"If you had wanted Edgar Gu to win the game, then I would've let him win the game. I swear!" He
answered Molly's question slowly right after he came back from his earlier train of thoughts. Looking at
her incredulous expression, he sneered,"Edgar Gu is too conceited. He thinks the sun comes up just to
hear him crow. True, he made a good record during his time in the military. Hitting all the bull's-eyes of
moving targets, one kilometer away, during wild gusts of wind is no mean achievement. That I agree.
Nobody may even come close to his record in the foreseeable future. But believe me, when it comes to
cards and street-smarts, Edgar doesn't know shit from Shinola. He thought that he had seen the
sequence of the cards the dealer had shuffled."
With a little more thought, Brian added,"Well, he might have seen the cards, so he didn't cut the deck."
Talking about that game with Edgar earlier that night, Brian squinted, as if adjusting to light. Strong,
scornful emotions showing on his face as he picked up his line,"But, Edgar forgot one important thing.
That is, every casino plays its own game!"
With every word of his, Molly's heart sank as she considered the truth of it all. The winner of the game
had already been determined. That Brian was the winner and Edgar was the loser. Despite the fact,
Molly felt like the game hadn't been over yet while she was listening to Brian's explanation of the game.
A gambler would probably lose nine games out of ten bets.
That was how every casino played the game.
All the gamblers were well aware of that, but they always had a fluky mindset, thinking that they'd be
lucky in the next game. They didn't realize the fact that luck was always on the casino's side.
Looking at Molly, who was now apparently immersed in contemplation, Brian grinned with delight.
Sometimes, Molly was smart. 'She isn't dumb. She can gather the whole picture from those little details
easily, ' he thought.
Suddenly he drew close to Molly, kissed her on the face and briefly got excited when he sensed her
body stiffen in fear. Cold beads of sweat started to form on her now pallid face as she considered this
invasion of her personal space. But Brian just stood there, an insulting playful look in his eyes. Not in
the slightest way minding how his actions got Molly terrified, he whispered in a husky, attractive
voice,"Molly, you said that you wanted me to win the game, so... I dealt off the bottom. I cheated!" At
those words, he stood there, neither moving nor touching her. He breathed like an asthmatic bulldog
who couldn't find his inhaler.
On the freezing winter night, Brian's humid breath warmed Molly's neck. But, it was drowned out by her
shock at Brian's admission of dealing off the bottom. "Brian Long, are you having a death wish?" she
inquired.
It was common knowledge in A city that you could try your chance as a cardsharp in any other casino,
except the Grand Night Casino. If anyone dared cheat there, as sure as night follows day, they would
have a bad ending, no matter what the person's social status was.
Molly's reflective exclamation didn't move Brian in the slightest. Instead, he just stood there, grinning
like a Cheshire cat with eyes still fixed on Molly.
Impishly, he whispered in Molly's ear again,"Well? Are you worrying about me? Are you?"
Gritting her teeth, Molly stepped backwards and stared at Brian's teasing face. She clenched her fists
and roared in anger,"Are you crazy? Aren't you worried about yourself?"
Glancing intently into her bright and pure eyes, he could easily read all her thoughts and emotions
coursing through her mind. Without a shadow of doubt, he could tell that she was honestly worried
about him now.
"Wouldn't it be better for you if I were dead? Then you would be able to leave and claim your freedom
earlier. Right?" he said in a playful, flippant voice, yet a hint of coldness was perceptible from his
words.
"Huh!" Molly snorted. Squinting at Brian, she said coldly,"I won't get my freedom and happiness at the
expense of other people's sufferings!"
"So did you mean that... I was getting my happiness through your sufferings?" The smile on his face
fizzled out like a fade-out at the movies, bringing back the now all too familiar cruel aura, mean and
piercing like a toothache!
Terrified by the look on his face, Molly turned her face away, and suddenly realized that they had drifted
far away from the crux of their discussion.
"Brian, what were you betting against Edgar? What was so important as to warrant putting your life on
the line?" Shifting her gaze back to him, the worry in her eyes was conspicuous. "Weren't you scared?"
Silence. Brian just fixed his stare at her eyes, enjoying the panic he sensed all over her poor soul.
Watching the wretchedness of other mortals gave him that exhilarating feeling. But now with Molly, it
was somewhat complicated. He sometimes felt a tinge of inexplicable sympathy towards her. That
mixture of feelings was something he couldn't quite put a name to.
Since he was born, he had been like a demon in Shirley's eyes. His callous, malevolent, and violent
disposition just kept getting worse as he grew up. Early on, the intensity and viciousness of his twisted
personality had inspired in him the ambition of taking over the XK Intelligence Agency one day.
Although his father, Richie, detested the idea, he had never tried to control what Brian wanted to do.
On the contrary, he just let his son grow, with his whims undeterred and his desires uncensored.
Brian had inherited Richie's callous genes. Moreover, he had been brought up exposed to the very core
of the brutal, heartless XK Intelligence Agency. His nature and his experience in XK had turned him into
a demon, lower than a snake's belly in a wagon rut. Even Shirley, his mother, had long given up on
worrying about Brian.
Hearing no response from Brian, Molly bit her lower lip and, with increasing frustration shouted,"I
should have let Edgar win the game, had I known about your cheat. At worst, you would've just lost a
game, but your life would be safe!"
Brian was amused by Molly's look. He burst into laughter all of a sudden. Under the dim and changing
neon lights, his laughter attracted some pedestrians' eyes.
The Moonlight Street was bustling. Its trademark was the exciting nightlife of that particular street.
Pedestrians curiously looked at the couple standing by the roadside. The man was tall, in a well-
tailored tight-fighting suit that accentuated his well toned body. His short hair seemed to complement
his wild and arrogant personality. He was smiling and gazing deeply at the woman in front of him.
The woman, on the other hand, was wearing a uniform with a logo and artwork of one of the famous
casinos along that street, with a coat draped on her shoulders. Not hearing what the woman had said
to the man, they could only see the man grinning.
"You are crazy. A madman! A psycho!" Ignoring his charming smile, all Molly wanted to do at that
moment was to shout at him in fury.
Frustrated, Molly didn't know why she had to worry about him. They had nothing to do with each other,
except for the part that she was his plaything. Maybe what he had just said about his apparently
looming fate was right. Molly would be better off if he was gone.
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