In a surprising turn of events, an Oakland County man discovered that a $4 million fortune had been lying unclaimed in a drawer in his home for three months. This staggering win came from a "Millionaire's Club" instant lottery ticket that he bought over the winter at a local Marathon gas station on West Walton Boulevard in Waterford, as confirmed by CBS Detroit.

The 59-year-old, who chose to remain anonymous, has a unique habit of not scratching off the winning amounts on his lottery tickets to save the surprise for later. “When I play instant games, I never scratch off the amounts, even if I win, because I like the surprise of finding out the winning amount when I take it to a store to cash it,” he told Michigan Lottery Connect. His routine involves storing winning tickets until he needs extra cash, which leads to the multimillion-dollar prize going unnoticed.

It wasn't until three months later that the man remembered the existence of the ticket collecting dust. After attempting to cash it at a store, he received a message to file a claim at the Lottery office, prompting him to finally scratch and reveal the amount. As he told ABC12, the revelation was overwhelming: "I couldn’t even fathom it. It's been very hard to wrap my head around,"

Choosing to take a lump sum payment, the winner received $2.7 million before taxes. He plans, using the money from the lottery which sat in a drawer, to invest and start a new company. The "Millionaire's Club" game has been lucrative for players, dishing out more than $96 million in prizes since its launch in February 2023, and still has over $61 million in prizes remaining, including a $4 million jackpot, according to ABC12.

About the incident, for those tempted by fortune's potential whispers, the Michigan Lottery offers over 10,500 retailers throughout the state where instant games can be purchased, promising almost 1.8 billion won by players in instant games last year alone.