Theater: NovelMaster | Language: English | NEW
Synopsis
Everyone on the Upper East Side knew Julian Sterling despised me to the bone. To him, publicly humiliating me at galas was nothing short of a sport.
"The Sterling empire was built on casinos and cards," he sneered into the crowd. "And Nadia Vance? She's just a trophy who can't even tell spades from clubs."
"Marrying her would be about as thrilling as sleeping with a blow-up doll."
Yet our grandfathers had arranged our engagement years ago. And his precious little mistress couldn't bear children. So, to solve his problem, he dragged me straight to his high-stakes poker table.
"If you lose, you give up your womb," he leaned in, his whisper dripping with venom. "You'll bear my child via C-section. Zero anesthesia."
I had long reached my limit with his petty cruelty. I offered him a faint, chilling smile.
"Deal. But if I win, Julian... I want your manhood."
The room erupted into mocking laughter. They thought I had lost my mind. Who didn't know that Julian Sterling was the crowned 'Ghost Hand' of the New York gambling scene?
I kept my eyes down and said nothing.
Ghost Hand?
Five years ago, on a storm-drenched night in a Las Vegas alley, it was my hands that held his, teaching him how to cheat just to stay alive.
Ignoring the snickers echoing through the ballroom, I casually took my seat at the velvet-lined poker table.
Seeing how unfazed I was, Julian raised an eyebrow, a flash of amusement crossing his eyes.
"Not bad, Nadia. At least you've got some spine."
Then came the sneer.
"Pity it's purely out of stupidity. Since you don't even know the suits, do I need to explain the rules of Five-Card Stud to you?"
I glanced at the green felt. A wave of bone-deep familiarity washed over me.
I shook my head and held up a hand.
"Save your breath, Julian. Five cards. One face down, four face up. Highest hand takes the pot. Even a trophy knows that much."
"Fine. Since you know how to lose, let's play."
Julian smirked and waved at the dealer waiting by the table.
"Wait!"
A sultry voice sliced through the murmuring crowd.
"Julian, stud is so much more fun with more players."
"Just the two of you is boring. Why don't you deal me in?"
Dressed in a revealing slip dress, Chloe Miller stepped forward. Without missing a beat, she planted herself directly onto Julian's lap, draping her arms around his neck. She shot me a provocative glare.
"You don't mind, do you, Nadia?"
Flaunting herself like that right in front of his legitimate fiancée.
Julian didn't shove her off. Instead, he stroked her cheek with a playful grin.
"Now, Chloe, behave. Nadia's just a beginner. You really want to gang up on her at the table?"
Chloe pouted, ready to whine.
I narrowed my eyes. From this angle, this fake socialite's profile looked disturbingly like mine.
Before she could speak, I cut in smoothly.
"Let her play. One more soul at the table makes no difference. Dealer, deal the cards."
Julian blinked, clearly thrown off by my eerie composure. But looking at me, he remained convinced I was nothing but an amateur bluffing her way through.
Suppressing his doubt, he patted Chloe's waist with a frown.
"Fine. Go sit down and behave."
Pouting, Chloe reluctantly stood up and slid into the chair next to him.
A waiter stepped forward in silence, stacking three neat piles of thirty-million-dollar chips before each of us. Chloe's eyes practically glittered with greed.
The dealer unsealed a fresh deck, fanned them out, separated the required twenty-eight cards, and began a dazzling shuffle.
The crisp snap of cards filled the air, then stopped.
The game was on.
With a flick of the dealer's wrist, the first hole card slid facedown in front of each of us.
Then came the upcards.
Julian showed the 6 of Hearts. Chloe showed the Jack of Diamonds. And I was dealt the Ace of Spades.
The dealer scanned the table and announced, "Ace of Spades is high. Ms. Vance to open the betting or check."
"Check? Not quite," I murmured, tracing the edge of an ivory chip.
I didn't push it forward right away. Instead, I let out a soft sigh and looked at Julian with mock disappointment.
