Chapter 3

The four of us sat around the table. Vanessa said her luck was bad today and decided to sit out, leaving three of us to play.

I glared at them through gritted teeth.

“My wife lost over a million today. I’m shuffling this hand!”

Eric started to stand, but the bald man pushed him back into his seat, grinning nastily.

“Fairness is what matters here. It’s all luck. If he wants to shuffle, let him!”

The casino wasn’t cold, but both men kept their jackets on. Even with sweat beading on their foreheads, neither would take them off.

Their sleeves were probably stuffed with cards.

I didn’t expose them. Today wasn’t going to be decided by whose cards were better.

We were playing for our lives.

I finished shuffling and handed the deck to the dealer.

The bald man wore the gold ring I’d bought my wife and tapped it rhythmically against the table. Eric bounced his leg. The dealer appeared to be looking down at the cards, but her eyes kept flicking toward the two men.

So the casino was in on it too.

I ignored their exchanged signals. Instead, I stared at the bald man with wide, bloodshot eyes, acting as though rage had swallowed all my reason.

The minimum bet was ten thousand, with no upper limit. Each raise had to be at least as much as the banker’s.

The bald man was the banker. Without looking at his cards, he tossed fifty thousand in chips onto the table.

Eric didn’t look at his cards either. He confidently threw in another fifty thousand.

“Call.”

The bald man glanced at me, barely hiding his delight. He clearly thought I’d lost my mind.

The second round began. Still without looking at his cards, he pushed another hundred thousand forward, his cigarette clenched between his lips. Then he asked a server for a thousand-dollar chip and added it.

“I raise. One hundred and one thousand.”

Eric set his cards down with a grin.

“I’m not that rich. I fold.”

He tossed his hand back to the dealer.

One hundred and one thousand. A clever number, considering I only had a hundred thousand left. As far as they knew, I couldn’t possibly scrape together that extra thousand.

I stared at him, my mouth hanging open, my voice frightening.

“What are you doing? What the hell are you trying to do?”

If he’d played a normal game, I might still have spared him today.

If I couldn’t call, I would have to fold, and everything I’d already bet would go to him.

He had money. I didn’t. That alone let him torment me however he wanted at the table.

That extra thousand meant he was certain I was broke. He wanted to take my child and leave me no way out.

In that case, there was nothing more to discuss.

“I call!”

Eric sneered at me.

“You call? Where are you getting that extra thousand?”

“You can’t call with words. At least put something up as collateral. Show us you mean it!”

The bald man kept smoking, barely bothering to look at me.

“Quit shouting. Cash is cash. If you don’t have any, nothing you say matters.”

I called the manager over and pointed at my wife.

“Take my wife as collateral. Give me chips for her!”

Even the bald man seemed surprised that I would sell my own wife over a thousand dollars.

Terror flooded Claire’s face.

“Honey, I’m sorry! Sell me to him if you have to, but don’t sell me to the casino!”

“Take the money and leave! Stop gambling. Buy our son back and go. Please, stop!”

“Honey, I was wrong. I was wrong! Please don’t gamble anymore!”

I looked at her coldly.

“Didn’t you promise you’d find a way to pay the money back? Here’s your chance. Once I win, I’ll buy you back.”

“Let me tell you something. Once you sit down at this table, whether you keep playing isn’t up to you anymore!”

I took her hand and pressed her thumb onto the contract selling her into bondage.

The floor manager smiled at my words. Without comment, he pushed a million dollars in chips toward me.

I knew what that smile meant. Once someone was sold, there was no buying them back.

Most were shipped overseas. First they became playthings. Then, once they were no longer useful, every part of them was harvested—skin, blood, organs...

Of course I knew that. I was only trying to frighten her.

If I truly sold my wife, I wouldn’t deserve to call myself human.

They tied her up beside the table but left her mouth uncovered so she could watch us play.

I pushed two hundred thousand forward.

“I raise. Two hundred thousand!”