Chapter 39
Posted on May 02, 2025 ยท 1 mins read
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Chapter 39: The Stakes Are Bloody

Someone nearby cursed under their breath, yelling at the guy to hurry up. Yunice looked around and figured this was probably some kind of upscale gambling den.

They walked all the way to the back. Jordan pulled back a curtain and stepped through first. Just as Yunice was about to follow, someone suddenly tumbled out at her feet. The man was curled up on the floor, screaming in pain, clutching his thumbโ€”which was goneโ€”and gushing blood.

Yunice didnโ€™t even flinch. She hated being hit, but blood and gore didnโ€™t scare her. She calmly stepped over the injured man and stood behind Wyatt, alongside Jordan, careful to avoid standing dead center and drawing attention.

As her slight frame passed by, Wyattโ€”seated at the card tableโ€”glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He twirled a domino between his fingers, then set it aside and leaned back, finally looking at the man bleeding on the floor.

Someone crouched down and yanked the guyโ€™s hair to force his head up. โ€œYou knew the pill had side effects, and you still pushed Wyatt to sign off on it in bulk? How much did the Powell family pay you?โ€

Yuniceโ€™s fingers clenched. She instinctively glanced at Wyatt. Am I even supposed to be hearing this?

Wyatt didnโ€™t say a wordโ€”just watched, entertained. He couldnโ€™t stand up, let alone beat anyone himself. Stuff like this, he never got directly involved in.

The guy on the ground sobbed and pleaded. โ€œNo, Wyatt, I swearโ€”thereโ€™s no way I knew the Alphasirox pills had side effectsโ€ฆโ€

Before he could finish, there was a flash of metal. He let out another blood-curdling screamโ€”he was no longer clutching just his thumb, but his entire hand. Four fingers had been chopped clean off.

And it wasnโ€™t over. The bald man with the knife grabbed the guyโ€™s other hand, clearly ready to do the same. The man broke down. โ€œIt was Jensen! Jensen gave me ten million!โ€

The bald man pressed a foot down on the guyโ€™s one good hand, waiting for more. The manโ€™s face was ashen. He kept gasping, licking his lips between each word. โ€œJensen told me to cover up the side effectsโ€ฆ Once the drug hit the market, Wyatt would be hit with massive lawsuits, Huaxinโ€™s reputation would crash, and the old man would never acknowledge him as part of the Powell familyโ€ฆโ€

Yunice looked at Wyatt again. So heโ€™s the old manโ€™s illegitimate sonโ€”and Jensenโ€™s biggest threat.

Jensen was pushing forty with a mediocre career, so of course, he saw Wyatt as a thorn in his side. And Wyattโ€”while sharp in businessโ€”was constantly backstabbed by his own people. He didnโ€™t know medicine, so he had to trust whatever the department heads told him. Thatโ€™s how heโ€™d almost walked straight into a trap.

Once the guy had confessed, he was useless. The bald man hauled him up by the jaw and dragged him out. As the guyโ€™s terrified gaze briefly met hers, Yunice quickly turned her back so he couldnโ€™t see her face.

The moment he was gone, a cleaning crew came in to mop up the blood. No one batted an eye. They just went right back toโ€ฆ

Yunice glanced at the dominoes on the table and shook her head. He didnโ€™t seem disappointed. Still lounging lazily, he gestured toward the table. โ€œHelp me draw.โ€

The young man across from him grinned. โ€œOh ho, Wyattโ€™s had rotten luck all morningโ€”finally switching it up for some lucky hands, huh?โ€

โ€œWomenโ€™s hands are always lucky, right? Watch, next round Wyattโ€™s gonna turn it around!โ€

Another guy pulled up a chair for Yunice right beside Wyatt. She glanced at him. He was looking down at his phone, clearly not paying attention to the game.

When it was her turn to draw, she hesitated a moment, then picked two tiles and placed them face-down on the table. The other three players used their fingertips to feel the dots on their tiles.

Yunice peeked again at Wyattโ€”he still wasnโ€™t playing. So she quietly felt her way through her own tiles while reading the othersโ€™ expressions.

The loudest one flipped a tile with a dramatic flair. โ€œNine! Whoโ€™s raising?โ€

Yunice was playing for Wyatt, so naturally she didnโ€™t add anything. After some joking and bickering, the other three all revealed their handsโ€”nothing impressive.

Yunice glanced at them, then laid down her two tiles before anyone else could. The three men paused, caught off guard.

โ€œDouble ninesโ€ฆ Not bad!โ€ Two of them threw their own tiles in, then looked at the last guy. Seven-seven, eight-eightโ€”not nine. If he had nines, he couldโ€™ve had triple bottom, double nines, or even a king pairโ€”all stronger than Yuniceโ€™s hand.

But to everyoneโ€™s surprise, he sighed dramatically. โ€œUgh, busted, busted.โ€ Then he pushed his tiles away.

โ€œAll that noise and you pulled junk.โ€

โ€œPay up, pay up! Congrats to our boy Wyattโ€”finally got a win!โ€


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