Only the important guests were invited to the birthday party of Caroline Bisconsley, the wife of the late Benedict Bisconsley who loved her wife so much he gave his entire property to her. Naturally, all of her children and relatives very much sucked up to her at every possible moment.

While Caroline greeted everyone equally, her eyes caught sight of two handsome men in the crowd. She showed them to her granddaughter, Laurel, from a distance.

“The orange-haired one is Marlon Myers. The only son of Gregory Myers,” Caroline said. “From what I know, he’s definitely going to inherit at least half of Myers’ assets.”

“He’s good-looking, for sure,” Laurel said and glanced at the second man. “What about the other guy?”

“Ah, he’s more of a rogue with a vague background. Don’t know if it’s his real name or not, but he calls himself Charles Wallace. He’s a gambler who’s got hundreds of millions sitting in his bank account.”

“Charles Wallace?” Laurel was a little surprised. “Isn’t he the one who won during the charity event last month.”

“Yes, he’s undefeated in poker, at least in official tournaments.”

“Wow. He’s cool. What about Marlon Myers? What’s he good at?”

“Well… nothing. He’s just a waste who’s neither good at studies nor at playing with people, but… that makes it easy for you to control him.”

“So, I should go for him then?” Laurel didn’t seem too interested despite what she said.

“No, my little darling,” Caroline pulled her granddaughter’s cheek. “I want you to get close to both of them. Know them, and then decide in a way you don’t ever regret your decision.”

“Mm. Thanks, Grandma, for letting me choose.” As she was walking toward Charles first, a gorgeous orange-haired woman walked over to Charles first, stopping her in her tracks.

“Hi, I’m Sofia,” she introduced herself to Charles as many eyes were on them. “Do you remember me? From the store?”

“Of course,” Charles shook her hand. “How can I forget a beautiful woman’s face?”

“Haha,” Sofia chuckled a little.

She was indeed a perfect beauty, both in terms of facial structure and bodily proportions. Her angelic eyes and fairy-like nose made her an ethereal beauty who would get an instant positive impression from others with just how wonderful she looked. However, Charles knew her far better than most did. He wouldn’t fall for her looks twice!

He appeared formal and didn’t ogle at her like most other men did. He couldn’t blame them though because her cleavage was the center of attraction among both male and female circles, regardless of their age. And she seemed to be enjoying it, though she didn’t outright show it on her face.

“You haven’t told me your name yet,” she let out a charming smile.

“Ah, I’m Charles. Charles Wallace,” he replied, keeping his eyes focused at her eyes and not at the things he used to gape at in the past.

“Wallace?” she frowned a little.

“Is something wrong with my family name?”

“Ah, nothing,” she sipped on the club soda. “Just reminded me of an old friend of mine who shared the same family name.”

“Oh…” he purposely stretched his voice a little bit before putting his hands in his pockets. “From the looks of it, that friend isn’t your friend anymore.”

Her lips stretched into a thin smile. “So, what do you do, Mr. Charles?”

“You can just call me Charles,” he said, swiftly grabbing a glass of wine as a waiter passed by. He also put a hundred dollar bill on the plate at the same time, slightly impressing Sofia. “As for what I do, it’s no secret. I’m a professional gambler.” One of his hands was still in his pockets, and it made him look stylish as he sipped the wine.

“So you play casino games.”

“Poker, especially.”

“I can play poker, too,” she spoke calmly but with just a little bit of fake excitement in her tone. “You need to win more than you lose to earn some profits. It’s a tough game. Since you’re a professional poker gambler, you must be winning handsomely.”

He casually nodded in return.

“Anyway, it was nice meeting you. Can I have your number?” she asked without hesitation because he wasn’t asking for her number. “Maybe we can play poker some time.”

“Haha, I would love to,” he politely grinned and gave her number, but as expected, she didn’t give him her number and walked away, leaving him a little bit speechless. Then again, he knew that she was that type of a woman—someone who always looked to have the upper hand in everything.

After she left, Laurel stopped talking with Marlon and came over to Charles. “Hi,” her smile was a breath of fresh air. She was tall, curvy, and stunning enough to call herself a model. Her hairstyle was also neat unlike Sofia who’s got a wild hairstyle.

“You are… Laurel Bisconsley. It’s a pleasure and an honor to meet you,” he raised his glass, and they cheered the wine glasses. “Many men at this party can’t help but keep looking at you, and if you come to me, I’m afraid I’ll be making them all my enemies.”

“Haha,” she liked that he was being friendly but not overly friendly. She was only in her early thirties while Charles looked like he was at least five years older than her. Nevertheless, his charm as a mature man with broad shoulders was undeniable. All needed to do was just stand in order to stand out among the crowd of dozens in that party.

Unlike Charles who spoke without restraint, Marlon seemed more of a shy guy in his early thirties. She could tell he didn’t have much experience talking ‘normally’ with women as he had asked her out within the first minute she had introduced herself to him. Naturally, she already began to lean toward Charles who had a unique flair in the way he carried himself. His dressing sense for one thing was exceptional, not to mention the way he held the wine glass between his fingers while putting the other hand in his pockets and looking confident throughout. This man was an alpha without a shred of a doubt, she thought.

Controlling him wouldn’t be easy, but she felt it was worth trying.

“What gift did you bring for my grandmother?” she asked, her voice laced with expectation. “She’s quite picky. If she doesn’t like your gift, she’ll throw it away without a second thought.”

“I gave her a gift she won’t refuse.”

“Oh. I wonder what it is.”

“A premium tooth set.”

Laurel blinked twice. “Pardon?”

“Just kidding,” Charles cackled a little. “I gave her a classic diamond necklace.”

“Oh…” she smiled a little and was leaning closer to ask for his number. Someone nudged past her, making the wine spill on her dress.

“Who dares to—” she raised her hand to slap whoever had collided with her, but after seeing that person in velvet maroon dress, her hand stopped midway. It was Narika Myers, the second daughter of the Myers’ family. A slender, short-haired beauty with cute looks and a bubbly smile, but she put her big and ugly glasses on most of the time, she wasn’t able to attract even one percent of men that her sister generally did.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to…” Narika quickly apologized.

“You think a half-hearted apology would suffice?” Laurel went for a slap, but her hand stopped midway because someone else interfered. Of all people, it had to be Charles.