Teresa Green of Greenville said she’s been ‘living in a dream’ ever since she won a $1 million lottery prize.

“It just doesn’t feel real,” Green said. “It’s a dream come true.”

Green, who cleans houses, stopped at the Duck Thru on Greenville Boulevard in Greenville on her way to work. She bought a Million Dollar Fever scratch-off ticket.

“I didn’t even take it to my car to scratch it,” Green said. “I scratched it on the ice box. I saw the ‘24’ and the ‘24’ and was like, ‘This can’t be right.’ I took it back to the clerk and asked her to scan it. She told me I needed to go to lottery headquarters and my heart just fell to my feet.”

Green drove straight to Raleigh and claimed her prize Tuesday afternoon. She had the choice of taking an annuity that has 20 payments of $50,000 a year or a lump sum of $600,000. She chose the lump sum. After required state and federal tax withholdings, she took home $423,009. She plans to use some of the money to get a family boat.

The $10 ticket launched in August 2017. Green became the fifth person to win a $1 million prize. Since she won the last top prize, the lottery will take steps to end the game.

Ticket sales from instant games like Million Dollar Fever help the lottery raise more than $600 million dollars a year for education. For details on how $9.7 million in lottery funds have made a difference in Pitt County last year, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.