Brian got down on one knee and watched the tears of sorrow and despair welling out from Molly's eyes. After a while, he stretched out his arms and pulled Molly against his chest. With his hands patting on her back softly, he whispered into her ear, "You're my wife. Isn't it my duty to protect you from all harm?"
"I'm... I'm not your wife," whined Molly, like a child throwing a temper tantrum. She leaned against Brian's chest and enjoyed the familiar smell. In the comfort of his hug, she almost forgot that their relationship only existed because of Mark.
Brian quietly listened to her sobbing, and his lips curled up into a smile. She was crying in his arms, yet he felt strangely pleased because of her childish tone.
"Although Hanson is an excellent disciple of the God of Gamblers, he still can't win every game, despite his talents. Similarly, even though I'm not as talented as he is, it doesn't mean that I'll necessarily lose to him." Brian's low and charming voice flowed into Molly's ears. He continued to explain, "It's true that playing roulette requires good skills, yet to win a game of roulette, one relies more on good eyesight. It's the ability to predict where the balls would fall into according to their speed when they're dropped onto the wheel and their rotational speed. I may not be talented enough to be a disciple of the God of Gamblers, but I still can calculate the rotational speed of the balls. So, Hanson doesn't really have any advantage over me in roulette. If I had played blackjack against him, I might have lost."
Molly didn't stop crying and didn't seem to have taken in Brian's explanation, but he still continued to say, "Besides, he had been staying here for the past few days and had invited many others to play roulette with him. His rule of the one-on-one game between the two winners of the first five rounds was obviously prepared for me. As for his gamble to have a night snack with you, that was nothing more than a trick to piss me off."
Molly didn't ponder much over his words. After a while, she finally stopped crying and heard some passersby condemning Brian. She noticed that there were already many people standing around and looking at them. Molly immediately flushed and she felt her cheeks burn red.
A sly look flashed across Brian's eyes as he said, "Shall we go now?"
Embarrassed and uncomfortable, she nodded hastily. Before Brian could move a step, she grabbed his hand and left in a hurry.
Aware of her embarrassment, Brian followed her silently. After they got far away from the watching crowd, Molly stopped and shook off Brian's hand. She complained annoyingly, "We were being stared at by so many people."
"It doesn't matter. They don't know you," replied Brian indifferently.
Molly gaped at him. What did it matter whether they knew her or not? She was still embarrassed all the same. Molly realized it was better that she didn't try to get that information through to this man. She assumed that he probably wouldn't even understand.
As she stood there stunned and speechless, Brian's face became serious. He raised his hand to tuck her wind-tousled hair behind her ear and said, "I promise you that nobody can ever force you to do anything against your will." 'Well, nobody except me, ' Brian corrected himself in his mind.
He wouldn't allow anyone to hurt her, yet he also didn't want her to leave him no matter what she wanted. Human beings were such selfish creatures. They were bound by double standards when it came to the things that mattered to them personally.
With Brian's sharp eyes looking keenly at her, Molly couldn't help but lower her head and press her lips together. His promise was so significant that she felt overwhelmed.
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