North Canton - Cyrus and Betty Yaghooti's romance began 11 years ago when they bought Ohio Lottery tickets at Spee-D-Foods in North Canton.

"You want to be a millionaire?" Cyrus asked. "Who doesn't?" Betty replied. They didn't win the lottery, but were married six months later.

Yesterday, the Canton couple became millionaires many times over. They cashed in a winning ticket from the same Spee-D-Foods for half of last week's state-record $54 million Super Lotto Plus jackpot.

"Isn't that a Cinderella story?" Betty asked yesterday at a news conference in North Canton.

It gets better.

Cyrus went to the store last Tuesday only to buy a newspaper for Betty because he already had plenty of lottery tickets. But he had only a $20 bill and felt guilty about asking for so much change.

So, he bought 10 more lottery tickets. The second one paid off.

Cyrus learned Thursday morning that he had won.

He slipped the ticket into his car's visor, opened his audio store in Jackson Township and made coffee for the employees. Then he came home and tucked the ticket into a hatband. He told no one, not even Betty.

She was in Detroit losing $800 at blackjack. When she finally came home, Cyrus, 65, broke the news gently. First, he claimed they had won $50,000. Then he raised the stakes a bit and confessed the whole truth.

Betty, 69, promptly fainted, bruising her elbow. When she recovered, she called her lawyer.

Lottery officials have not heard from the owner of a winning ticket bought at Clark Ave. Groceries in Willoughby. The owner still has 173 days to claim the prize.

The Yaghootis are taking an $8 million cash payout, after taxes, instead of drawing their full share of the prize over 30 years. They plan to take a cruise, their first vacation in years, and hold onto the rest of the money awhile.

"Take it one day at a time," said Betty.

The Yaghootis, who qualify for Social Security and Medicare, have three children from previous marriages, and one grandson.

Cyrus moved to Canton from his native Iran 22 years ago. He vows to keep working to support his 15 employees at two stores, Belden Audio in Jackson and Audio Visions in Strongsville.

Betty, a Canton native and retired restaurant manager, keeps busy baking cookies for her church and helping other local organizations.

"God is telling me thank you," she said.