Chapter 4

A collective gasp echoed through the room.

Two million dollars. That was no small sum.

I quickly calculated my assets. Even with Sarah's and my house on the line, it would only be a little over a million. It wasn't enough to cover the shortfall.

Mark looked at me, challenging.

"Do you still have money to match? Who do you think you are, trying to take my money?"

Sarah stood beside me, reaching out and gripping my hand.

She spoke softly, "We'll put up our house, and I'll borrow some from friends and family."

Mark raised an eyebrow, a look of contempt on his face.

"Who are you going to borrow from? Beggars only know beggars. How much could you possibly scrounge up?"

The moment I accepted his bet, it signaled a complete break between us.

Mark dropped his pretense, scrutinizing me from head to toe.

"Don't say I didn't give you a way out. Like I said before, if you admit defeat now, and get on your knees and beg for forgiveness in front of everyone, I can stop."

He claimed to be giving me a way out, but in reality, he was trying to push me to the brink.

How could I ever face anyone again if I did something like that in front of all our friends and family?

Just as I was racking my brain, trying to figure out where else I could get money, Chloe suddenly spoke up.

"I'll lend it. I've saved up a hundred and twenty thousand dollars from working all these years. I'll lend it all to you."

Mark suddenly froze, and Jessica's teacup clattered to the floor.

Uncle Mike quickly pulled Chloe back, rushing, "What nonsense are you talking? This has nothing to do with you!"

Chloe pulled away, her voice tinged with long-suppressed anger.

"I just can't stand his arrogant attitude, looking down on everyone!"

"Back then, his family couldn't afford to send him to high school. Everyone pooled their money, emptying their pockets to make sure he could go. And what happened? Does he show any gratitude towards us?"

Aunt Sharon, who had been quietly listening, also spoke up.

"He had to walk three hours to school, and I felt sorry for the boy, so I let him stay at my house during the week. But then, two years ago, when my son was buying his wedding house, I asked Mark to lend me fifty thousand dollars, and he kept making excuses!"

"I want to ask you today, Mark, you're throwing hundreds of thousands, even millions, around at the poker table, but to me, your Aunt Sharon, you couldn't even spare fifty thousand dollars?"

"I… you, you guys are…"

Mark hadn't expected to suddenly become the enemy of everyone.

His face went pale, and he couldn't string together a complete sentence for a long time.

"My family has another two hundred thousand dollars from a settlement!"

"You can borrow my car outside!"

In that moment, the relatives united, handing over what little assets they had left to me.

I tapped away on my calculator, then looked up at Mark.

"I have enough money now. Want to show your hand?"

Mark's expression was complex. Facing the room full of cold, hostile stares, he roared,

"You're the ones who decided to go against me first! Don't come begging me to give your stuff back when you lose!"

I smiled faintly.

"Are you so confident, Mark, that you're sure you'll win?"

He glanced at me, a cold smirk.

"My face-down card is a Ten. Three Kings and two Tens, a full house! What are you going to beat me with?"

At his words, the room suddenly fell silent. You could hear a pin drop. Several relatives already had looks of regret on their faces.

My heart, however, was calm. Under everyone's watchful eyes, I slowly flipped over my face-down card.

This game, he was going to lose!

When he saw my face-down card, Mark looked like he'd been frozen in place.

I had four Queens and a Two – a Four of a Kind. He had three Kings and a pair of Tens – a Full House.

A Four of a Kind beats a Full House.

He lost.

"Mark, when you made your final bet, did you ever consider that my face-down card might be a Queen?"