Chapter 89: The Battle of Cards
Following Cathy’s turn, it was Brandon’s turn to play his cards. Scott remained silent, coldly analyzing the situation, while Brandon began to look hesitantly at his available options. Albert immediately exploited this hesitation, directing a harsh psychological blow at Brandon with a mocking tone:
"Man, you’re thinking too much about something useless. You’re already outside the strategy, and your cards are completely worthless! They are crafting an offensive strategy where you don’t contribute... you’ve just become a filler here."
Scott broke his usual silence and glared at Albert angrily:
"Can you just be quiet?! You have no right to speak and distract our team!"
Albert shrugged with a masterfully feigned innocence:
"I’m just telling him the truth. He’s wasting his time choosing. If his cards were important and had value in your plan, you would have told him immediately what to do because you need this win. Your silence and ignoring him prove that his cards are just unnecessary filler and worthless!"
Albert’s words carried a strange mixture... they were both right and wrong at the same time. On one hand, Brandon did not possess cards that aligned with the strategy running through Scott’s mind; but on the other hand, he possessed powerful cards overall, and he wouldn’t hurt the team as long as he didn’t play more than two cards.
Scott quickly tried to rectify the situation and looked at Brandon:
"Don’t listen to him, Brandon! We are winning regardless of the result, remember that well. These are just cheap psychological tricks to shake your confidence."
Albert chuckled in triumph, playing on Brandon’s sense of dignity:
"Scott’s words won’t change the fact that you’re just an extra, peripheral member. Look at your cards; they are very weak, and Scott didn’t even bother to deny it or praise your hand, which confirms my words entirely!"
Brandon flared with anger, his childish cheeks reddening. A second passed... two... three seconds of heavy silence. Brandon looked at Scott, waiting for him to forcefully deny Albert’s words and restore his status, but Scott remained silent, lost in thought and analysis.
Brandon could not bear this dismissal. Wanting to prove Albert wrong and crush his pride, he shouted in blind impulsivity:
"My cards are weak?! You brought this on yourself... Take this!"
Snap!
Brandon threw his three strongest cards down at once without batting an eyelid, waiting to see signs of surprise and terror in Albert’s eyes. But he found nothing of the sort. Instead, he found Albert looking coldly at Scott, whose face had suddenly turned into a mass of overwhelming rage!
Scott shouted at Brandon in protest:
"You don’t truly understand! I told you not to fall for his devious tricks! He is trying to drag you into wasting your precious cards to ruin the round’s balance, and you followed his words like a fool!"
Brandon did not like Scott’s reprimand and insult in front of everyone, so he retorted sharply:
"Weren’t you the one who said just a moment ago that we are winning in any case?! So why are you screaming at me now?!"
Scott fell silent for a moment. He quickly realized that anger would dismantle his team and destroy their loyalty. He took a deep breath, his angry features shifted into a calm, reassuring smile, and he looked at Brandon with a gentle tone:
"Man... your mistake wasn’t playing a bad card, but that you didn’t play the best possible card for the right moment. There were much worse options than what you did. And as you know, the problem isn’t in your intelligence or skills, it’s just bad luck in how the cards were distributed, Brandon. Don’t worry anyway, we are still in the lead."
Brandon felt a great sense of relief and regained his confidence, while Albert’s expression changed for a split second, a flash of tension appearing before he returned to his natural mask. Amelia saw this shift, and Scott’s skill in psychological management almost left her stunned!
Albert tried to quickly regain the initiative before his opponents slipped through his fingers, so he asked skeptically:
"He says you didn’t play the strongest card, even though you actually played the strongest cards you had! I wonder if Scott understands the rules of the game at all, or if he is inventing a new game in his head to justify his condescension?"
But Scott did not stay silent this time and directed his speech straight to Brandon, ignoring Albert:
"Brandon, for heaven’s sake... will you let your opponent in the game dictate to you what your best cards are? You know very well that the strongest cards do not always guarantee a win if they are played at the wrong time."
Albert tensed noticeably; he had not expected Scott to succeed in containing his team and mending the cracks with such blistering speed.
Conversely, Scott was hiding great tension behind his cold mask. He did not know the nature of the next attack from Albert or the cards remaining in his hand. And the biggest problem for Scott was that he could not engage in direct discussion and argument with Albert.
