.

-Javier, remember that I'm only giving you this week to get you up to speed and avoid being evicted.

- I'll pick up tomorrow and from then on I'll only be here for two more weeks.

-You pay me and that's it, if you leave it's your problem.

I go to my room, fall into bed and go to bed very happy.

I wake up at 10 o'clock at night, I'm hungry so I order a pizza for dinner, I watch the TV for a moment and then I go back to bed thinking about everything that had happened that day, how my life had taken a 180 degree turn, but I also kept thinking about what Mr. Maximo told me about investing for the future and of course I'm going to take his word for it, I don't want to lose all this and I think I already have the best idea.