Love Began with the First Meeting

"I have no objections," Cora responded. Tilting her head sideways, she glimpsed at Molly arrogantly. Then she strode to one side of the table with her head held high. She looked like a proud queen in her own territory.

She had absolute confidence in herself. With Molly as her opponent, she thought that this was just too easy for her. Since her father would make sure that Molly wouldn't cheat, she couldn't think of any reason why she would lose this game.

All the people took their respective positions. The God of Gamblers, wearing an amiable smile, announced the rules, "There will be three games in total. The one who wins two games will be the winner. Considering what you two are specialized in, all three will be poker card games. The first one will be Blackjack, the second will be Thirteen Cards and the final game will be five-card stud. Any objection?"

Neither of them had any problems. Cora knew every card game there was, but she was best at poker cards. Molly had mostly practiced poker cards. Plus, she knew that Cora specialized in poker card games, so she focused a lot on it these past few days while learning from the God of Gamblers.

"Since both of you agree." The God of Gamblers paused for effect and then continued, "Each of you will receive 10, 000, 000 chips and no more. And if all the chips were won by the other party, you also lose the battle.

Let the game begin!" Shane started to deal. Before the game, Brian had instructed him to deal normally. Shane had to treat this like a normal game. He just had to assume that it was not Mrs. Long and her rival at the gambling table in front of him.

The way he shuffled the cards was fancy. Cora kept her head low, seemingly thinking about something, while Molly couldn't take her eyes off Shane's skillful hands. In gambling, there was a technique to identify cards from its sound. Molly was exposed to this technique, but at this stage, she still hadn't mastered it.

Cora had an ambitious plan. She was thinking of winning all of Molly's chips the first time the dealer cut the cards. Cora continued to split until she amazingly got eight sets. If Molly busted in one set, she would lose all the chips.

"Do you want to split?" Shane asked Molly. He knew the cards that he had shuffled. Cora's cut and split had created an impossible situation for Molly. Regardless of her choice, she was going to lose.

Pressing her lips tightly into a thin line, she shook her head gently.

She knew her situation. At the very beginning of the game, Cora had gained a head start, causing Molly to be on the brink of losing.

The air at the table turned heavy. Though the game was heading in an unfavorable direction for Brian, there wasn't any change in his facial expression. Not only that, his mood wasn't affected either. The truth was that he wasn't hundred percent sure that Molly could win this, but even if she lost the game, he wasn't going to keep his promise to Cora. Since the moment they had entered the room, no one had ever mentioned that the real "bet prize" was Brian. The guarantor, the God of Gamblers, had only announced the rules of the game. He didn't explicitly say what the bet was, and neither did the gamblers.

It had turned into a game of manipulation of words. A slice of smile flashed across Brian's eyes. 'The real goal of this game isn't to win, 'Brian thought with a smirk. 'Cora, if you are smart enough, you should be able to figure out.'

After the first game, Molly was left with less than 1, 000, 000 chips. Cora had thought that Molly would choose to make some moves, to bet on at least one of the sets, but to her surprise, even though she had less than ten points, Molly still chose to stop. 'That's all right,' Cora told herself. 'I will have an easy win in Thirteen Cards.'

"The second game," Shane announced. He had finished shuffling a new set of cards. He looked at the gamblers on his left and right, then said, "You know the rules. Snatch the cards." Scarcely had he finished saying it, when he threw the cards into the air. Like a shower of petals of flowers, the cards scattered all over the table.

Cora had been trained by the XK Intelligence Agency, while Molly was trained by the five Golden Flowers. Both of them had really fast hands, because they had practiced this a thousand times.

Molly was fully attentive. While keeping an eye on Cora's attack, she had to seize the cards to her favor. She couldn't afford to lose this round.

Shane coldly watched the two women play and snatch the cards. When Molly got the chance to play first, Shane and the God of Gamblers smiled at the same time.

While the cards in their hands played a major role in giving them a winning edge, the opportunity to play first was also crucial. When two players had similar skill sets, the chance to play first would become the deciding factor.

Each of them took thirteen cards. Molly held her breath as she intently looked at the cards in her hands-no super good, not bad either. It was a fifty-fifty chance.

"2-3-4-5-6." Molly played. It was a straight.

Cora glanced at her cards, which had no straight. "Pass!"

Molly heaved a brief sigh of relief. "6-6-6-9."

Cora played. "9-9-9-10."

A smug smile was plastered on Molly's face. "K-K-K-K!" A grave look appeared on Cora's face. Gritting her teeth, she squeezed out the word "pass". Then, she revealed the card she was holding. It was an Ace of diamonds.

If Cora had a straight to counter her, Molly would have lost. 'Lucky!' Molly thought.

Her eyes twitched; she started to feel uneasy. She didn't like gambling, but for Brian... She had to win.

"Third game. Five-card stud," Shane announced. This third game was more than a gamble of skills, it was about composure.

After the second round, Molly had won back some chips. Now, she had around 8, 000, 000 chips. This last game would decide the winner.

The God of Gamblers watched their play carefully. After a few rounds of bidding, each of them had won some rounds, and lost some as well. Both of them were waiting for the perfect chance to win everything from their opponent. And that chance came in the sixth round. Both of them had all spades. One was holding the cards 6, 7, 8 and 9, while the other had J, Q, K and Ace. Neither of them looked at the hidden card which would dictate the winner of this round, as well as the entire game. The one with the 10 of spades would win. This had turned into a game of skills and mental strength.

"It seems that... only one of us is lucky here," Cora said, glimpsing at Molly's uncovered card. She smiled gently.

The air between the two seemed to freeze.