"Julian, you dragged me all the way here for a game. Playing for just money is terribly dull, don't you think?"
"Why don't we raise the stakes?"Julian barked out a laugh.
He looked at me as if I were an utter fool who got lucky on a single card and immediately lost her mind.
"Sure. Since you're offering your neck, what else do you want to bleed?"
Meeting his mocking gaze, I tapped my Ace of Spades.
"The New Harbor Docks project. The Sterlings hold five percent. The Vances hold three."
"I'll bet my family's three percent against your five."
"Dare to take it, Julian?"
The entire ballroom exploded into chaos.
"Is Nadia insane?! That's the Harbor Docks! Families have been tearing each other apart for years over those shares!"
"No wonder Julian won't touch her. How did the Vances raise such an idiot?"
"Her grandfather bled for that empire, and she's tossing it out like pocket change! If the old man were alive, he'd strangle her with his bare hands!"
Julian clapped his hands together, the sharp sound instantly silencing the room.
"Brilliant! Since Ms. Vance has such 'guts,' who am I to refuse?"
"I call!"
I offered a satisfied nod, then slowly turned my gaze toward Chloe.
"Julian is in, Chloe."
"What about you? Are you matching, or folding?"
Chloe bit her lip.
She was just an illegitimate parasite living off my family's leftovers. Her father, Arthur Miller, was a penniless leech who married my mother for money. She had nothing. Those thirty million in starting chips were already more money than she had ever seen in her life.
She parted her lips and cast a desperate, pleading look at Julian.
Julian couldn't bear to see his favorite toy squirm. "Chloe, name whatever you want. I'll back—"
"Watch your tongue, Julian!"
My voice turned razor-sharp, cutting him off cold.
"This is between two women. Keep your nose out of it."
I looked down, twisting the vintage signet ring on my middle finger—the heirloom worn by the future Sterling bride.
"Don't worry, Chloe."
"I know you don't have the bloodline or the bank account to match that kind of bet."
I slipped the ring off my finger.
Clink.
It landed squarely in the center of the pot.
"I'll stake this. My status as the future Sterling matriarch."
"Against one thing from you: you stand on this table and confess to everyone that you were never an adopted daughter or a family friend. You are Arthur Miller's bastard, born from his filthy affair with our maid while my mother was pregnant with me."
Gasps rippled across the room.
Chloe's face drained of all color. She slammed her hands on the table and shrieked at me.
"You're lying!"
"My father adopted me! You're just jealous that he loves me more than you! You're smearing my name!"
"Julian, don't listen to her! She's making it up!"
Everyone in high society knew Julian hated bastards more than anything on earth. Five years ago, an illegitimate half-brother had almost stolen his birthright and forced him into brutal exile overseas.
He had nearly died on foreign soil, saved only by a mysterious mentor who trained him to claw his way back to the top.
Julian's face was unreadable. He merely snapped at the hysterical Chloe.
"Sit down."
Then he turned to me, his gaze freezing over with a warning.
"I'll look into your claim myself."
I met his glare without flinching. Tilting my head, I chuckled softly.
"It's just a bet, Chloe. Calm down."
"If you're terrified, fold. Why scream like a feral animal and ruin what little dignity you have left?"
My dismissive tone lit a match to Chloe's hysteria.
She snapped. "A bet? Fine! You want to bet? Let's bet!"
"I call!"With all bets locked in, the dealer moved to the third card.
The cards flipped over.
Chloe caught the Jack of Spades. Paired with her Jack of Diamonds, she was showing a pair of Jacks—instantly taking the lead!
Julian received the 8 of Hearts, giving him the potential for a devastating straight flush alongside his previous 10 of Hearts.
And me? I caught a pathetic 3 of Diamonds. Sitting next to my Ace of Spades, my board was a scattered mess. I had a high Ace, but my overall potential looked dead in the water compared to theirs.
In a single second, the tides had turned.
The dealer gestured to Chloe. "Pair of Jacks is high. Ms. Miller, your bet."
