In "The Bet" by Anton Chekhov, your first statement that "Materialistic life is futile, fleeting, illusionary, and superficial," is proved by the banker himself. When he made the bet with the lawyer, he was a very rich man, but by the end, he has lost most of his wealth. He spent foolishly, made unwise decisions, and now finds himself in a peculiar circumstance. If he pays the lawyer for winning the bet, he will have nothing left.
"'That cursed bet murmured the old man clutching is head in despair. . . ."Why didn't the man die? He's only forty years old. He will take away my last penny, marry, enjoy life, gamble on the exchange, and I will look on like an envious beggar and hear the same words from him every day: 'I'm obliged to you for the happiness of my life. Let me help you.' No, it's too much! The only escape from bankruptcy and disgrace--is that the man should die'" (Chekhov 6).
The banker's money was about gone, but it hadn't brought him happiness. He thinks he is going to lose the bet and now will have neither money or happiness. He does, however, still seem to believe that money is important enough to kill over it. But, will he ever be able to have happiness if he murders a man?
The lawyer, on the other hand, spent all of these 15 years in confinement, reading, studying, and learning, but that did not bring him happiness either. Knowing that he would soon be a rich man certainly didn't bring him happiness, or else he would not have left his cell mere minutes before his time was up. He realized that all of life was a "mirage." He understood that everyone was going to die in the end, and no amount of money or learning could change that. By the end of his confinement, the lawyer does not want the money.
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