Chapter 42: Betting the Wedding House
Nicole's POV
I came out of the restroom and let out a long sigh.
Hodgson's last few words kept echoing in my mind.
How was I supposed to solve it?
Molly would definitely be clinging to him tonight, and I wouldn't find any opportunity to slip into his room.
How to shake off Molly - that was an extremely difficult problem.
The party was full of people everywhere, the music was deafening.
My gaze swept around the crowd, and then I realized that I hadn't really seen Shier much since we arrived at the beach.
He was probably still worrying about those three million dollars.
I walked into the villa's bar area, wanting to find a quiet corner to stay for a while.
As soon as I entered, I saw a group of men gathered around a gambling table, the atmosphere unusually tense.
Hodgson was sitting in the main seat, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, leaning back in his chair in a lazy posture.
The chips in front of him were piled up like a small mountain.
Sitting across from him was Ethan.
Ethan's complexion was terrible, his forehead covered in sweat, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at Hodgson.
I knew nothing about gambling, but this game looked very simple - it seemed to be about whose dice showed higher numbers.
"Last round." Ethan's voice was somewhat tense. "I bet your numbers aren't higher than mine."
After speaking, he pushed all the remaining chips in front of him to the center of the gambling table.
The onlookers around couldn't help but gasp.
Hodgson picked up the dice cup. His palm gripped the bottom, and his wrist casually shook it a few times.
The dice made crisp collision sounds inside the cup, then he slammed the cup down on the gambling table.
Both dice cups opened simultaneously.
Ethan's numbers were two "5"s.
And on Hodgson's side, there were two "6"s.
"Fuck!"
Ethan slammed his fist on the table and couldn't help but curse.
"Hodgson, this is impossible! You must have used some trick, otherwise how could you win every time?"
Hodgson removed the cigarette from his mouth, leisurely blew out a smoke ring, and sneered.
"You've only lost a million, and you can't handle it already?"
Hodgson wasn't bragging.
Everyone knew just how wealthy this man was, a million dollars really wasn't much in his eyes.
Ethan was furious, veins bulging at his temples.
"One more round!"
Hodgson raised an eyebrow.
"But you don't have any chips left in front of you."
"I don't care!"
Ethan's eyes flashed with a crazed light. "This time, I'm betting five million!"
Just then, Hodgson saw me standing outside the crowd.
The smile on his lips deepened. He looked at Ethan and said slowly.
"I want you to know that even if it's not me, you'll still lose miserably."
"Nicole, come here." Hodgson commanded.
Everyone's gaze instantly fell on me in unison.
Whispers immediately rose around us.
"Who is that woman? I don't think I've seen her before."
"Looks like she has quite a special relationship with Mr. Hodgson."
I was at a loss for a moment, stammering, "Wh... what?"
"Stand beside me," he pointed to the spot next to him.
"This round, you'll roll the dice for me."
Of course, he was a madman.
Amid the jeering of the onlookers watching the show, I could only bite the bullet and walk to his side.
"Don't be nervous." Hodgson's voice sounded in my ear as he handed me two dice.
How could I not be nervous?
That was five million dollars!
I took the two dice from his hand, nervously closed my eyes, and randomly threw them out.
The dice rolled on the table, making a series of crisp sounds, then stopped.
The scene erupted in exclamations.
I opened my eyes, they were actually two "6"s.
"Oh my god."
I covered my mouth, my fingers trembling slightly from excessive tension and excitement.
I had never played these games before, and on my first try, I won the bet.
This feeling was so unreal!
Hodgson laughed.
"Nicole, your luck is really good."
The defeat was sealed. Ethan let out a long sigh.
He looked at me, but his face no longer showed the anger from before.
"Well, losing to Nicole, I'm willing to accept it."
Just then, Shier also came to the bar.
His expression looked very annoyed, clearly still worried about the money.
As soon as he walked in, he saw the crowd gathered around the gambling table.
Shier's gaze swept around the room and finally landed on the chips piled like a mountain in front of Hodgson.
His eyes instantly lit up.
Hodgson noticed his gaze, and a barely perceptible smile curved at his lips.
He raised his chin toward Shier, his tone carrying a hint of provocation.
"What, do you want to gamble too?"
Shier quickly walked over and nodded. "Of course."
He was already at his wit's end, wanting to rely on gambling to quickly get money.
Hodgson changed the game. He and Shier started playing Texas Hold'em.
He picked up the cards on the table, casually shuffled them twice, then looked at Shier and asked leisurely,
"You know the rules, right?"
Shier acted as if he hadn't heard Hodgson's words.
He sat down, staring only at the cards on the table and urged, "Deal."
But Shier's luck was terrible.
At first he was still cautious, but after losing several hands, he completely lost his rationality.
His bets got bigger and bigger, and more and more reckless.
In less than half an hour, all the cash he brought was completely lost.
He glared at Hodgson defiantly.
"I can still bet!"
He was like someone grasping at the last straw.
"I can use mine and Nicole's wedding house as collateral!"
Before Shier and I held our wedding ceremony, Mr. Barry had given us a villa as a gift, but I had never lived in that villa.
Shier actually dared to gamble with this?
At this moment, Hodgson, who had been disinterested throughout the entire game, suddenly perked up when he heard the words "wedding house."
"Sure," he agreed quickly. "I'll take that bet."
The outcome was without any suspense.
Shier quickly lost that villa as well.
He suddenly stood up, the chair making a harsh scraping sound from his movement.
He wanted to explode, but forcibly suppressed it because Hodgson was present.
In the end, Shier said nothing and walked out of the bar quickly with a sullen face.
The biggest spectacle was over. The onlookers found it uninteresting and began to disperse.
Ethan suggested going to the beach for barbecue and drinks.
Everyone echoed the idea, the gambling session ended, and everyone left one after another.
Soon, the bar was empty.
Taking advantage of the absence of people, Hodgson reached out and groped my butt.
"Shier must not know that not only is his house mine, but his woman is mine too."