Chapter 308: Divorce Hero Ross, You Couldn't Have Your Chance!
"You mean my brother, Ross, won the $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot?"
Monica stared in disbelief for a long time before asking, enunciating each word clearly.
"Is that your brother, Ross Geller, in the video?"
The private investigator took out his phone, opened a surveillance video, and showed it to Monica.
"It really is..."
Monica's eyes widened. She didn't even need to look closely; just from the way he was sneaking glances at the lottery clerk, she was certain it was her brother.
Then her legs went weak, and Chuck caught her as she gripped his hand tightly.
"Chuck, am I dreaming? Ross really won the lottery?!"
"Not a nightmare."
Chuck nodded. "It's real."
"Oh my God!"
Monica exclaimed. "2.04 billion dollars! That's insane money! I'm a billionaire's sister... Wait, why 'nightmare'?"
Chuck gave her a knowing look, then turned to the private investigator. "Do you know Ross's whereabouts?"
"I was just about to ask you that."
The private investigator had been scrutinizing Chuck and Monica. "I just got this assignment. Don't you know where he is?"
"No!"
Monica immediately became worried. "We haven't been able to contact him for two days... Damn it, Chandler!!!"
"Does this involve Chandler Bing?"
The private investigator probed.
"Of course it does!"
Monica exclaimed frantically. "We were just talking about not being able to contact Ross, and he joked that maybe Ross was lucky enough to win the lottery and then unfortunately got kidnapped... God, Chuck, Ross couldn't really have been kidnapped, could he?"
"Very likely,"
Chuck said bluntly. "That's $2.04 billion, enough to make Ross a real target. Kidnappings will become commonplace for him now."
"I thought surveillance videos were only used to identify the winner, and that personal privacy wasn't leaked before the prize is claimed?"
Monica was both worried and puzzled. "Ross didn't even have time to tell us he won, which means someone must have known before him."
The private investigator smiled without saying a word.
He was only employed by the National Lottery Association, not an actual employee, so there was no need for him to be embarrassed about such a leak.
"That's normal,"
Chuck explained. "Although in principle, information shouldn't be revealed before the winner claims the prize, the lottery retailer that sold the winning ticket must have made some kind of 'mistake,' resulting in the video being leaked. For someone with bad intentions, it's easy to find out the information."
In the US Powerball lottery, prizes cannot be claimed anonymously in most states; the winner must reveal their identity. So unless they're willing to give up all that money, they'll have to come forward eventually.
While their identity should theoretically be kept confidential before claiming the prize, that's a joke in reality.
"Chuck!"
Monica grabbed Chuck's hand, her eyes filled with worry.
Now she was almost certain that her brother Ross had indeed been kidnapped; otherwise, given Ross's personality, it was impossible for him to have remained silent for two days.
The shock and surprise of the $2.04 billion jackpot had long since turned into deep anxiety.
Compared to money, she valued family more!
"This is actually good news,"
Chuck said calmly.
"How so?"
Monica looked at him expectantly.
"Now that the surveillance video is in the hands of the National Lottery Association, it means that Ross has been identified as the winner of the $2.04 billion jackpot,"
Chuck explained. "Ross won't be in any real danger until the $2.04 billion jackpot is claimed."
In the past, when surveillance wasn't so advanced, Ross would probably be dead by now; anyone could claim the ticket.
But now, with video evidence, even if someone manages to get the ticket, they can't claim it unless Ross himself goes to claim it.
"I guess I should be able to relax,"
Monica said with a bitter smile, "but I can't. How am I going to tell my parents? Chuck, you can definitely save Ross, right?"
"I'll do my best,"
Chuck adjusted his decorative glasses.
"What should we do now? Call the police?"
Monica asked anxiously.
"It's pretty obvious now. Stop following us,"
Chuck said to the private investigator, then gestured for Monica to get in the car and sped away from the scene.
"Where are we going?"
"To the lottery retailer where the ticket was sold first."
Chuck said, dialing the Troublesome Detective: "Detective Peralta, you go with Chandler to Ross's apartment and check if there are any clues."
The Troublesome Detective readily agreed. Although it wasn't his jurisdiction, with Chuck's call, his superior would certainly have no objections.
And he could finally team up with Chandler on a case.
"Is that private investigator okay?"
Monica breathed a sigh of relief as Chuck officially took over and began making arrangements, remembering the private investigator who had been secretly following them.
"What could be wrong with him?"
