Chapter 2

First round, the wheel spun fast.

Then it slowed, the pointer wavering before it settled firmly on my mother's name.

Hildegarde covered her mouth and gasped.

"Looks like luck isn't on Mrs. Fox's side today."

Charles tipped his chin.

The bodyguard beside him stepped forward at once and pulled open the door of the freezer unit.

Cold air rolled out, and my mother shrank behind me on instinct.

Charles looked at me.

"Five minutes. Door opens when the time's up."

"Can't I take her place?"

"Ethel, I don't like people who go back on their word."

I gritted my teeth and bent down to explain to her.

"Mom, we're just going in for a little while, only five minutes, and we'll come right back out, okay?"

The old woman nodded like she half understood, gripping my hand and refusing to let go.

Five minutes felt as long as five hours.

I pressed against the door, listening to the coughing that came from inside now and then, my heart wrung tight.

Finally the five minutes passed.

When the door opened, my mother's lips had gone purple with cold. She shivered, unable to get her words out straight.

All she could do was clutch my hand and say she was cold.

I quickly pulled off my coat and wrapped it around her, then looked up at Charles.

"There. We've played your game. We're done with the rest of it."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Done after one round? The doctor's still half an hour out. You're going to just sit around that whole time?"

"Charles—"

"Three more rounds."

He cut me off, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.

"After three rounds the doctor arrives right on time. If you don't even have that much patience, then the illness can go untreated for all I care."

I looked at his cold face, and my heart sank, bit by bit.

This wasn't killing time.

This was going to kill her.

But my mother couldn't afford to wait.

I drew a breath and nodded.

"Fine. Three rounds, then."

A twenty-five percent chance. I didn't believe my mother could be that unlucky.

Second round, the pointer stopped on my mother's name again.

Ten minutes.

Third round, her again.

Fifteen minutes this time.

When the door opened, my mother could no longer stand steady.

She held on to the door frame, coughing without stop, her nose red raw from the cold.

"Sweetheart, cold..."

The tears fell at once.

I held her and rubbed her arms over and over, then turned and shouted at Charles.

"Enough! Three rounds are done, we're not playing anymore! When is the specialist actually getting here?"

Charles's face darkened.

"Too late to quit now. Do I really have to teach you what it means to accept your losses?"

"The driver just texted. He ran into a car crash on his way to pick up the doctor. Held up half an hour. Perfect timing. One more overtime round."

Hildegarde stood beside him and gave his sleeve a gentle tug.

"Mr. Gilbert, maybe we should just let it go. Mrs. Fox really doesn't seem able to take any more... It's my fault, I shouldn't have suggested this game."

"It has nothing to do with you."

Charles patted her hand, and when he looked back at me, his eyes turned ice-cold in an instant.

"She agreed to this herself. One last round. She plays whether she wants to or not."

My eyes went red with panic.

"You just said we were done!"

"Are you bargaining with me?"

The moment he finished, he reached out and gave the wheel a hard spin.

I stared at that pointer, my heart turning with the wheel.

It slowed by degrees.

Past Charles's name, past Hildegarde's name.

And then, once more, it settled firmly on my mother's name.

Twenty-five minutes.

The blood in my whole body ran cold.

"Impossible... how can it be her every single time?"

Charles let out a scornful laugh.

"Just bad luck. Don't tell me you can't stand to lose?"

My eyes red, my voice shot up.

"Charles, she's my mother!"

"Twenty-five minutes—she'll get sick from the cold!"

He leaned back against the chair, his tone careless.

"And so what?"

"When she locked Hildegarde in that car, did she ever stop to think about whether something might happen to her?"