Chapter 660: Games
There was a long silence inside the lavish office. John leaned back against his chair before finally speaking.
"Ten billion dollars brought by you is far from sufficient."
He folded his hands together and smiled calmly.
"The amount has already increased to thirty billion dollars. Furthermore, Jacqueline’s family will continue paying one million dollars in interest every year for the next thirty years."
Hearing those outrageous words, Aurora couldn’t help but let out a quiet chuckle. "What a joke, Mr. John."
She crossed one leg over the other before continuing in an indifferent tone.
"As far as I remember, even if we calculate twenty or twenty-five percent interest, the amount shouldn’t have skyrocketed to something this ridiculous."
Silence filled the room once again. John’s smile gradually disappeared. "It seems Miss Dawn isn’t planning to play fair."
Aurora merely smiled faintly. "Oh, I am playing fair."
She calmly looked into his eyes before adding, "It simply looks unfair to a bandit like you because you’re incapable of understanding what fairness actually means."
John’s expression instantly darkened. "Miss Dawn... you’re crossing the line."
Aurora slowly shook her head. "No."
Her voice remained calm and unwavering.
"You were the one who crossed the line the moment you trapped that naïve couple into signing this contract."
With those words, she casually took out a document from her handbag and tossed it onto the expensive wooden table.
Aurora pointed toward one of the clauses. "You were quite clever."
She lightly tapped the paper with her slender finger.
"In order to ensure that the couple could never successfully sue you, you deliberately inserted several ambiguous clauses."
She continued calmly, "You mentioned that you would provide them with certain ’returns’ in exchange for the interest which is diguised as investment."
Her lips curled into a cold smile. "But you intentionally never defined what those returns actually were."
She looked directly into John’s eyes. "Those returns could be as little as one dollar..."
She paused for a moment. "...or they could be worth a billion dollars."
She gently closed the file.
"That vague wording guarantees that if this matter ever reaches court, you can simply argue that this wasn’t a loan. It was an investment. And since investments naturally involve risks, the court would most likely rule in your favor."
For the first time, John’s eyes revealed genuine surprise. He hadn’t expected Aurora to understand the legal loopholes inside the contract so thoroughly.
After a brief silence, he chuckled. "Since you already understand the contract..."
He leaned slightly forward. "...what exactly are you planning to do?"
His smile widened. "You still have no choice but to pay. Otherwise, I’ll drag that naïve couple into court."
Aurora smiled as though she had just heard a childish joke. "But for that..."
She slowly leaned back against the sofa. "...you’ll first need to possess the ability."
John frowned. "What exactly do you mean by that?"
Aurora calmly folded her arms. "We have exactly three ways to resolve this matter."
She raised one finger. "First... We handle everything legally."
Her voice remained frighteningly calm.
"I’ll hire the country’s best legal team. I’ll investigate every single illegal business you’ve ever touched. I’ll expose every piece of dirt I can find. I’ll repeatedly present that evidence before the court until your reputation is completely destroyed."
She looked at him with an unreadable smile. "And by the time the trial ends, that couple won’t need to return a single penny."
Before John could interrupt, she raised a second finger. "Second... I return exactly ten billion dollars."
She deliberately emphasized every word.
"Not one dollar less. And certainly not one dollar more."
Finally, she raised her third finger. "The third option is much simpler."
Her smile became playful. "We play a game. Whoever wins gets to make one demand. And the loser must accept it unconditionally."
The office immediately fell silent. John narrowed his eyes.
After several seconds, a smile slowly spread across his face. "Are you certain you wish to play that game?"
His tone carried obvious confidence. After all, casino games were his specialty. His casinos had been deceiving gamblers for years.
His subordinates knew every trick imaginable, from reading expressions to marking cards and manipulating odds.
Anyone foolish enough to challenge him on his own turf was practically asking to lose. Yet Aurora remained astonishingly calm.
"I have no objections."
Seeing her unwavering confidence, John became increasingly cautious. He wasn’t the kind of man who underestimated his opponents.
’Does she have some hidden trump card?’
He couldn’t help but wonder. After thinking for a moment, he nodded. "Very well. We’ll settle this using the third method."
