A husband who bought a winning scratchcard that won him a cool $10 million then gifted it to his wife on Valentine's Day, instead of pocketing the cash for himself.
Maria Chicas at first thought it was some sort of joke after her husband called her up to tell her the good news, and playfully accused her hubby of lying.
But it was not a joke, and the stay-at-home mum from the town of Haymarket in Prince William County in the US state of Virginia, has now claimed the prize money.
According to the Virginia State Lottery, she had claimed the fourth and final top prize in the Extreme Millions Scratcher Game.
She reportedly told lottery officials while validating her winning ticket: "I thought he was joking!"
The Virginia State Lottery said: "It all happened a few days before Valentine's Day, when her husband bought the ticket at In & Out Mart, located at 9103 Mathis Avenue in Manassas.
“He scratched the ticket and realised it was a winner. That's when he called his wife."
Her reaction was reportedly to say: "Aw, you're lying!"
The stunned stay-at-home mum was given the choice of taking the full USD 10 million (GBP 7.34 million) over 30 years or a "one-time cash option" of USD 6,570,302 (GBP 4.82 million) before taxes.
She reportedly chose the cash option.
The Virginia State lottery added: "The store receives a USD 50,000 [GBP 36,700] bonus from the Virginia Lottery for selling the winning ticket."
Earlier this year The Mirror reported on a woman who landed herself in a difficult situation with her best pal and husband over a winning scratch card.
In a post on the online forum Mumsnet, the woman said: "I always buy a £1 scratch card to put in people's birthday cards. I've been doing this for over a decade."
The woman, whose identity is unknown, continued: "Last month a good friend won a decent four-figure sum on the scratch card I put in their card."
She shared her excitement for her pal, but revealed it turned sour when her husband told her she should ask her friend for half of the money, as she purchased the card for them.
The user continued: "My husband thinks I should ask for half of it because I bought it for them.
"But in my opinion, I bought the scratch card as a gift and in doing so was opening myself up to the possibility of them winning a lot of money.
"If I hadn't been buying it as a gift I wouldn't have bought the scratch card so it's not like I bought a roll of 5 and gave them the winning one. My husband and I never argue but he's really pushing me to ask on this one. We aren't rich but we also aren't struggling so I don't know why he's so insistent that I ask for some of it."
Weighing up her options, she added: "If it was me I would offer half to the person who bought me the card, but this is because I'm fairly financially stable and I don't know the financial status of this friend but I'd suspect its not as good as ours.
"So am I being unreasonable to just celebrate the win with my friend and not ask her for some of the money?
"She did say when she told me she'd won "We'll have to go put for a meal, babysitter and dinner on us" which I personally thought was lovely."
In the comments section of the website, people were backing the woman.
"I wouldn't ask, for all the reasons you've listed," one person shared.
Another wrote: "Your husband is crazy. You can't possibly ask her for half of the money."
