Love Began with the First Meeting

Reflecting over her disappointments, she suddenly stopped on her tracks. While her eyes discharged fury in the form of fire, she mumbled to herself, "Brian Long, is this how you fulfill your promise? Huh? If I allow you to get away like this, I would have spent thirty-two years of my life for nothing!" Meanwhile, all of a sudden, Brian was unpleasantly greeted by a sharp stabbing pain in his heart.

"Mr. Brian Long?" the God of Gamblers drew his attention upon noticing his oblivious disposition, "I'm not pleased by your reaction."

When Brian finally came to himself, he shook his head to clear his thoughts and said, "You wanted to meet Molly? Of course I'll need some time to think about it before giving you an answer." After taking a short pause, he continued, "Although Molly could be considered to be the disciple of your disciple, Chester had already left your school when he started to teach Molly how to gamble. Therefore, your request sounds somewhat exorbitant."

"Aha..." the God of Gamblers burst into a roar of laughter, so violent that it shook the walls. When he finally stopped, he said, "Before I was about to come here, Richie warned me that you were going to be a difficult person to deal with, but I didn't think that you would only be difficult when Molly was brought into consideration." The real purpose behind the God of Gamblers' visit was to take Hanson back from Brian, but he also hoped to meet Molly at the same time. He had heard all about Molly's great achievements after spending just half a year under the tutelage of Chester. Amazed by her aptitude, he couldn't wait to meet her in person, as he imagined the extent of her achievements if she carried on learning under proper guidance.

Suffice it to say, Brian had already figured out what he was thinking. The God of Gamblers wanted to bring Molly under his wing to teach her the dark arts of gambling by himself. However, Brian felt differently. He would rather have Molly know nothing about gambling at all, because he was afraid that if Molly had learned gambling skills from the God of Gamblers, she would pester him about how to run his business everyday once she knew how everything operated.

"Mr. Brian Long, why don't you let me ask Molly for her own opinion?" Suffice it to say, the God of Gamblers understood the reason behind Brian's apprehension towards his suggestion. However, since he had already lost a disciple, Hanson, to Brian, he wanted to take Molly away from Brian, deeming it to be a fair trade, according to him.

Brian stood up to leave, forcing a smile on his face and buttoned his coat. "Then... I will give you the opportunity to ask her yourself," Brian said, before he turned around and walked away as he gestured at his subordinate with his hand. "Jason, arrange a presidential suite for the God of Gamblers. All the chips for every game he plays here will be on the house..." Just as he was about to walk out the door, he halted, turning his head around to look at the God of Gamblers smirking at him, and he briefly parted his lips to say, "Please excuse my absence."

It was not until Brian and Tony disappeared from his sight that the God of Gamblers said slowly to himself, "If Richie is the steady one, I have to say, Brian is certainly the arrogant one."

"Mr. Brian Long has the capacity to be arrogant!" Jason responded to him with a smile. "Would you like to play a game before retiring to your room?"

The God of Gamblers stood up and answered, "No, thank you. But I would like to go to my room now. "What would he accomplish by playing a game now? He didn't forget that Brian had said that all the chips to be used by the God of Gamblers would be on the house. He had said that on purpose. If the God of Gamblers lost, his fame would be damaged; if he won, the money he won would belong to Grand Night Casino. Either way, it would make no difference to Brian. As a shrewd person, the God of Gamblers saw no good reason to risk his name for such a frivolous and unprofitable wager.

*

"Mr. Long," Tony said, glancing at the back seat from the rearview mirror. "The God of Gamblers is here for two reasons, right?"

Brian remained in pensive silence. Lost in deep contemplation, he looked out the window at the neon lights that flashed past his sight one by one, occasionally tapping his fingers on his knee. The God of Gamblers and Richie Long had started their careers almost at the same time. However, due to the fact that the God of Gamblers was an enigma who always maintained a low profile, it wasn't easy to gather credible information on his whereabouts.

Later on when he had met Richie, with the help and protection of XK Intelligence Agency, he had become even harder to investigate. The only information about him that could be obtained were generally the ones that didn't affect his mysterious image and were ultimately inefficacious.

When Brian had started operating at Grand Night Casino, the God of Gamblers had already retired. As a result, it had become unnecessary for Brian to keep tabs on him any longer. Besides, Brian had never paid much attention to the God of Gamblers.

Every person in the world, no matter how strong and powerful, had an Achilles' heel, and the God of Gamblers was no exception. As long as he didn't cross Brian, there was no reason for Brian to make trouble for him. Moreover, since he was an old acquaintance of Richie's, Brian treated him with respect.

If he really had come for Hanson and Molly this time, he didn't have to make a trip to A City in person. What bothered Brian the most was the fact that he even showed up at Grand Night Casino the same day Brian had come back. Something about his sudden appearance didn't sit well with Brian and he refused to shake the notion off as a mere coincidence. He had a gut feeling that there was a hidden agenda behind the God of Gamblers' visit and he could smell it.

While Brian was silently pondering away, the car slid into the courtyard of the villa. Having realized that the car had slowed down to a halt, Brian came to himself. "I want you to gather intel on Cora's background," he said.

"What?" Tony was not able to react properly to Brian's order right away.

Frustrated, Brian's face contorted in anger and in a cold timbre he yelled, "Some things are too strange to be left to coincidence!" With that, he opened the car door and got off as though there was nothing weird about his sudden outburst, leaving Tony wandering in a daze. As far as Brian could remember, he had never heard of the God of Gamblers' real name. All he knew was that then the God of Gamblers had begun his career in gambling, he used to called "The Fifth". Later, when he had become successful and praised as the God of Gamblers, people gradually forgot that he used to be called "The Fifth". "The God of Gamblers" was an apt moniker. No one knew his real name or the family he came from.

With virtually zero record on him in the information database, it was impossible to trace his ancestry to his historical roots. However, Brian figured there had to be some clues elsewhere.

With these thoughts in mind, Brian crept into the house as quietly as he could. He didn't want to accidentally disturb the sleeping twins or Molly. However, as soon as he went upstairs, he sensed that something wasn't right. Frowning slightly, he squinted at the door of their bedroom. He walked forward in muted steps and pushed the door open. Much to his relief, Molly was awake, rolling around in bed and laying in the same position as when she had spoken with Eric on the phone earlier.