Owen Lane and his wife Evelyn Denton live an ordinary, tightly budgeted life, carrying a heavy mortgage every month. Evelyn's brother Mike Denton drifts from job to job, favored by their mother, and keeps finding reasons to ask his sister for money. Evelyn always gives in, and Owen swallows his frustration for the sake of peace, telling himself her loyalty to family is simply who she is.
Then Owen wins the lottery, eight million after tax. It is enough to change their lives, but he says nothing to Evelyn at first. He is afraid of what her family will ask for once they know, and afraid of how far Evelyn might go to give it to them. The silence he keeps becomes its own kind of test.