Chuck countered.
"He was hired by the National Lottery Association to investigate whether this jackpot is related to you, and Ross is my brother,"
Monica said worriedly. "Won't the lottery be declared invalid?"
She couldn't help but complain, "He just won the lottery and got kidnapped. Who knows how much trouble he'll face after this? I'd almost rather the lottery be invalid... at least there'd be less drama."
"You're going to be disappointed,"
Chuck said bluntly. "The lottery won't be invalid. If Ross knew I might affect his lottery, he'd definitely say he doesn't know me, or just say we're enemies. He absolutely can't let it affect his claiming the prize.
Getting less prize money is simple: after claiming it, just donate most of it publicly. But do you think Ross would do something like that?"
"..."
Monica was speechless.
Knowing Ross's cheap nature, she knew he'd pack up everything from a hotel room—shampoo bottles, towels, you name it. Making him donate most of his winnings would be harder than getting him to share his sandwich.
"Won't this affect you?"
Monica suppressed her complaints about her brother's penny-pinching ways, her thoughts returning to the private investigator's investigation of Chuck.
"I remember you're an advisor to the National Lottery Association, the kind who gets paid a lot specifically to prevent conflicts of interest. They must have made you sign some kind of agreement, right?
Now that Ross has won, even though you two don't get along, I'm still involved. They'll definitely suspect you're connected, and might sue you for breach of contract, right?"
"No,"
Chuck said calmly. "I didn't sign any punitive agreement. You've misunderstood something. It's not that I wanted their money; it's that they repeatedly begged me to take the money to be an advisor."
"...Then why are they investigating you?"
Monica asked, puzzled.
"Routine investigation,"
Chuck said. "It's also because this jackpot is unprecedented; otherwise, they wouldn't even bother with the formalities."
Long Island Gas Station
When Chuck and Monica arrived, a huge crowd was queuing to buy lottery tickets, all discussing the news that this store had sold the biggest winning ticket in history.
Although the chances of another massive win at this store were virtually nonexistent, buying lottery tickets was all about luck, and people clearly believed in lightning striking twice.
Chuck found the owner and looked at him: "Did you leak the news?"
"No, it was a system malfunction."
The owner's eyes flickered, and seeing Monica's disbelief, he shrugged and smiled.
"Don't look at me like that. Even during a proper election, the sacred and inviolable polling stations can experience all sorts of 'malfunctions' on election day.
My place is just a small gas station and lottery shop; isn't it normal for it to malfunction and leak information?"
"..."
Monica was speechless.
That's ridiculous.
But it's true.
On such important days, expensive machines just happen to malfunction, ballot shortages occur—treating everyone like idiots. What could you do?
"What happened to the female clerk?"
Chuck suddenly asked.
"You mean Vicky?"
The boss was taken aback. "She quit. Obviously, anyone who knows they came so close to selling themselves such a huge winning ticket, but can only watch someone else win it, gets upset and doesn't want to do this minimum-wage job anymore."
Just then, Chuck's phone rang, and the Troublesome Detective's voice came through.
"Chuck, Chandler and I checked. Ross's neighbor said they saw him leaving with a pretty girl the day before yesterday, chatting and laughing. Didn't look like he was kidnapped."
"I'll send you a photo. Check if it's her."
Chuck said and hung up. Then he said to the boss, who was looking at him expectantly, "Vicky's full name."
The boss gave him the name, and Chuck immediately connected to the FBI's database on his phone, retrieved Vicky's information, and sent it to the Troublesome Detective.
"Let's go."
Chuck led Monica away.
"Do you think Ross's disappearance is related to this Vicky?"
Monica asked.
"Very likely."
Chuck nodded.
Soon, the Troublesome Detective took Vicky's photo to Ross's neighbors for verification, confirming that the girl chatting and laughing with Ross was indeed Vicky.
"It's her."
Chuck gave Monica a positive answer.
"It really is her."
Monica exclaimed in surprise, "Can you find out where she is now?"
"Yes, just check her credit card records."
Chuck quickly used his access to find Vicky's credit card records and told Monica a location: "Atlantic City."
"Atlantic City?"
Monica was stunned, then realized something and exclaimed incredulously, "She didn't run off to Atlantic City with him for a quickie wedding, did she?"
"Most likely."
Chuck nodded.
The United States has its own gambling cities, such as Las Vegas on the West Coast, which is world-famous.
But the East Coast also has a gambling city that is still thriving today, namely Atlantic City in New Jersey.
