The Year I Was the Other Woman To Myself novel Chapter 751

Marico prided himself on his poker skills, and it wasn't an empty boast. Once the other three men at the table were stripped of their ability to cheat, he began winning hand after hand. Before long, he had raked back all the IOUs he had dealt out earlier.

"Mr. Stapleton, let's call it a night. You've already won back all the money I took from you," one of the men pleaded bitterly.

Marico raised an eyebrow. "I don't think so. You're still short about twenty million dollars."

The three men exchanged nervous glances. Seeing how casually Marico had signed the IOUs earlier—not even checking the numbers or asking how much he had lost—they assumed he had no clue. They hadn't expected his memory to be so sharp, making it impossible to fool him.

The longer they played, the more the three men lost.

By the time they truly emptied their pockets of every last IOU, Marico smirked, insisting they still had twenty million of his money hidden away.

"We really don't have anything left!"

"Give us a break, Marico. You can afford to lose, but we can't."

Marico scoffed. "So you expect me to sit here and entertain you for two days and nights for free? You don't think I'm collecting on that?"

"How does that make any sense?"

"It makes sense because I said so, and you're going to fall in line!"

Charley slammed his cards onto the table and stood up to leave, but Marico delivered a swift kick to his chair, forcing him back down.

Refusing to swallow the humiliation, Charley immediately stood back up, ready to retaliate.

"Charley, your father just called! He said you absolutely cannot upset Theodore and Marico! Our food company is still bidding for Zenith Motors' exclusive contract," his butler rushed back into the room and intercepted him just as he was about to swing.

Charley's fists clenched and unclenched, but he ultimately didn't dare to strike.

He was usually arrogant, relying on his family's wealth to throw his weight around, but that only worked on ordinary people. The Stapleton family was a force the Sargents couldn't afford to provoke.

With a dark expression, Charley slumped back into his seat. Seeing the other two men still standing, he snapped at them in frustration.

"Keep dealing! Mr. Stapleton didn't say we were done, so nobody stops!"

The two men knew Marico was not someone to cross, especially with Theodore sitting right there as backup, so they had no choice but to take their anger out on Charley.

They instantly dropped their cards and bolted for the door.

Seeing his prey escape, Marico's temper flared.

"Theodore, you piece of—"

Before he could finish, a fist connected sharply with his jaw. He didn't dodge in time and took the brutal hit head-on.

Pain flared, hot and sharp.

Unwilling to back down, Marico immediately clenched his fists and swung back, but Theodore easily sidestepped the attack and kicked him. It was a heavy blow, sending Marico crashing into the poker table.

He gasped in pain, his fury boiling over.

"Theodore, I'm your brother, not your dog!"

He lunged forward through gritted teeth, entirely confident that his fighting skills would have Theodore begging for mercy. But he had completely forgotten how weak and exhausted he was after staying up for two days straight.