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Chapter 142: First flip
The crowd was still vibrating with energy as the Anchor gave a sweeping bow and stepped back from center stage.A quiet hum pulsed through the vast hall, as though the room itself was holding its breath.On the holo-display, the game board flickered into readiness — the sleek digital grid shimmering faintly in the dim light.10 tiles loaded. Coin flip pending.At their seats, Peter and Chloe faced each other across the elevated table — a sleek black surface bordered with thin neon-blue lines. Their personal displays hovered in front of them, responsive to their slightest touch, transparent but pulsing faintly in rhythm with their heartbeats.Peter tightened his grip on the tablet, knuckles white for a moment before he forced himself to breathe. His pulse thrummed painfully in his neck.Across from him, Chloe sat like stone. One leg crossed over the other, tablet resting lightly on her lap. Not a flicker of tension showed in her face — only cold, clinical focus. A chessmaster waiting f
Chapter 141: The next day
The next day finally arrived. Autumn had fully set in across Monte Carlo Gambling University — the crisp air biting with an edge of chill, fallen leaves skittering across the cobblestone pathways.And there they were.Peter and Chloe marching through the winding campus grounds toward their destination — the grand Designated Gambling Hall. Their paths aligned, yet their thoughts worlds apart.“I’m going to win this gamble and prove myself.”For Peter, the need was primal. Unquenchable. It radiated from every step, a hunger that no one had to explain — you could see it in his eyes, in the set of his jaw.Chloe’s resolve, though just as fierce, was buried beneath layers of carefully constructed artifice. She wore her usual corporate-inspired attire: a crisp white blouse tucked into a fitted black pencil skirt, tailored charcoal blazer hugging her slender frame. On her feet — sharp black heels that clicked a steady rhythm across the polished floors. Her look was elegant, cold, commanding
Chapter 140: Later that Night
Later that night.Somewhere across a quieter side of the Monte Carlo Gambling University Campus.Chloe sat alone in her dorm room, a small island of light amid the creeping darkness. A vintage brass desk lamp cast a warm, narrow glow across her cluttered workspace. The rest of the room was draped in shadows — the only other light came from her laptop, its screen flickering softly, washing her face in cold blue.A notebook lay open beside her, its pages crowded with scrawled diagrams and hurried annotations. Pen in hand, she hovered just above the paper, deep in thought.She was studying. But not textbooks. Not theoretical models. No — in front of her was something far more specific, more obsessive.A recorded gamble.On screen: Peter Donovan facing off against Noami. The match had long since ended, yet Chloe — known to most by her gambling alias, Noir — had watched this tape at least six times already. Probably more. She clicked the timeline backward again, freezing the frame on Peter
Chapter 139– Six-Pointed Silence and the Queen Crown
Round Six.This time, there was no introduction. No glib remark from the Chancellor. No dramatic reset. Just the faint sound of the wind pressing against the tall windows, and the distant tick of a grandfather clock in the hall.Peter hadn’t realized it, but everyone had stopped whispering. The crowd wasn’t holding its breath anymore — it had simply stopped breathing.Even the air seemed afraid to make a sound.Noir didn’t speak. She just waited.The Chancellor sat across from her like a man walking into his own execution — no illusions left, just grim resolve.He opened with 1. e4Not bold. Not strange.Just… standard.But even Peter could tell it wasn’t about strategy anymore.It was about pride.Noir responded with 1...c5 — the Sicilian Defense.A dangerous reply. Unforgiving. Peter remembered Logan once saying: “The Sicilian doesn’t forgive lazy moves. You either control it or collapse in it.”The Chancellor tried. He really tried.He played the Open Sicilian, fighting for the cen
Chapter 136 – The Fifth Flame
---“Round four,” the Chancellor said, his voice tight, “let’s make this one... memorable.”Noir didn’t respond.She placed her hand on the black pieces.Let him go first.The Chancellor opened with 1. d4A flexible, positional start.Noir mirrored with 1...d5What followed was a classical Queen’s Gambit Declined, the kind of opening Peter always struggled with—because it wasn’t loud. It was deceptive. Every pawn, every piece, every movement masked a dozen intentions.But Noir wasn’t playing defensively.She was luring.By move 6, the Chancellor played Bg5, pinning Noir’s knight.By move 8, Noir offered a pawn with c5, cracking open the center. The Chancellor accepted — and that’s when the game began bleeding.Move 10: Noir pushed e5, an aggressive pawn thrust. It looked like a blunder.Peter leaned in. “No… she’s baiting him again.”The Chancellor grinned for the first time in two rounds.He took the pawn.It was the mistake she was waiting for.Move 11. Noir traded queens.Move 12.
Chapter 136 – The First Game
The ceremonial chess clock buzzed softly as the Chancellor tapped it with a controlled flick of his fingers. The timer began — a ten-minute blitz countdown.Noir opened with e4.Classic. Aggressive. A Queen’s Pawn gambit. It was a declaration more than a strategy: I’m not afraid of you.The Chancellor smirked. He replied with c5 — the Sicilian Defense. Equally aggressive. A test of precision, prediction, and pressure.Peter stood at the edge of the room, spine straight, hands clenched behind his back. He had never seen Noir look like this before. This wasn’t the same young woman who used to joke with him during card games or leave cryptic riddles on his door. This was someone else entirely.Noir, the Queen.But even so, her eyes carried something different from the Chancellor’s — less sharp-edged malice, more burning purpose.Click.The Chancellor made his second move. Click. Noir mirrored it. Click. Click. Pieces moved with the rhythm of a ritual. Their hands moved like dancers, flic
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