Imagine thinking you're playing a harmless prank on your significant other only for it to end in filing for divorce.
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Divorce lawyers surely get a front-row seat to some crazy drama, but the friends of the couple do as well. Divorce can be something people see coming or it can hit them completely in the blind spot. In this case, OP’s friend’s joke took a turn for the worst. And he was majorly hit in a blind spot. To be fair, though, practical jokes always are at risk of going the wrong way. However, no one was expecting it to go this wrongly.
To start off, our OP and his friend have been acquainted with one another for quite some time. When OP heard his friend was getting divorced over a prank gone wrong, he knew he had to hear the whole story. And then share it with us! Pull up a chair and pop some popcorn. This is one dramatic story.
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It all started when OP’s friend woke up really early one morning. Much earlier than usual. While he’s making his morning coffee, he checks the lottery numbers. No dice, but he also realizes he’s out of milk and he needs milk for the coffee. So, he runs to the corner store. He started to buy more lottery tickets for the next drawing when an idea struck him out of the blue. A funny idea. An idea that should have been a fun, practical joke.
He buys another ticket and plays the numbers that had already won the night before.
He then goes home and puts the ticket on the fridge along with the rest of the lottery tickets. Right now, he’s thinking his wife would have absolutely no reason to pay attention to the day they are for.
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An hour passes, and it’s time for his wife to get up. She makes her way into the kitchen to make some coffee. OP’s friend realizes this is his chance to completely prank his wife. He can’t wait for her to flip out over the lottery “win”. So, he calls to her from the living room saying that he hasn’t checked the lottery numbers yet and for her to see if they won anything last night.
He waits as he hears her use the laptop to check the numbers and then she is quiet for a minute.
At this point, we’re expecting a major freak out, right? Like “HOLY [insert commonly expressed explicit word here], WE WON!?” I mean, if I was reading that ticket I would read it 5 times and probably poop myself with excitement as I think of all the things I can do now that I’ve won the lottery. Having a family, I’m sure winning the lottery would be a huge financial relief! So imagine coming downstairs in the morning and reading the winning lottery numbers off on your ticket. That excitement alone is enough to overlook the teeny tiny details… like the date for instance.
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OP mentioned, “he said he had this big grin on his face waiting for her to start yelling they won and thinking how funny it would be.” It could be fun to see what someone’s reaction would be, but OP also clarifies, “I personally think fake winning lottery tickets, and the prank he was pulling, are mean, but that is beside the point.”
Imagine everyone’s surprise when the reaction they’ve been anticipating this entire time doesn’t happen. Instead of being over-the-moon about winning the lottery, the wife yells from the kitchen that they didn’t win anything.
That’s suspicious… That’s weird.
Instead of running into the living room to celebrate their winnings with her husband, she heads back upstairs.
Okay, at this point we’re all thinking the same thing right? She HAD to have read the date. Women are smart. They don’t miss the details. Perhaps she was always one step ahead of the game and is actually about to double punk her husband for trying to prank her? That’s what I’d do if I were her, at least.
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But alas, 15 minutes later she comes through the living room with both their elementary-age kids in tow. She says she forgot to tell him about how she had to go to her moms for the day and that she was taking the kids with her. She just leaves.
Uh. Pretty sure that’s NOT what’s supposed to happen? Please tell me this is a double prank, OP.
“My friend was shocked.” OP mentions, “he went and checked, but the lottery ticket was gone. It was not in the trash or anywhere else. Just gone.”
At this point, OP’s friend realizes that his wife actually thinks they won the lottery and she is trying to run off with the winnings.
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She won’t return OP’s friend’s calls or talk to him at all. Even when he calls the house, the grandma will confirm his wife is there, she’d put the kids on the phone, but that is it. His wife finally shows up with the kids a couple of days later and just walks in the house and screams profanities at him. She then walked into their bedroom but still won’t actually talk to him!
Confused, OP’s friend gets his own children to confirm that their mom thought they had won a ton of money. Realizing what kind of person she is and that she also isn’t very smart to think she would have gotten away with it, he decided it was time he divorced her.
Well. I, for one, definitely didn’t expect his prank to go this horribly wrong. Although I personally agree with OP that pranks involving fake lotto tickets and whatnot are in poor taste, this was just the husband trying to poke a little fun at his wife. Instead, he poked the sleeping bear that was always looking for the door, waiting for the opportunity to leave him. That’s rough, buddy, but at least now you know, right? Note to self: be cautious with the pranks on significant others! True colors really show.
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