Color flooded back into Chloe's cheeks.
She looked at the miserable 3 on my side of the table and almost burst into wild laughter.
"Stupid really is forever, isn't it? You thought an Ace would carry you to the finish line?"
"No wonder your father hates you."
She leaned forward, her eyes gleaming with pure malice.
"Since you love raising stakes, Nadia, let's make it personal."
"I bet every stitch of clothing on my body against yours. Whoever loses strips down to nothing. Completely naked. And crawls on all fours across this entire ballroom for every guest here to see."
"Dare to take that?"
Under the suffocating gaze of the crowd, I hung my head. My shoulders began to tremble slightly. To everyone watching, I looked broken, speechless from humiliation, pale with terror.
Julian watched my trembling frame coldly.
Yet, as the chandelier light flickered across my lowered face, a sudden jolt hit him. The curve of my jaw, the downward slant of my eyes... they looked hauntingly familiar.
His chest tightened. He couldn't help but speak up.
"Nadia, fold now. For your grandfather's sake, I won't touch your three percent in the docks."
"In exchange, the engagement is off. And you will drop to your knees right here, bowing your head to Chloe and me to beg for forgiveness."
"Do that, and we'll call it even."
Julian leaned back in his chair, his tone dripping with condescending mercy.
"Think carefully before you speak."
The ballroom went dead silent. Everyone expected me to grab the lifeline Julian had thrown down.
They were all wrong.
My shoulders were shaking—not from fear, not from humiliation.
From sheer, unadulterated adrenaline.
It had been years since I ran into an idiot like Chloe, who so generously handed me her own throat on a silver platter.
I slowly lifted my head.
In my mind, I had already calculated every card remaining in the deck. I knew the math. I knew the outcome.
Flawless. Unavoidable.
"I call."
Two words, dropped like lead weights.
The entire room went slack-jawed. Julian and Chloe stared at me in disbelief.
Julian's pity turned back into harsh contempt. "You really have a death wish."
I didn't care. Looking straight into his dark eyes, I smiled faintly.
"My bet is on the table, Julian."
"Since you want me on my knees, let's throw that in too. If I win, you will never again use your 'eternal love for your mentor' as an excuse to keep cheap trash like Chloe around as a substitute."
"Dragging someone like her into your bed isn't honoring your mentor's memory. It's desecrating it."
The mention of his mentor struck Julian like a whip.
His temper flared instantly, his eyes burning with fury.
"Shut your mouth! What do you know about her?!"
"You know nothing about what she means to me! You're an outsider—you have no right to speak her name!"
Julian's chest heaved. Stripped of all patience, his voice dropped to a sinister growl.
"Fine. You want to ruin yourself? Be my guest!"
He whipped his head toward the dealer, his jaw clenched tight.
"I call!"
"Deal the fourth street!"The dealer flinched under the murderous tension and dealt the fourth card immediately.
The cards hit the felt.
Julian received the Ace of Hearts. While it broke his straight flush dream, it gave him an overwhelming four-flush alongside his 8 and 10 of Hearts. With his hole card, his odds of a flush were monstrous.
I was dealt the Ace of Diamonds. Paired with my Ace of Spades, my board suddenly held a pair of Aces.
"No... No! How is it a 4 of Spades?!"
Before the dealer could even speak, Chloe shrieked. Her knees gave out, and she slid off her chair, collapsing onto the carpet in an undignified heap.
Her trembling hand caught her facedown hole card, accidentally flipping it over for the whole room to see.
The Queen of Hearts!
Four cards total: a pair of Jacks, a Queen, and a 4.
That meant her hand was locked. No matter what the final card was, she could never beat my pair of Aces.
Chloe... was dead in the water.
The silence shattered into chaotic murmurs and shocked gasps.
Chloe completely lost her mind. Abandoning all pretense of class, she scrambled on her hands and knees to Julian's feet, clutching his pant leg, tears and mascara streaming down her face.
"Julian, save me! Please!"
