Regret Is the Only Gain in a New Year Gamble

I fell silent. There was no way I could come up with that much money.

Owen saw through me instantly. He burst out laughing and gave my shoulder a slap. "There are things you just can't afford to play with. Truth is, I'm picking on you because your stack's small.

"And what are you going to do about it? I can come up with this kind of money easily, but even if you put your life on the line, you couldn't scrape together that amount."

Kylie sneered. "So, are you in or out? If you're not showing your hand, we'll take that as a fold."

That was the gap between the rich and the poor. The wealthy could casually toss in what a poorer man couldn't scrape together, even if he risked everything. Every call became heavier and more suffocating.

Just like Owen said, he was pushing me around because I had no money.

I glanced nervously at Amelia and Dad.

At that point, Dad's face had gone pale. He couldn't understand how a simple game had spiraled this far out of control.

Right then, Amelia spoke up. "My parents left me a house. It's not in the city, but it's still worth 500 thousand dollars."

I grabbed her hand at once, my voice shaking with urgency. "No! I bought our house and the gold jewelry. If I lose it all, we'll break up.

"You won't get dragged into it. But if you stake your family's assets on my hand and I lose, I'll bankrupt them!"

Amelia replied coldly, "We're not backing down. If we do, we'll never stand tall again. I trust that you wouldn't do this unless you were sure."

I trembled uncontrollably, but with joy. I knew I was going to win. All of this was just an act meant to make Owen think I was nervous, too.

But from Amelia's side, it was different. She had no idea what I was holding, and still, she was willing to stake everything on me.

"Not all houses are equal," Owen said, his tone dripping with mockery. "You're still one million dollars short. How do you plan to make that up?

"If you can't, then get the hell away from the table. Stop whining like sore losers!"

I took a deep breath before saying, "The neighborhood back home is getting redeveloped. There are four of us—my parents, Amelia, and me. Every dollar of our payout is yours."

At that, Kylie covered her mouth and chuckled.

"What, you think this is some booming city? This is just a rundown rural area. Four of you would only get 600 thousand dollars, so you're still 400 thousand dollars short."

Then, she turned to Owen and added, "I'm not trying to insult your relatives, but look at him—scraping and clawing together every last dollar. Is he even going to come up with it?"

"The way you're scrambling to piece together this bet is pathetic and embarrassing. Sometimes, respect is given to you. Other times, you're the one who loses it yourself. If you can't cover the bet, just fold," Owen said flatly.

Seeing that I couldn't come up with the money, Uncle Peter let out a breath of relief.

A beat later, he turned to Dad and snapped, "Your son doesn't know his place! Now look. He can't even keep up. Everything he's already put in is gone!"

Dad stood rooted to the spot, his face ashen. He swallowed hard and turned to me. "What were you thinking? What else are you going to put up? You've gambled away everything our family has!"

Yet, I said nothing and tapped away on my phone, taking out every online loan I could get.

Once I was done, I set the phone down in front of Owen. The available funds shown on the screen were 400 thousand dollars.

He froze for a second. "How do you have that kind of credit?"

"I borrowed from eight different lenders and used my car as collateral for all of them."

Initially, I'd planned to take out loans for my wedding. I had applied everywhere to compare the interest rates, building up credit lines with each one.

I hadn't expected it to come in handy like this.

Owen let out an exasperated laugh. Then, he pulled out a cigarette and held it between his teeth. "You've really outdone yourself. Taking out online loans just to gamble with me. You know that if you can't pay that back, it's over for you, right?"