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Chapter 117 – The Hangover of Time
Peter’s silence hung heavy in the room. Ace’s expression shifted from confusion to discomfort. Chloe didn’t blink. She couldn’t. Not when her mind was racing faster than it ever had in a game. He didn’t say a number. He didn’t say anything. And that was what scared her. It wasn’t denial. It wasn’t confirmation. It was grief. She finally exhaled, as if she’d been holding her breath since the question left her lips. “It wasn’t once… was it?” she said softly. “It wasn’t even twice.” Still no response. Peter’s hand tightened around the apple he’d been holding this entire time. The same one Ace had tossed to him like a joke. It had a bruise now, right at the top. A soft dent. Fragile. Like time. “Peter…” Chloe continued, her voice almost pleading, “what you’re talking about… it’s not a strategy. It’s a curse.” Peter blinked slowly. “I know.” Ace finally stood up, pacing. “Okay, hold up—hold up. Can we just backtrack here? You’re both acting like we’ve just uncovered the goddamn A
Chapter 116 – The Theory of Gifts
“So Ace,” Peter said as he flipped a card—9 of Diamonds—and scanned the grid for its match, “you said your superpower is luck?”“Yeah, you bet,” Ace grinned, wiggling his eyebrows like he’d just revealed a deep cosmic truth.“I wouldn’t go as far as to call it a superpower,” Chloe muttered under her breath as she leaned over and flipped her card. 9 of Clubs. “Match,” she said flatly, collecting the pair.“Don’t mind her,” Ace said with a shrug. “She’s just a hater.”“Forgive me,” Chloe fired back, “for not indulging your delusional fantasy.”Peter chuckled as he stared at the board, his fingers hovering over two cards. “It’s not a fantasy if it’s true,” Ace added with faux gravity.The twins launched into their familiar rhythm of bickering. Peter let it play out like background music, only half-listening—until he asked:“And you, Chloe? What’s yours?”She looked up from the board, blinking. “Pardon?”“Your gambling superpower. What is it?”Chloe stared at him like he’d just asked her
Chapter 115 — After the Storm
Peter’s eyelids fluttered open to white ceilings and harsh fluorescent light.Where the hell am I? he thought groggily, blinking against the sterile blur of the hospital ceiling.The smell of antiseptic hit his nose. Beeping monitors hummed quietly in the background. Pain pulsed faintly through his limbs, but it wasn’t unbearable—just enough to remind him he was still alive.University hospital…?He slowly turned his head to the left and caught sight of two figures stepping out through the door. The guy had an apple in one hand, the girl a chess board tucked under her arm. The sight was oddly familiar. The names came to his lips before his brain had fully caught up.“Ace…?”Both figures froze mid-step. Then they turned.It was them—Ace, with his signature lazy grin, and Chloe, with that ever-calculating glint in her eyes.“Oh my lucky duck, Peter! You’re alive!” Ace beamed, tossing the apple into the air and rushing over.Chloe’s expression was a mixture of smug satisfaction and… genu
Chapter 114 – No Gods, No Masters
The world stopped.The air was sucked out of the room.Even Naomi, for the first time in the entire game… blinked.The audience didn’t just react.They exploded.Voices collided like clashing cymbals. The walls seemed to shake beneath the sheer chaos of disbelief, confusion, and morbid excitement.“WHAT DID HE JUST SAY?!”“Is he—did he also just try to SELL HIS LIFE?!”“This guy’s actually gone insane—completely off the rails!”“What kind of game is this?! What kind of school allows this?”"What the fuck?!”“He’s insane!”“He’s matching Naomi’s move?! Is this a joke?!”“He’s going to put his life on the line too?!”Even the dealer hesitated, unsure if she should intervene.But the rules… the twisted, convoluted rules of Monte Carlo allowed such madness. As long as the party involved was of sound mind and legally of age — a person could offer anything they deemed fair value.Even their own soul.Gasps overlapped like crashing waves. One spectator dropped their drink. Another clutched t
Chapter 113 – The Final Gamble
Logan felt the world spin.Not figuratively.Literally.His vision doubled for a split second, the noise around him warped, like sound itself was trembling under the weight of what had just happened.One thousand chips.Naomi had placed an absurd, unimaginable bet — not just of money, but of soul. Of years. Of herself.And now… Peter had to respond.---Logan’s heart pounded as he looked toward Peter.This wasn’t his gamble. He had no stake in this beyond choice. And yet, he’d thrown in nearly everything he had.Why?Why the hell did I go this far?By every logical measure, this was madness. Logan knew it. This wasn’t chess. This wasn’t war. This was something else.This was Peter Donovan.A guy who, by all accounts, shouldn’t even be here. He wasn’t the strongest, he wasn’t the richest, and he definitely wasn’t the most skilled. And yet…Logan clenched his fists, staring at Peter like the answer might be written on his skin.---And that’s when he saw it.Peter was shaking.Subtle at
Chapter 112 – Chip by Chip, Flame by Flame
“We will now resume the game,” the dealer announced, her voice slicing cleanly through the electric hush of the hall.She shuffled once, twice—cards flipping and snapping like knives through silence. Then, with precise hands and a blank expression, she dealt five cards to each player.A beat passed.Then another.Peter reached for his cards. So did Naomi.They lifted them simultaneously.And as they did, Logan leaned forward in his seat.He saw it.Not in the cards.Not in the chips.In Peter.Sweat glistened faintly on Peter’s brow. His chest rose and fell faster than it should. His hand trembled—just once, barely noticeable. A shallow inhale, a twitch at the edge of his eye. It wasn’t visible to most, but Logan had seen it before.“Will you redraw?” the dealer asked, her tone professional.“Two cards, please,” Naomi replied, sliding forward the 5 of Hearts and 2 of Diamonds. Her face was relaxed. Almost lazy. Like none of this mattered.Peter looked at his hand. Quietly.And smiled.
Chapter 111: The Ask
Peter stood frozen behind the gambling table, the edges of the world fraying in his vision. The lights above the stage flickered just slightly, or maybe it was just the blood draining from his head.Think.Think, dammit.But no matter how many angles he searched, how many what-ifs and desperate plans he clawed through in his mind—there was nothing.No hidden bank account.No last-minute twist.No god from the machine to descend and save him.And maybe… maybe that was for the best.A quiet, bitter voice in the back of his head started whispering.Maybe it’s time to fold, Peter.Maybe it ends here. And that’s okay.At least this way, Naomi wouldn't become Viktor's property. She wouldn’t be bound to that monster by ink and blood. She’d be free. Even if Peter had to take the loss, if he had to bow out now, at least she’d walk away unchained.Even if it costs me everything… that’s a trade I can live with.He closed his eyes for a moment. Felt his heart settle, just slightly, into a resigne
Chapter 110: The Queen’s Gambit
"Now then…" the dealer’s voice rang across the silent auditorium like a sword being unsheathed, sharp and ceremonial, "Let the gamble resume." A ripple of anticipation swept through the crowd. The weight of what had just occurred—Naomi putting her life on the line, Viktor returning to the stage with half a trillion euros at his disposal—had not yet settled in their collective chests. But now, the game was moving again. The dealer deftly flicked her wrist, distributing the cards. The sound of each card hitting the felt table was impossibly loud in the hush that followed. One card. Two. Five each. Naomi and Peter sat opposite each other, a world of tension between them, the table a battlefield. The overhead lights glared down like spotlights on a stage, illuminating every twitch, every flinch, every shift in breathing. Peter’s hand hovered over his cards for a moment. Then, slowly, he lifted them and took a look. A flicker passed across his expression. Subtle. Only those who kn
Chapter 109: Dinner with the Devil
Peter stood frozen, his mind tangled in knots he couldn’t untie. This wasn’t part of any strategy he had prepared for. No amount of observation, analysis, or deduction could have predicted this. Not Naomi offering up her life on a contract. Not Viktor bidding half a trillion euros. And definitely not Naomi accepting it. He glanced toward her. Naomi was still standing in the center of the stage, back straight, chin tilted with what looked like confidence—but Peter saw the tremor in her fingers, the way her throat bobbed as she swallowed. Was she scared? Proud? Broken? He couldn’t tell. She turned to Viktor, her lips curving into a smile—one that was impossible to decode. It hovered somewhere between defiance and surrender. Between the smirk of a wild card and the sad grin of someone already halfway gone. “So…” she said softly, eyes locked on Viktor. “I guess you're the highest bidder.” Viktor chuckled under his breath, casual and cruel, his hands in his pockets like none of thi
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