Around the table, voices erupted.

The lucky diamond seven was the rarest pair combination that paid at eight thousand to one.

Even if Neville lost the main hand, the side bet alone would net him more than eighty million star coins in pure profit, on a ten-thousand-chip wager.

Grayson was proud, although he didn’t know what it was in the beginning, Neville never failed to deliver the surprise.

Thiago looked at Grayson.

"That’s big," Thiago said, swirling his drink. "Even if we’re calculating from the earlier rounds’ side bets of a thousand. But from ten thousand?"

He let out a low whistle and raised his glass at him.

"Really, well done."

Grayson said nothing and reached to get another drink.

At the table, Lilianna stood very still.

The voice in her head had gone quiet.

She looked at the three sevens of hearts, two in Neville’s hand, one in her own face-up position, and felt dreadful.

She did plan a pair. But she thought it would just be a normal pair, just a small win to keep people from suspecting anything.

She was an idiot.

But could anyone really tell what could happen?

She might be able to control the cards to her liking, but there was no way to remember every single one of the cards she would distribute.

She was not that capable.

But even with all those plans, somehow, Neville still won.

Not just a simple win, but hitting the most improbable payout on the table.

A lucky diamond seven.

She really wanted to show a smile to anyone who would look her way. But no matter how she tried to muster up one, nothing could lift the corners of her lips. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Then, Iris’s voice was heard.

"You’ve got to treat us after this!" She said with a grin.

Neville adjusted his glasses.

"No worries," he said, with a smile. "I’ll treat the office by next week."

"We’ll count on that, rich man," Bryan said, also grinning.

But his grin had a hint of greed as if he was already planning how to make a dent out of Neville’s eighty million win.

Sarah suddenly whipped around her head to her sister.

"Sis," she said, and her voice changed from excitement to concern, "can you afford to pay that?"

Lilianna fixed her expression, not letting a single displeasure of being offended by her own sister appear on her features.

"Sis," she said, matching Sarah’s tone. "Since I accepted being the dealer, of course, I can afford it."

Sarah blinked, nodded, and then tilted her head.

"If you have that much money, then why don’t you buy a place of your own?" she asked, out of curiosity.

"I’m not home most of the time anyway," she said, as if it were a matter of fact. "So I’d rather stay with our parents whenever I can."

Sarah’s face softened, and she nodded.

"Makes sense," she said. "That’s why you’re the more sought-after child."

The words hit Lilianna like a slap she couldn’t react to.

If I’m the most sought-after child, she thought, sharp enough to draw blood, then why wouldn’t the Maxwells accept our family’s proposal for an engagement when we were children? That way, I wouldn’t have to suffer like this.

But the fifth round was still in full swing.

So, as soon as the commotion died down, Lilianna tapped the felt twice with her index finger and turned her head toward Bryan.

"Bryan. Hit or stand?"

Bryan looked at his cards with a serious expression.

A nine and a five of spades stared back at him.

Fourteen.

Against Lilianna’s face-up seven of hearts, fourteen could barely contest it.

Cross it and maybe survive.

Stay put, and hope that the dealer busts.

Bryan drummed his fingers once against the table’s edge.

"Hit."

Iris sucked in a sharp breath. She had been hovering behind Bryan’s chair, slowly understanding how the game really works.

"Why would you do that?" She said in disbelief, "You have fourteen. You could bust."

Bryan didn’t look up because he also knew that. But he still said, "High risk, high reward."

Iris stared at the back of his head as if her gaze could bore holes in it. Then she turned on her heel and walked to the sofa nearby, dropping into the cushion beside Chronos in resignation.

Chronos glanced at her sideways and tilted his head sympathetically.

"Don’t beat yourself up, it’s all part of the game," he said.

Pete, seated on the other side of Chronos, had one ankle propped on the opposite knee.

He let out a sound that was half laugh, half sigh. "The mini heart attacks, you mean?"

Chronos raised an eyebrow. "Are you regretting not playing?"

Pete waved a hand. "Doesn’t matter whether I play or not. I already have plenty of things in my life that could cause a heart attack, whether I like it or not."

His gaze drifted—briefly, casually, toward Lilianna at the dealer’s table.

Chronos followed the trajectory of that glance and shrugged. "Makes sense."

He reached out as one of the estate’s robotic servers glided past him. One cocktail glass sat on its tray—something amber and fizzing with a thin layer of frost clinging to the rim, and one lemonade.

Chronos plucked the cocktail glass and held it out to Iris.

"Here. To calm you down."

Iris took it without protest, which said more about her mental state than any words could.

Back at the table, Lilianna’s fingers moved, and a card slid from the shoe.

Before the card landed on Bryan’s stack, Bryan had his eyes squeezed shut. Both of his palms pressed flat on the table. His lips moved in something that might have been a prayer.

When he heard the card settle, he opened his eyes.

Six.

Nine. Five. Six.

Twenty.

The tension in Bryan’s shoulders released so hard that everyone heard him exhale. Then, he leaned back in his chair and rolled his neck.

Soon, a slow, satisfied smirk crawled across his face—the kind of smirk that made you want to either congratulate him or throw something at him.

Across the table, Ciel rolled his eyes so hard they nearly completed a full rotation.

He muttered something under his breath, barely audible, but Neville, who was next to him, heard it.

"Nothing is for certain until the game ends."