"I don’t want to play pool anymore," Neville said flatly.

"Oh, then—"

"I don’t want to play darts, either."

Lilianna paused to think.

"The casino cards are fun too! They have real-time betting—"

"I don’t have money to gamble."

Lilianna’s saintly mask cracked for a second.

After all, Grayson was next to Neville.

There was no way for Neville to have no money to gamble since she was sure that Grayson would give him some to play with.

If Neville hadn’t been staring directly at her, he would have missed the way her left eye twitched.

Good, he thought.

Grayson, next to Neville, now had his arm stretched along Neville’s back. Not quite touching Neville’s shoulders, but close enough. He was scratching letters of apology along his back. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Meanwhile, Neville acted like he couldn’t understand what he was doing.

Grayson just let Neville do his thing and talked with Pete in hushed tones.

Not once did he glance at Lilianna.

Neville sneered internally as he remembered when he first met Lilianna. What she had said to him when Grayson had been unconscious in the hospital.

The way she looked at him.

The way she leaned in close to the unconscious Grayson, like a worried wife.

What Neville didn’t know was that Grayson had already rejected Lilianna many times before. He didn’t know that Lilianna’s series of actions was done deliberately to make him feel small and disposable.

By the time Neville figured it out by himself, that Grayson at least felt something for him and not to anybody else, seeds of doubt had already taken root in his mind.

Even now, as she was just standing there, clearly being ignored by Grayson. It still chipped away at shreds of Neville’s confidence every second she existed.

Just watching her act differently from his first impression of her, he felt the urge to gag. He didn’t know if anyone else knew.

But he really hated this.

She was treating everyone else in here like they were all stupid.

Meanwhile, Grayson knew exactly what was going on but let her dig her own grave deeper.

Neville understood that Grayson probably couldn’t reject Lilianna openly right now.

If Grayson shut her down, she would probably change tactics. By then, the chance to know whatever they wanted to know would be gone.

So Grayson needed someone to keep her engaged and off-balance without actually giving anything away.

That someone was him, Neville, his official boyfriend. Which also meant that he expected Neville to be his front line.

Understanding all of this didn’t make Neville feel any better about it.

Because understanding and forgiving were two entirely different things.

The second Lilianna had walked in unannounced, Grayson’s attention had changed. Not to Lilianna, but still away from Neville.

He left Neville behind, on his own.

The moment this invisible game started, Grayson had stopped being his boyfriend Grayson and started being General Maxwell.

He knew that whatever Grayson was planning, his feelings would be unaccounted for.

Neville knew that.

But he didn’t care.

Call him arrogant, call him selfish.

He wouldn’t let anyone trample on his feelings if he didn’t purposely put himself into that.

He chose to be with Grayson. He chose to be involved in his fake/ambiguous relationship.

It was his own choice, so no one was to blame if that failed because he was the one who chose it in the first place.

But that doesn’t mean Grayson gets to use him when things sprang out of nowhere.

Sure, he probably didn’t expect Lilianna to come. But Grayson didn’t get a say on what he could do or what he couldn’t do in the name of being his partner.

"Hey, I heard this easy game of using three dice." Lilianna pressed on, undeterred from being ignored. "It’s easy. Just predict if the total number on the dice is big or small. We could call everyone to watch, wouldn’t that be exciting?"

"Exciting?" Neville said, nodding half-heartedly. "That’s true. After all, it’s being played in gambling houses too."

"Gambling? No, no, no. We’re just going to predict for fun, no bets needed—"

"How boring."

The living area went very quiet.

From the bar, Pete’s hands stilled on a cocktail shaker. Grayson didn’t have much of an answer, like he already expected Neville to say that.

Julius, who had been trying to keep Sarah and Iris distracted with their chatter, suddenly shut his mouth.

Sarah and Iris, who were still waiting for his next words, also went silent, as if to ask what was wrong.

Julius quickly shook his head and continued as if nothing had happened.

Helena, who also heard it, continued to sip on her drink and listened to Julius while quietly watching Lilianna.

Bryan, half-hidden in the shadow near the pool table, pressed his lips together. He seemed to be talking to Chronos about their next steps.

Lilianna blinked twice since she did not expect to get this kind of an answer without reservation.

Neville, who didn’t care about their reactions, took a long, deliberate sip of his drink.

He didn’t care anymore if Grayson’s friends hated him for this. If they wanted to judge him, they could get in line.

He had been going with everyone’s flow all this time. Maybe it was time for him to think for himself, even just for a second.

But one little evil voice in Lilianna’s head wouldn’t let him have that second easily.

’Change your expression to look hurt,’ the voice in Lilianna’s head murmured. ’Lower your lashes. Swallow like you’re holding back tears. Don’t overdo it—just enough to make anyone watching feel guilty.’

Lilianna’s expression changed on command. Her lips parted slightly. She looked down at her hands, fingers twisting together.

Neville nearly rolled his eyes.

Grayson let out a breath through his nose. It was barely audible, but Neville understood what it meant. And he wished he wasn’t this familiar with Grayson to know.

Because it was Grayson’s way of saying ’Please cooperate.’

Neville glanced at him.

Grayson met his gaze and held it. His eyes softened, but his mouth pressed into a thin line, helpless.

Seriously? Puppy eyes?