TRADING MY CHEATING HUSBAND FOR THE LYCAN KING novel Chapter 431

CHAPTER 356: NO

EMBER’S POV

“Ember-”

“No. No. You want me to walk into the most dangerous room on the continent, in front of a room full of rogues who read lies off your skin, and sell that I’m there to–to violently edge a bloodthirsty,

street–fighter while pop–quizzing him on car parts?!” I gesture wildly. “Why does it have to be that?

Why can’t I just be a bored heiress who wants to gamble? Rich people gamble! That’s a whole

thing rich people do!”

“Because gambling gets you the ground floor,” Nathaniel says patiently. “And the ground floor doesn’t touch Devika. The floor she runs – the floor where the real secrets get wagered – you only reach it two ways. You either spend twenty years building a reputation at the Slaughterhouse, or

you walk in as a whale, and the whales are the ones who come with the most impressive fetishes. Exclusivity is the whole architecture of the place. Money isn’t enough. You have to want the

expensive thing.” He shrugs, one–shouldered. “And the expensive thing is a bad night with a bad

man.”

“I have a fiancé-”

“You have a cover.” His mouth twitches, the first almost–smile all day. “Merrilyn Aster is single, feral, and shopping. You don’t have to do anything. You have to sell that you came to. Request the floor. Get the access. Once you’re up there, you find Devika, and you work the room, and we get what we came for. The men are set dressing. Nobody’s asking you to actually-”

“I hate this,” I say. “I hate this so much. Wait.” I hold up a hand because something isn’t adding up.” If that floor is if it’s the companion floor – why is my mother up there? What is Devika doing on the floor full of rough men and bored rich women?”

And Nathaniel smiles.

He smiles the specific slow smile of a man about to drop something delicious, and he leans back,

and he says, “Because Devika runs it.”

I blink. “She what?”

“She’s in charge of that floor. Manages it. Curates it, if you want the polite word.” His smile widens a fraction. “Which she gets to do because she is, as of about 2 weeks ago, dating the man who owns the entire Casino Royale. Silas Black. The cartel leader. The rogue who built the place from nothing and runs it like a small hateful kingdom. Your mother is the girlfriend of the single most powerful rogue on the continent, and he’s given her the run of his most profitable floor as a -1

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CHAPTER 356 NO

don’t know. A token of affection.”

There is a silence.

And then Queenie, who has been ominously quiet, sets down her tablet.

+25 Points

“Ember,” she says, with enormous gravity. “Your mother is dating the crime boss of a rogue empire

and running his prostitution floor.” A beat. “Girl. Devika is out here trying to date the entire

continent. Let’s review. She had a husband – Maurice, the driver, poor man. Then she had a quick

swing with Elder James, which I still believe she did out of spite. And now, in her golden years, she

has landed a rogue who owns a cursed casino.” Queenie shakes her head in something like

religious awe. “At this rate, she’s going to have collected one of every powerful man on earth before she’s sixty. A driver, a councilman, a crime lord. What’s next, Ember? The Goddess herself?

Is your mother going to seduce a deity? Someone needs to study this woman. Someone needs to

write a thesis.”

“Queenie-”

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