He Waited She Wilted (Ottilie and Yorath) novel Chapter 354

The Sewell residence.

While Marie was being hauled off, James Sewell received the call, completely engrossed in a game of poker.

Annoyed, he barked, "I'm in the middle of a hand! It's not like I'm the one who messed up. What does it have to do with me? My son-in-law is a hotshot lawyer, call him!"

"What's his number? I don't have it."

James slammed the phone down, only to see someone else had just won the round.

Furious, he cursed, "You absolute jinx! You ruin everything!"

Determined not to be interrupted again, he powered off his phone.

James was having a terrible run of luck today, bleeding chips with every hand.

But gamblers never quit when they're down; the more they lose, the more aggressively they bet.

He was desperate to win it all back.

"Deal again. There's no way my luck stays this bad all day."

The other players started grumbling. "I need to get home for dinner."

"Nobody moves. I'm not done playing." The truth was, he couldn't swallow the loss.

He was terrified they'd take their winnings and not come back later.

Someone sneered, "Nobody moves? What's the point with these pennies? If we're playing, let's make it worth our while."

One of the men emptied his pockets, slamming a stack of cash onto the table. "Here's thirty grand. Winner takes all."

James had been running the poker den for a while and had picked up a few cheating tricks online.

He usually held back from using them.

To avoid suspicion, he typically played a conservative game, keeping his winnings modest.

He barely scraped together ten grand a month.

Seeing the massive pile of cash, the other tables stopped their games and crowded around to watch the spectacle.

Someone goaded him, "Come on, James. Don't tell me you're scared."

James was already a greedy man, and the sight of that much money made his mouth water.

With the crowd egging him on, he simply couldn't back down.

Still, he played coy. "That's a pretty steep buy-in. If you guys lose, won't your wives come crying to me for a refund?"

"A bet's a bet. If anyone's wife comes asking for the cash back, they deserve to drop dead."

Everyone loudly agreed to the terms.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify