If I won, he would try his best to support our marriage.
If I lost, then I would return and accept a family-arranged wedding.
Because of Eulalie, this marriage, this wager, I lost everything, fully and completely.
While Eulalie was driving, I called that familiar number.
“Dad, I lost.”
“A deal is a deal. In three days, I will go back to Vermont for the arranged wedding.”
My father had never failed at a betting table.
Facing this expected result, he showed no surprise at all.
He only replied calmly and gave a few simple orders. “Valerian, you are my oldest son. This family business will still be inherited by you.”
“What is over is over. I will not argue with you about it, but there is one thing you must keep in mind.”
“What should not be taken, do not take. What should not be left, do not leave.”
What must not be taken was the baby growing inside Eulalie.
What must not be left behind was the wealth I had made for Eulalie.
These ten years of hurt were the warning he wanted me to keep in mind.
“I get it, Dad.”
After the call ended, Eulalie was already honking downstairs to rush me.
I climbed into the front seat marked with another man’s name.
The whole ride, neither of us said a word.
She acted like she did not notice the space on my face.
I acted like I did not notice the strong perfume inside the car.
When we stepped out, Eulalie reached out by habit to steady me.
Her pushed-up sleeve showed a long blade mark.
For a short moment, I let out a quiet breath.
To stay with me, Eulalie had been stabbed eighteen times across her body, barely staying alive.
The person who once cared for me so deeply that she would risk her life, how did she turn into this person now?
Before I could think any more, a man suddenly walked up and hooked his arm around Eulalie’s.
“Sister Eulalie, you haven’t come to see me for such a long while.”
“So why do you have time to show up today?”
“Did you argue with the man you keep at home, or is the new one no longer good enough for you?”
It was Percy Craig.
The most spoiled one among Eulalie’s many lovers and also the one who had stayed with her for the longest time.
Percy acted sweet and clingy toward Eulalie, leaning against her and rubbing close again and again.
Eulalie’s face was full of smiles.
She ignored me standing nearby and, as if performing a trick, pulled out an old watch to amuse Percy.