Amiee was on her feet without a word, trailing behind them.
Emily eyed the cards in her hand, hesitating, while Charlie, ever the bold one, tossed another couple of chips into the pot.
Leaning close, Evelyn whispered to Estelle, "How much is one chip worth?"
"Two hundred," Estelle replied nonchalantly.
Evelyn's jaw dropped. She was sitting on something decent for a couple of rounds, but the price of the chips had her folding faster than a lawn chair at a barbecue.
Sylvia, confident as ever, matched the bet with two chips of her own.
Gabriel, perched right behind her, glanced at her hand and frowned. "You're betting without consulting your advisor?"
Sylvia leaned in, whispering conspiratorially, "I've got a pair, that's not too shabby."
"Which pair?" Gabriel inquired, a hint of skepticism in his voice.
Sylvia pointed it out to him.
Gabriel just stared, speechless.
After a few more betting rounds, it was down to Sylvia and Amiee. Gabriel couldn't stand to watch any longer and quickly called for the reveal.
Amiee had a straight flush. Magdalen slapped the table, "Thank my lucky stars I got out early."
Curious, Estelle asked her, "What did you have?"
With a sly grin, Magdalen confessed, "A pair."
Estelle had a pair too, which is why she had bailed after two rounds.
"Sylvia, what's your hand?" Magdalen prodded, eager with curiosity.
All eyes turned to Sylvia, who had been quiet for so long. Perhaps she was the dark horse about to surprise them all.
Sylvia proudly displayed her hand.
The room collectively facepalmed.
"That's nothing," Timothy said, glancing over at Sylvia. "You play, I'll back you up. If you lose, it's on me; if you win, it's all yours." He settled in behind Evelyn, offering his support.
Evelyn immediately shook her head, "I couldn't possibly."
"It's all good, just a bit of fun money to keep things lively," Timothy assured her with a grin. "Think of it as making friends."
Estelle's gaze swept over to Timothy, "No need to trouble yourself, Timothy. I'll cover Evelyn's chips."
None of the people in this room cared much about the money; the chips were just for kicks. Even if Evelyn lost, Estelle wouldn't dream of letting her pay up.
As a newcomer to the group, Timothy, aware that Estelle was Jonathan's wife, stiffened with a newfound wariness, managing a strained smile, "Then I'll just help Evelyn with her hand."
Evelyn looked at Estelle, "It's okay, Mr. Anderson means well."
Estelle thought Evelyn might be mistaken, perhaps thinking Timothy was one of their crowd, but it wasn't the time to clarify. She simply nodded, letting it be.
Thankfully, with Estelle's presence, Timothy kept his distance, seriously helping Evelyn with her game without getting too close.

Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Find me in your labyrinth (Stella and Jonathan)
Norah isn't a girl, but a twenty -five year old beautiful woman that loves Xavier Fleming/Gonzalez/Hanson....
Update 3103 hasn't been received and it hold pertinent information. Please fix it for us. Thank you....
This is great! I love the updates....
Now Xavier needs to call in the reinforcement, Gabriel and Jonathan to settle this. Thank you for the updates....
May we please have updates. Thank you...
Xavier will always protect Norah he must admit this to himself and Norah. I believe after they return from this , he'll need to approach Norah 's parents and he'll get support from Jonathan and Ella....
I like how you are getting all the different love interest committed, thank you for the updates....
Hoping Manly have his own love story here, atleast a short one...
Emily has finally stood up for herself. Now with Charlie's support, her mother and sister in law will be as quiet as church mice....
Another epic ten updates... this is great! I'm sooo enjoying this. Thank you for the updates....