His gaze sharpened. "However, neither side may use any outside assistance."
Aurora chuckled softly. "Sure. No problem."
Her immediate agreement only made John even more suspicious. ’She’s far too confident.’
Nevertheless, he carefully concealed his thoughts.
Without changing his expression, he took out a brand-new deck of poker cards.
The crisp sound of shuffling echoed throughout the luxurious office.
With practiced movements, he began distributing the cards between himself and Aurora.
Aurora quietly observed every movement. She already knew this particular trick. Without moving her head, she casually glanced behind herself.
Just as expected. One of John’s attractive female attendants had quietly positioned herself directly behind Aurora.
The woman’s eyes were fixed on Aurora’s cards. Aurora merely smiled to herself. ’Exactly as I expected.’
She didn’t immediately pick up her cards.
Instead, with an incredibly smooth movement, she gathered them into her hands before subtly hiding every card within her palms.
Even if someone stood directly behind her, they wouldn’t be able to see a single corner of the cards.
John secretly glanced toward the attendant. He repeatedly signaled her with his eyes. The attendant could only give an almost invisible shake of her head.
She couldn’t see anything. John maintained his composure despite the frustration slowly building inside him.
Smiling politely, he asked, "Miss Aurora, aren’t you going to check your cards?"
He chuckled. "If you continue playing blindly like this, you’ll lose before the game even begins."
Aurora smiled leisurely. "I probably will lose."
She looked toward the female attendant. "But before that..."
She casually pointed behind herself.
"Would you mind asking your attendant to step away from me?"
The atmosphere instantly became awkward. John’s smile froze for the briefest moment. Then he laughed naturally.
"Oh... my mistake."
He looked toward the attendant. "You may step aside."
The woman immediately bowed before moving to the corner of the room.
Only then did John look back at Aurora. "Here are the rules. We’ll play three rounds. Whoever wins the majority of the games wins the bet."
Aurora nodded. "Agreed."
Only then did she finally look at her cards. Even the way she examined them was unique.
She practically pressed every single card against her chest, leaving almost no gap between them.
From every possible angle, it was impossible for anyone else to glimpse even one card.
Only after memorizing every card did she calmly place them back onto the table.
John’s jaw tightened ever so slightly. Although he remained smiling, inwardly he was becoming increasingly irritated.
The first round finally began. Several betting rounds passed.
Aurora maintained an unreadable expression throughout the entire game.
Suddenly, she looked directly at John. "Show."
John’s heartbeat skipped. He instinctively looked at his own cards.
At that very moment, Aurora calmly pushed all of her chips into the center. "I’m all in."
John immediately became alert. He couldn’t read Aurora’s expression at all. After several seconds of hesitation, he finally gritted his teeth. "I fold."
Aurora slowly turned over her cards.
They weren’t nearly as strong as John had imagined. She had won entirely through bluffing.
John stared at the revealed hand before narrowing his eyes.
Aurora couldn’t help but chuckle. "Bluffing is an essential part of poker, Mr. John."
She smiled teasingly. "As the owner of several casinos... you should know that better than anyone."
Indeed. John owned multiple casinos throughout the city. Aurora had already investigated him long ago.
Before coming here, she had even asked Spencer to teach her several psychological tricks used by professional poker players.
She didn’t need to become a gambling master. She only needed to understand how to manipulate her opponent’s emotions.
John looked at Aurora for several seconds before suddenly laughing. "Well played, Miss Dawn."
He slowly applauded. "Very well played. I must admit... You’ve genuinely surprised me."
His smile gradually returned. Reaching into a nearby drawer, he slowly took out a polished black dice cup along with a pair of ivory dice.
He gently rolled the dice inside the cup before placing it onto the table. "The poker game was merely a warm-up."
His eyes gleamed with confidence once again.
"Now... Let’s play something much more interesting."
The next game was much simpler.
One person had to roll several dice beneath an opaque glass, while the other had to guess whether the total sum of all the dice would be higher or lower than a specified number.
At least, that was how the game appeared on the surface.
In reality, there were countless tricks that experienced gamblers used to manipulate their opponents.