And as a gambling city, it naturally has various rules that are different from those outside, attracting people to visit.
One of these is the "quickie marriage" system.
Elsewhere, marriage registration and other formalities take a long time to complete, but in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, there are specialized quick marriage services, perfect for those who are drunk or impulsive.
In the original Friends timeline, Ross and Rachel had a drunken wedding in Las Vegas.
Intoxicated, they paid extra for an express service and received their marriage certificate on the same day.
And this was a legally binding marriage certificate; a divorce would require a whole new legal process.
This is why Ross was known as the "Divorce King" in the original timeline—he had more marriages and divorces than all his friends combined.
Atlantic City, while not as famous as Las Vegas, also has a fast-track marriage system.
In the sitcom How I Met Your Mother, Lily and Marshall wanted a quick marriage, so they went to Atlantic City hoping to get married the same day.
Although they were told they needed an appointment in advance unless they had a judge's special permission, and that their previous breakup wouldn't impress the judge,
those in the know understand that what truly impresses the judge isn't genuine affection, but rather paying extra fees.
If Vicky wanted to have a quickie marriage with Ross, she would obviously be very willing to spend money to secure a share of the huge prize.
"Then let's hurry to Atlantic City!"
Monica screamed, "We absolutely can't let this gold digger get away with this!"
"You should pray she does,"
Chuck said, turning the car around and speeding towards Atlantic City while making a phone call.
"Why?"
Monica retorted indignantly, "She's committing marriage fraud, and you think that's okay?!"
The call connected, and Chuck immediately had someone check Ross's marriage registration information.
Because of the appallingly slow processing speed in the US, even if Ross was successfully scammed by Vicky in Atlantic City and the information was posted online, there would still be a time lag.
Therefore, to get firsthand information, connections were necessary.
As an advisor to so many law enforcement agencies, Chuck made a single phone call to the judge handling the case, confirming that Ross and Vicky were indeed registered as married.
"Damn it!"
Monica exclaimed, cursing, "She actually succeeded! No problem, he can always get divorced later. With a good lawyer, he can even get the money back with a prenup argument."
Seeing Chuck remain silent, she suddenly remembered something and turned to look at him: "Wait, why should I pray she only wants half?"
"Because if she wants it all, why settle for half?"
Chuck reminded her, "Besides, you said it yourself—this kind of marriage fraud and gold-digging scheme, if it goes to court, she might not even get half the money. What you can think of, she can think of too, right?
You know, after learning Ross won the lottery, she immediately devised a series of plans.
She actively went to his door to seduce him.
She cut off all of Ross's contact methods, preventing him from finding out about his huge win.
She arranged a quickie marriage.
In just two days, she accomplished all of this.
And we're talking about Ross!
Even knowing that such a marriage would be ridiculed by everyone, making him a 'divorce hero,' he didn't even think to get a prenuptial agreement, and was just persuaded by a woman he'd only known for a day to have a shotgun wedding.
Do you think a woman with such decisiveness and planning wouldn't see through the problems you pointed out and just sit around waiting to lose her advantage?"
"..."
Monica was stunned, then pointed ahead urgently, "Drive! Drive faster!"
She now understood what Chuck meant and was really starting to pray that this new sister-in-law, Vicky, just wanted to take advantage of the situation and not go for everything.
Atlantic City
A Railroad Crossing
An SUV was parked directly on the train tracks.
"Mrs. Geller, Mrs. Vicky Geller."
Ross, in the driver's seat, holding champagne, was somewhat dazed, grinning foolishly at the woman in the passenger seat: "Doesn't that sound beautiful?"
"Like a dream come true."
In the passenger seat, the newly minted second Mrs. Ross Geller sat expressionless, pouring more champagne into Ross's glass: "Here, have some more."
"I'm feeling a little drowsy from this."
Ross took another sip, then said wearily to his new wife.
"Yeah, a whole five sleeping pills will do that."
Vicky, no longer pretending, looked at the already dazed Ross with cold eyes.
"Sleeping pills?"
Even the dazed Ross snapped back to reality, subconsciously asking: "I thought you said it was Viagra?"
"You think I didn't want to try that approach?"
Vicky looked at him disdainfully: "It's just a pity you're completely useless!"
If possible, she would have rather Ross had a heart attack in bed—that would have been more natural. But unfortunately, even when she gave him the chance to die happy, he couldn't perform.
(End of Chapter)
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