He had realized now that arguing with Albert was the real trap in this game! If he tried to stop him from talking, Albert would immediately say: "He is stopping me because I am telling the truth and exposing his plans." And if he said he was stopping him so as not to distract the children, Albert would reply maliciously: "What does that matter? Didn’t you say you would win in any case? Or are you terrified and afraid of losing?"
It was a complex psychological game, but Scott proved he was not a fool at all. He had realized the Great Truth: that true intelligence is not fighting your enemy and defeating them by their rules, but rather not letting them drag you into walking according to their terms.
Hayne’s turn came to play his cards, and the young boy stood confused, trying to choose between the cards with clear tension under the pressure.
Scott decided to intervene decisively and quickly to end the game; he pointed his finger with lightning speed toward two specific cards in Hayne’s hand and said in a commanding, urgent tone:
"Hayne! Pick the [8 of Hearts] and throw it immediately with the [4 of Diamonds]! Don’t touch the other two cards... throw them quickly!"
Albert spoke rapidly and anxiously, trying to interrupt the order before Hayne executed the instructions:
"You know, Hayne... you are the most important piece in Scott’s plan tonight... but you are the most important piece for him to take all the credit for himself and gain the glory alone! You know that you are winning in any case, but he is ordering you to play those two specific cards to win his own way, so he looks like the genius who led you to victory and takes all the credit!"
Scott interrupted, directing his words to Hayne:
"Hayne, you know very well that he is lying and sowing discord! Because the victory will be for all of us as a team, not for me alone. When I win, won’t you also be a winner?"
Albert responded quickly:
"Look at him! He seems selfish and greedy even when his team needs him! Do you truly trust a person as untrustworthy and tyrannical as this?"
Scott tried to immediately rectify the situation, and signs of tension and disturbance appeared on him as he looked at Hayne with pleading eyes:
"Hayne... you trust me and my decisions, don’t you?"
Hayne was silent for several seconds, and his features looked very dark. He looked at Scott with a hateful look filled with rebellion and said in a harsh tone:
"I don’t trust you, Scott... You are a selfish and arrogant person, and you always see yourself above everyone and think you are the smartest among us! And since we will win in any case as you say... I will teach you a harsh lesson in humility right now!"
Hayne’s small hand gripped stubbornly, and he grabbed two completely different cards—the opposite of the two Scott had pointed to!
Albert’s face lit up, and he shouted with a wide smile of victory:
"Yes! That’s exactly what I’m talking about! You understand things well, Hayne, Scott is just a selfish person exploiting you!"
Scott moved in haste and panic, his face looking pale as if he saw his defeat imminent:
"No! Don’t do that! Don’t believe him, he is lying to you!.. We will lose the round like this!"
The widest, most malicious smile possible painted Albert’s face, and he thought in jubilant joy: ’I’ve won the bet! I’ve been waiting for this fatal blunder from Scott since the beginning of the round to ignite the discord, and he has fallen into it with his own free will!’
Then he turned to Scott, mocking: "Oh... weren’t you the one bragging earlier that you would be the winners in any case? It seems you just wanted to immortalize your name and keep the victory all to yourself!"
And indeed, under the influence of stubbornness and reverse instruction, Hayne pulled the two cards he had chosen himself, far away from what Scott had pointed out...
At that moment, Scott’s face was overcome with absolute despair and total surrender to defeat, as if he had been completely shattered.
Snap!
Hayne threw the two cards with force onto the table. Albert was about to burst out laughing at the top of his lungs, celebrating his crushing victory and the dismantling of the enemy front... but as soon as his eyes fell upon Hayne’s cards resting on the wood, the laughter froze in his throat, his entire body shivered, and shock struck every fiber of his being!
The two cards Hayne had thrown on the table were: [8 of Hearts]... and the [4 of Diamonds]!
They were the exact two cards Scott had ordered him to play!
Albert turned in terror and very slowly toward Scott... to find that the features of despair, disturbance, and panic that had covered his face seconds ago had vanished entirely like a false mirage, replaced by a confident, cold face, and sharp eyes shining with the brilliance of a demonic general who had managed a war of total annihilation from behind the scenes!
Scott had been acting out the panic and fear deliberately, using [Reverse Psychology] against Albert with his friend Hayne—who had now also begun to smile at Albert falling into the trap.
Scott looked at the stunned Albert and said in a calm, cold, and shattering tone:
"Overconfidence is very bad, my friend... The game is over."