My Husband Lost 25K on New Year; I Let Him Play On

During the New Year, my husband lost 25,000 dollars playing cards in one night.

That was the hard-earned money we saved by living frugally while working outside for a year.

It was also my daughter’s tuition, my father’s surgery fees and our family’s living expenses for the coming year.

My husband knelt at the door of the room all night, begging for my forgiveness.

I cried all night.

Finally, I took out my daughter's 150 dollars New Year's gift money and handed it to my husband while saying in an angry tone, “You can continue to gamble tonight.”

——

“Honey, I was wrong. I was really wrong! Please forgive me this time. I will never gamble again!”

When I took out my daughter's New Year's money and asked my husband to continue gambling, he slapped himself madly and assured me.

Obviously, my husband not only knew that he was wrong, but he was also afraid.

But I grabbed my husband's wrist and told him seriously that we had to continue gambling tonight.

The husband excitedly went to the kitchen and picked up a kitchen knife, then stared at his swollen face and said, “Honey, I really do not want to gamble anymore, I'll prove it to you now!”

As he said this, he raised the kitchen knife and was about to chop off his hand.

I quickly snatched the kitchen knife from my husband's hand and threw it far away, then I put my hands on her shoulders and said, “I believe you and I forgive you.”

It was not that I was soft-hearted.

But my husband was called to a party by his so-called friends last night.

Among friends, playing cards for three or five pounds was just harmless fun—it was normal to win or lose a few quid.

But losing twenty-five thousand in a single night?

There was only one explanation, my husband had been set up!

When he heard me say I forgave him, a glimmer of light finally appeared in my husband's eyes. 

He wiped his tears and said, “Honey, I'm going to pack my bags now and go to work in the factory.”

Seeing that my husband's eyes were filled with remorse, I stopped him again and said, “After the New Year, our daughter has to pay tuition and our father also needs surgery. Even if we go to work overnight, it will not solve the problem at all.”

My husband's face suddenly turned pale and he regretted his decision even more. He opened his lips but did not know what to say to me.

I smiled and said, “So, listen to me, take the 150 dollars and go find the guy you played cards with last night. I'll go with you.”

When I brought my distraught husband to his friend, Isaac Gonzales, he was still playing Poker with a group of people.

Seeing my husband, Isaac immediately put on a proud smile, “Loren, you still want to play today? Come on, we are just short of one person.”

Isaac and my husband, Loren Franklin, were elementary school classmates. He dropped out of school in middle school and went to work outside. 

But he soon got tired and went home. He spent his days idling around in his hometown and could not get married.

Every New Year, Isaac would join forces with a few people who also had nothing to do in his hometown, shamelessly make connections everywhere and invite some people who returned home for the New Year to a party.

I had reminded my husband a long time ago to have less contact with Isaac.

But my husband was a simple and honest man and Isaac used his relationship as his elementary school classmate and childhood friend to drag him to the card table.

When my husband heard that Isaac wanted to invite him to play again, he trembled all over and looked at me timidly.

I pulled my husband behind me, gave him a reassuring look and then smiled and said to Isaac, “My husband is not playing today, can I come to the table and play with you guys?”

“Oh, this is rare. I did not expect that a good woman like you, Adela, would also be interested in playing cards. That's great. Make room for Adela.”

Isaac was a little surprised, but more delighted and immediately asked someone to make room for me.

I glanced at the card table and noticed that they were playing very small, with a minimum of one dollar and a maximum of 15 dollars.