A Love Forgotten (Arianna and Elijah)

Chapter 108

My heart skipped a beat, and quickly averted my gare

Norman seemed to pick up on my thoughts. He purposefully blew a

wa puff of smoke in my direction, then turned to the othe

II "Alright. Let's play a few roundu."

I glanced at Teri for help, but she just shrugged, helpless

The game began, with Norman handing the custom-made chest ser, his graceful movements somehow exading an air of elegance...

"Knight" he said, casually moving the cheuamen, taking a slow drag of his cigarette as he squinted at the others.

"Hah! Gotcha! I win!" one of the gays across from him cheered, rubbing his hands together.

Norman laughed and cursed. "Such a small win, and you're that excited Fine them. Take it."

They startedcounting points and rearranging the chessmen I watched as Norman casually tossed a wad of cash onto the table. Iched my head, feeling lost when I saw that they were playing for real money. Noman-caught my gaze and asked, "Did you get the hang of it?"

I shook my head. "I never learned this."

One of the guys across from us chuckled "Noway How could you not know? Aren't you Atana? Back in the day, you'd sit beside Elijah and win plenty of money off us." Finally, someone couldn't hold back from spilling the truth froze Terlimmediately jumped in "She's got nothing to do with that scumbag Elijah anymore!"

"oh, right. Did you guys see the trending news today? That mistress Jocelyn started rearing Elijah apart publicly." the then said while laughing, "Elijah's in hot water now." Norman's expression darkened, and he slammed his chesamen onto the table. "Since when has he been a friend to any of you? Do you want a friend so badly? Then get out!" The there players instantly went silent. One of them hurriedly stammered an apology

"Mr. Wood, can't be mad. tr's just habit. Elijah is nothing in Halton City anyway-just a parasite living off women."

The others quickly chimed in, "Yeah. He's just a pretty boy who leeches off women. Now, he's finally getting his karma"

Another guy, glued to his phone, laughed. "It's all over the Internet-two of them!

"Oh, and, Mr. Wood, your account's trending too. Looks like the evidence from your buddies is hitting hard."

Only then did a sellereturn to Norman's face. Seeing him smile, the others started showering him with praise.

Another round started, and Norman ended up losing to all

I looked at the money, stunned - it was in Stateside notes

players. Without botting an eye, he threw down three stacks of cash.

Three stacks, each at least ten to 30 thousand. That meant Norman had just lost over 100 thousand dollars in a single round? That was serious money. I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy. Suddenly, Norman grabbed my hand. "My luck's off tonight. Arianna, why don't you try a

He pulled me over to the table. Helt flustered. "I really don't know how to play."

Norman gave a way sode. "Really?"

1 lowered my voice. "Thave memory loss "

"Memory loss?" He studied me with an amused as

ya hand for m

th

Ismile for a moment and finally said, "Alright. I teach you. If we lose, it's on me. If we win, the money's yours."

If

Before Bould prosu, the game stated.

With a nervous heart, I picked up my chewusen, arranging them climady in no particular order.

Then, a slender hand genity Book Bolded mine, pulling me to organize the chessmen properly, one by one.

His hand felt different from Logan's warm, dry, but equally graceful, with defined knuckles. He wore a platinum ring with an unusual design on his middle finger.

He leaned in close, his breath tickling year. " you win, I'll give you the evidence. Deal?