But now I understood—completely. This whole thing was a setup. Every last one of them had been in on it.

I turned to leave.

Isabel grabbed my arm.

"It's New Year's Eve. Where do you think you're going?"

My fists clenched slowly at my sides.

Fine. Consider this game the price of seeing people for who they really are.

But just as I thought it was over, my daughter seized my arm again.

"Dad, keep playing!"

"You have to keep playing with them!"

In seventeen years, my daughter had never once talked back to me. Not a single word.

But tonight, she was like a different person.

I even had the absurd thought that something had possessed her.

I took her hand, keeping my voice as low as I could, terrified of setting her off.

"Sweetheart, what's gotten into you tonight?"

"Something's clearly wrong here. Dad's card is already empty—we really can't keep playing."

Before I could finish, she broke down.

"Dad!"

She grabbed my sleeve so hard her knuckles turned white.

"You have to keep playing tonight!"

It didn't sound like a plea.

It sounded like an order.

Our argument quickly drew everyone's attention.

Arnold's eyes narrowed, his gaze darting around as the gears turned.

"Ramona, your dad's got nothing left. If he keeps winning, what's he even going to put up?"

My daughter slowly raised her head and looked at them.

Her voice was steady.

So steady it sent a chill down my spine.

"Who says my dad has nothing left?"

"Doesn't he still have the Southside land project?"

My mind went blank—a sharp, ringing buzz behind my eyes.

The Southside land project was the cornerstone deal I'd been personally spearheading at the company. All the groundwork was already in place. If it went through, we weren't just talking about a seven-figure commission—my entire position would move up the ladder.

More importantly, I had never breathed a single word about it at home.

How did my daughter know?

Arnold's eyes lit up like a predator catching a scent.

"The Southside land project? Now that's a prime cut!"

"Brother-in-law, you've been holding out on us!" Nanette's tone dripped with reproach. "A deal this big and you don't even tell the family? Do you even consider us family at all?"

I stared at my daughter, and something inside me went cold, degree by degree.

All these years, I was the one who stayed up through the night when she was sick. I was the one who drove her to school every single day, rain or shine.