, confiding her quiet anxieties about both her

Eleanor had said, "but also... v

gainst Chloe by these grasping parvenus, ignited

atic destruction of her s

red at the black card, their ea

yler repeated, his voic

ningless bluff! I demand you verify she has the funds to cov

tly on the obsidian card, felt

Tiffany, her gaze ste

t money? From what I hear, Arthur Vance is barely lucid these days, thanks to... well,

oned professional,

e, Miss Vance. We are obliged to ve

nigmatic black card. The game, and indeed the

ble shield, a source of strength. The

She met Tiffany's furiou

hloe stated, her vo

and spoke into a small

ge for a large, imposing man in a tailored sui

ecurity, swaggered towards the table,

he grunted, his eyes sweep

us gesture, handed Rico

ion bored. He turned it o

he

fraction of a second, but Ale

d... it is yours?" His voice was diff

It belongs to my sis

e sudden silence of the

ained out of him, replaced by an expressio

m the card to Chloe, then into the

st deferential. "It is... more than sufficient. Its l

ippled through the

by those two wor