gale

ek. I quickly swiped it away. The humiliation was a raw wound.

table. "Abigale, now. Don't make this harder than it

maybe we can just... trade something? Or find a

ule, Darren. Holden won. Abigale put it in the pot. Now she

stakes, Darren. It's her choice." He turned back to m

like a piece of my soul. But I wouldn' t give them

The silver was cool against my fingertips. My

He didn't even look at it. He t

for a moment, twirling it, then she frowned. It wasn't sp

ntment. She tossed it onto the table. Not g

puddle of spilled champagne. The liquid instantly

just the bracelet anymore. It was her utter

stomach. The anger was no lon

nique declared, picking up her cards f

yed mechanically. My hand w

tly better hand. She

ook the dice, a confident smirk

pair of ones.

usband! You're terrible!" She leaned over and kissed

m the waiter. Before Holden cou

ack of her hand. "We're a team! His losses are m

e awkwardly, some genuinely am

small hurts, all those betrayals, all those times I had trie

m my parents. I lost the designer handbag I had coveted for months. Each time, I feigned

ments became a little less precise. My hands, I noti

eeling the pressure," I heard so

more reckless. The sta

order. "This is the final table. Winner-take-all. Each p

t me. "My entire business portfolio. Half of my family's sum

the room. This was serious mone

ed to me. A strange lo

s voice firm. "The entire real estate trust. And the new priv

He was betting everything. Hi

low, urgent. "Don't. This is

she backing out now? I th

nt hit

tten bracelet. At his pocket watch. At

uilt from the ground up, with blood, sweat, and sl

gh my body trembled. "Every share. Every patent.

d. Everyone was

"She's going to

widened. A greedy

shen. He looked lik

ique went first. She shoo

of sixes. Almost per

olled the dice. They

ot enough to beat Dominique.

ed, stroking his arm. "Looks like I'm

ooked at m

ere shaking, visibly now. The al

surprisingly loud in the sil

bounced, and f

r of

was close. B

gh the room. Dominique let o

. I slumped back in my chair, pressing my hands

"Looks like you lose, Abigale. Everything. And I'm taking

ith feigned defeat. But then I looked at the dice. An

ce barely audible. "