"I can't crawl naked in front of everyone! My life will be over! I'll die of shame!"
Julian's face was as dark as thunder. But looking at her tear-streaked face—which shared a chilling resemblance to his mentor—his heart softened.
Suppressing his irritation, he pulled her up.
"Get up. Stop crying. The game isn't over."
"I've got you."
Taking a slow, deep breath, Julian turned his icy gaze back to me.
"Nadia, take my advice and end this now."
"Fold this round. Walk away with the thirty million on the table. On top of that, I'll gift the Vance family an extra one percent of the harbor project. The bet between you and Chloe is erased. If we see the river card, nobody walks away clean."
"You know about my Ghost Hand technique. You can't beat me."
I shook my head and let out a soft, mocking laugh.
Glancing at the sobbing mess on the floor, I drew out my words.
"My, my. Julian really does care for my dear little sister."
"In that case..."
I cut my laugh short, slammed both hands against my towering piles of chips, and shoved them straight into the center.
"All in."
"Julian, let's see you put your life where your mouth is."
The sound of ivory chips crashing against each other rang like thunder through the hall.
Staring straight into his eyes, every word out of my mouth was coated in ice.
"If you want to play the hero for Chloe Miller, then carry her bet on your own back."
"Take her place. If you win, everything is erased. But if you lose... don't forget our first deal."
"I take your manhood."
Julian stared at my audacity, his fury turning into a psychotic laugh.
"Ha... Haha! Good, Nadia! I really underestimated you. You're ruthless!"
"If you're crazy enough to bet your own womb, why the hell should I back down?"
"Let me tell you something: unless my mentor herself is sitting in that chair, nobody in this damn room can beat me!"
He turned toward the dealer, barking out the final command.
"Dealer! Chloe folds. Deal the river!"
The final card sliced through the air and landed.
Julian caught the King of Hearts.
I caught the 3 of Spades.
Julian stood up, casting a pitying, ruthless look over my board, and slowly peeled his hole card open.
The 7 of Hearts!
Julian's full hand was revealed: the 7, 8, 10, King, and Ace of Hearts.
An Ace-high Flush!
He stared at me, his eyes full of cold, merciless triumph.
"A pair of 3s, a pair of Aces. Your hole card is just a useless kicker, isn't it? Two pair. How do you plan to beat a flush with two pair?"
"Don't blame me, Nadia."
"You dug your own grave!"
Chloe jumped up from the floor, her terror instantly replaced by rabid, vindictive ecstasy.
"Bitch! Let's see you act cocky now!" she screeched. "Don't worry, I'll make sure every media outlet in the country streams you crawling naked on the floor!"
The entire ballroom erupted into deafening cheers, sneers, and cruel laughter.
To everyone present, the verdict was sealed.
I was ruined.
Yet, my expression remained dead calm. Almost bored.
I didn't even waste a glance on Chloe's pathetic gloating. My eyes cut through the noise and locked onto Julian's arrogant face.
I slowly stood up.
"Julian... is this how I taught you to play in that Las Vegas alleyway?"
Julian's triumphant smile froze instantly. His pupils dilated in sheer horror.
His voice came out in a shattered, disbelieving whisper.
"How... How do you know about that?!"
"Vegas... the alley... That was between me and my mentor! How could you—"
I didn't answer. I merely shook my head with deep, cold disappointment.
"The moment you see a good hand, you lose your head. You reveal your cards way too early."
"Five years... and you're still an amateur."
Under Julian's terrified gaze, I reached out and casually flipped my hole card face-up on the green felt.
It wasn't the trash card Julian was praying for.
It was the 3 of Hearts.
My five cards lay exposed under the chandelier lights: three 3s and two Aces.
The room dropped into absolute, suffocating silence.
"A Full House. Threes full of Aces."
"Nothing flashy. Just enough to crush your flush."
I leaned in, meeting his horrified eyes.
"Have you learned your lesson yet?"
Chapters (4)
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Watch & Promotions
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