After paying, they excitedly took the receipt and exchanged it for 4 lottery tickets before making their way towards the heavily crowded lucky draw area.
"Sarina, go and stand in the line with your younger siblings. Your dad and I will wait for you all by the side."
Clara instructed Sarina while passing a ticket to the twins each and the remaining two tickets to Sarina before stepping aside with Adrian.
Nodding, Sarina took the twins' hands in her own and stood in the line, patiently waiting for their turn. The twins, though obviously didn't have the same patience.
"Sister, how long do we have to wait? I want to draw a ball as well." Mila impatiently said as she looked at the massive ball stand in the center, filled with multiple-colored balls in it.
"Learn to become a little more patient like me. With the speed the line is moving, we will have our turn very soon." Leo boasted, though his fidgeting feet gave him away.
"Ok stop it, Leo. Your sister is just excited as you are. Just a few more minutes before it's our turn." Sarina calmly said while caressing their hair.
The twins obediently nodded, making Sarina chuckle in adoration.
Just as Sarina said, in just two minutes, it was finally their turn.
"You have to hand over the ticket before picking out a ball." The saleswoman, in-charge of the lucky draw informed them.
Sarina nodded in understanding before passing all the four tickets to the saleswoman. Clara and Adrian also joined the siblings by the side.
The twins were the first one to try out their luck. Excited, they rushed forward and jumped high to reach inside but their short height made it impossible to do so, making Sarina and everyone around burst into laughter, making the twins pout in annoyance.
"Let me help." Adrian chucklingly said; picking up the twins together in his arms.
Secure in their father's arms, the twins forgot all their earlier anger and excitedly picked out their balls. Next, Sarina also calmly picked out two random balls before passing all of them to the saleswoman.
The saleswoman calmly opened the first ball followed by others, but by the time she opened the last ball, she was completely shocked.
"Th…the fir...first prize, the second prize and the third prize as well." She stuttered in disbelief.
Not only the saleswoman, but everyone around including the family of 5 was also completely bewildered upon hearing her words.
The fact that they won the top three rewards just like that really gave everyone a huge surprise.
Looking at the order of balls, Clara and Adrian immediately knew that the first and second prize belonged to the balls Sarina had picked while the third prize was from the ball Leo had picked.
Sarina, Leo and Mila also of course realized it. Tears began to well up in Mila's eyes as she accepted the fact that she didn't win anything.
But just before she could cry out loud about it, Sarina had already picked her up in her arms.
"Look Mila, there are three of us and there are three rewards, meaning each one of us won something, right?" Sarina soothingly said while calmly patting her back.
Completely won over by her elder sister's words, Mila forgot all her earlier dejection and happily nodded in excitement. Clara and Adrian also sighed in relief.
The next hour passed by in blur as they completed all the formalities required before exiting the mall with the prizes they won.
As soon as they stepped outside, a lottery shop on the opposite side of the road caught Adrian's attention.
Gazing at Sarina and then back to the shop, Adrian decided to take the bet and pulled everyone to the shop.
"Are you serious? When did you started getting involved in such things?" Clara asked in wonder as looked at shop her husband had brought them to.
"Don't worry. It's not any weird habit, ok. Looking at my daughter's lucky streak, I just thought to try it out. It is just for fun." Adrian nonchalantly replied before stepping inside.
Adrian really wasn't that serious. He had seen such things on TV and out of curiosity, decided that since Sarina was really having a lucky day, she might win something here too!
Clara looked at her husband who was excitedly acting on every whim and felt really helpless. Nevertheless, greatly influenced by her husband's enthusiasm, she also wanted to know of her daughter would continue to be lucky.
Stepping inside, they made their way to the owner.
"Welcome Sir and Madam. What would you like to buy? A scratch card or a lottery ticket?" The owner asked.
"What's the difference between the two?" Sarina curiously asked.
This was the first time in both her lives that she had ever stepped inside a lottery shop and was very interested in the way it worked.
"A scratch card can be scratched immediately over here and the biggest prize you can get from it is of $1000. Whereas, a lottery ticket results are announced daily on the television with the prize range from nothing to sometimes even a million, depending on your luck."
The owner explained everything in detail.
Musing over for a moment, Adrian finally decided to let Sarina select a lottery ticket.
Looking at her father's excited expression, Sarina shook her head and sighed in bewilderment but still went along his wishes and choose a lottery ticket.
Paying for the expensive ticket which cost $60, they all left for the restaurant under Clara's deadly glare set on Adrian.
"What were you even thinking Adrian? Paying $60 on something which might even get us nothing in return!" Clara whisper-shouted as soon as they all settled down on their table.
"Relax darling. If we won then good but even if we didn't, I will just take it as a lesson and never step in that shop again. Happy now!?"
Already quite used to his wife's fiery temper, Adrian patiently coaxed, passing a cheeky smile that never failed to melt her heart.
"You…!" Clara angrily pointed at Adrian but simply couldn't speak against his smiling face and sighed back in her seat; a pout adorning her face.
"Don't fret over it darling. Focus on me instead. Look how much I am longing for your attention and love."
Not wanting to his beautiful wife to remain sad, Adrian playfully placed his arm over her shoulder, pulling her close in his arms and lovingly pecking her cheeks.
"Such a huge flirt you are." Clara bashfully murmured, playfully hitting his chest before happily nestling in his arms; giggling like a teenager in love.
Not to be left outdone, Adrian also tightened his arms around Clara, endearingly pecking her hair as he inhaled her scent that never failed to soothe him.
Sitting opposite to them, Sarina had already put her hand on the twins' eyes, predicting her parents' action beforehand while looking at them in fascination.
She really never understood how her parents could still be so much in love even after 15 years of marriage. Their relationship was something she had adored in both her lives.
Ever since she was young, she had dreamed of having such a relation with her partner, unfortunately, the one she had given her heart to was the one who brutally murdered her.
But that didn't mean she no longer believed in love. Of course she did. Her parents were the best example of true love.
She just didn't know if she could ever love someone again like that. She wasn't sure if she could once again place her complete trust in someone. If there was anyone just made for her.
Giving herself a mocking scoff, Sarina shook off those thoughts from her head before deliberately clearing her throat out loud, reminding her parents about their presence, completely unaware of Angel who was looking her somberly.
Angel had really taken a liking to her host as if she was her own child. She knew that her host had experienced something terrible but she never knew the depth of her pain.
Today, feeling it for the first time, she really felt the urge to wrap herself around Sarina, hiding her from all the pain in the world.
[Don't worry my child. You will definitely get your revenge and also find someone who will love you like the most precious thing in the world as you are.]
Completely unaware of what was going through Angel's mind, Sarina had her entire attention focused on her parents.
Sure enough, Clara and Adrian swiftly separated, clearly embarrassed to be caught like that by their children. Sarina simply chuckled in amusement as she pulled back her hands from the twins' eyes.
The twins, upon getting their vision back glanced between their laughing sister and parents' red faces, tilted their head in confusion making Sarina burst into laughter.
Thankfully for Adrian and Clara, the waiter arrived just in time and saved them from any further embarrassment.
The entire dinner passed by under loud chatter and silly jokes and even before they knew it, they all were happily making their way back to home.
Reaching home, Adrian impatiently rushed everyone to freshen up into comfortable clothes before gathering in front of the TV for the lottery result.
Looking at her over-excited husband, Clara just sighed and went along with whatever he said. Though in the end, she along with the children all ended up being as excited as him as they pooled around the TV.
The host was exuberantly announcing the results.
"And finally, it's time for the results you all are waiting for. Moving on to third winning prize which is of 1 million$, the winning number is..."