North Carolina Woman 'Couldn't Believe' Her $1 Million Lottery Win

A woman in North Carolina had an unusual strategy of keeping her winning $1 million lottery ticket safe until she could claim her prize: stashing it under her bed.

Charlotte resident Arely Mayorga Martinez said her husband recently purchased a $10 Multiplier Mania ticket from the Shopton Commons BP on Steele Creek Road and brought it home for her to scratch, according to a release from the NC Education Lottery . When she did, she discovered she won one of the game's top $1 million prizes.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing ," she said.

Martinez told lottery officials that she wanted to make sure the lucky ticket was kept safe until she was able to claim her prize, so decided to store it under her bed.

"We hid it under our mattress," she said.

Martinez claimed her prize at lottery headquarters on Thursday (September 5) where she had the choice to receive her win as either an annuity of $50,000 over the course of 20 years or as a one time, lump sum payment of $600,000. She chose the latter and ended up taking home a total of $429,003 after all required state and federal tax withholdings. According to lottery officials, she plans to use her new winnings to finally make her dream come true and buy a house.

" We are so happy ," she said.

According to the lottery website, the Multiplier Mania game launched in June 2023 with six top prizes of $1 million. After Martinez's win, only one prize remains to be claimed.