Chapter 4

The moment he’d said there was no betting limit, I understood.

They weren’t interested in beating my cards. They planned to crush me with money.

Fine. If that was how they wanted to play, I’d see it through to the end!

Sweat broke out on the bald man’s forehead when he saw my two hundred thousand. He stared at me in disbelief.

“You... you’re trying to kill me!”

I slammed the table and shot to my feet.

“You’re the one trying to destroy my family! You want our lives? Come take them!”

He studied my vicious expression, then laughed again.

“Now this is getting interesting. Come on!”

I had raised, and he had just looked at his cards. As the banker, he had to double the next bet. That meant four hundred thousand.

Four hundred thousand could be a doctor’s income for an entire grueling year. It could be what a cabdriver saved after a decade of pinching pennies.

But here, it was just a few words and a pile of chips.

The bald man could afford it. He pushed his chips forward with another grin.

“Come on. Let’s see how far you can go today!”

I grinned back. Four hundred thousand. Enough to keep him at the table.

He exchanged some sort of signal with Eric. Eric got up to leave, patting the dealer’s shoulder on his way.

I noticed everything, but said nothing.

On his turn, the bald man pulled a Maserati key from his pocket and threw it onto the table.

“Your wife lost this to me. Worth seven hundred thousand!”

Without even looking, I shoved my chips forward.

“I call!”

He tossed the deed to our house onto the table, his eyes bloodshot.

“The house your wife pledged to me. Worth one point one million!”

“Let’s see if you can still afford to play!”

I looked at my chips. Only a hundred thousand remained. Keeping my eyes locked on him, I called a casino employee over.

“Claire, if the three of us are going to die, we’ll die together. I’m seeing this through!”

“Bring me one of those contracts!”

The onlookers murmured in disbelief.

“He’s completely lost it. His wife and kid weren’t enough. Now he’s selling himself too!”

“This is sick. This casino really will take anything!”

An employee examined me, then called out loudly.

“Healthy adult male. Fit for labor. Valued at one point two million. The overseas compounds need workers. If he isn’t redeemed, he ships out tomorrow!”

I ignored him, took the chips, and tossed them onto the table.

“Come on. I call!”

The bald man stared at my bloodshot eyes, looking a little frightened.

“You’re really putting your life on the line? Are you insane?”

I roared back.

“Insane? You think I’m playing with my life for fun?”

“You emptied my bank accounts, took my car, put my child up for sale, and now you want to ship my wife to some overseas hellhole! What the fuck else am I supposed to do?”

“Let me make this clear. One of us is dying here today. You or me!”

He involuntarily backed away a few steps at the madness in my eyes.

Just then, Eric returned with an armful of chips.

The bald man chuckled and piled them onto the table. Two million dollars in all.

“I sent my buddy to exchange some cash. Today, I’m taking you on!”

“Let’s see if you can really take my life!”

The house and car he had just won were now at stake. He was already desperate to avoid losing.

It didn’t matter if something had belonged to someone else a moment earlier. Once a gambler won it, he considered it his. That was how their minds worked.

I’d watched Eric closely. I doubted he’d simply exchanged cash for chips. He’d probably taken out a loan.

Casino loans were never easy money.

The bald man grandly shoved the entire two million forward.

“Come on! I’m putting it all in. Let’s see if you dare call!”

I said nothing and turned to my wife.

“Claire, did you lose anything else?”

She looked at the things on the table and shook her head.

“No, honey. Nothing else. Please, I’m begging you, stop!”

“I’ll go with you,” she pleaded with the bald man. “For as long as you want. Just leave my husband and child alone!”

He walked over and slapped her.

“Shut your mouth, you piece of merchandise!”

Then he turned to me. “You want my life? Come on! We’ll play till one of us dies!”

Seeing the handprint rising on my wife’s cheek made my heart ache.

I borrowed another two million from the casino against my parents’ house and pushed it all onto the table.

“Fine. Showdown!”

At that word, he dropped into his chair.

“Sure! Showdown! Ha! Let’s see who wins!”

Every eye in the room fixed on the six cards before us.

Before the bald man could celebrate, the dealer spoke in disbelief.

“The winner is... Mr. Hayes. Three aces.”