I shook my head. "The second you put your car keys on the table, we weren't family anymore."

Owen fell silent for a beat, then let out a cold laugh. "Fine. Don't blame me for pushing you then. You're the one who wanted to stay in, right?"

Just then, he picked up his cards and flipped two toward me. It was a pair of queens.

As soon as I saw them, a wave of relief washed over me. Still, my expression remained tight.

Owen tilted his chin up and said smugly, "So… What do you think? Did I hit three of a kind?"

In three-card brag, deliberately showing part of a hand like that was common. It was meant to rattle the other player and read their reaction.

But Owen couldn't scare me. Even if he really had three of a kind, it still wouldn't beat mine.

I had been worried that he might be holding three aces. Now, it was clear that fear had been pointless. That cocky stunt of his had only driven him into a dead end.

Even though I was completely at ease, I gritted my teeth and said, "You're bluffing. Are you in or out?"

Owen stared into my eyes, as if trying to read my mind. In this game, it was all about nerve and performance.

Even at that point, he still couldn't decide. Uncle Peter interjected, "Don't do it! He's obviously not scared of your hand! Can't you tell?"

"If I fold, I lose the BMW and the 300 thousand dollars I already put in! He's bluffing!" Owen snapped, his features twisting with rage.

Normally, the relatives would all be talking at once, throwing out advice from every direction. But now, no one dared say a word. Until the cards were revealed, there was no telling what was real and what wasn't.

Owen nervously scanned the faces around the table. Every bet had been his idea. If he backed out now, he'd never live it down in front of the family.

At last, he waved his wife, Kylie Reed, over. "Come here."

She reluctantly walked over to the table. Then, he told her to place her gold jewelry on the table. Hers was worth far more than Amelia's, after all.

But unlike Amelia, Kylie refused to take hers off. Owen immediately grew tense and showed her his cards.

The moment she saw them, her face lit up with joy. She hurriedly stripped off all her gold jewelry and set it on the table.

"Come on, let's take this all the way," she said with a grin. "Don't come crying when you lose. Everyone here is a witness. Anyone who backs out deserves what's coming to them."

"So, are you saying we should reveal our cards?" I asked.

Kylie shot back, "Why should we? We're taking this all the way."

The greed on her face was unmistakable. However, no one had any chips left.

Suddenly, Kylie pulled off her diamond ring and set it on the table. "This ring cost me 50 thousand dollars."

I shook my head. "I'm not taking the ring. That thing's worth 100 dollars at most."

"What the hell are you saying?" Kylie snapped as she jabbed a finger at me. "Do you even know what this is? This is designer!"

A wry smile tugged at my lips. "I don't care what it is. To me, it's worth 100 dollars."

Kylie was about to retort when Owen cut in, "Then, I'll put my house on the line too."

In an instant, a gasp rippled through the room, and Uncle Peter jumped to his feet. "Have you lost your mind? That house is located downtown! It's worth one and a half million dollars!"

"I'm not messing around, Dad," Owen replied with a sneer. "Whatever I put in, he has to match. That's the rule. Every bet has to top the last one.

"So, Ethan, do you have the money to keep up?"

I fell silent. There was no way I could come up with that much money.

Owen saw through me instantly. He burst out laughing and gave my shoulder a slap. "There are things you just can't afford to play with. Truth is, I'm picking on you because your stack's small.

"And what are you going to do about it? I can come up with this kind of money easily, but even if you put your life on the line, you couldn't scrape together that amount."

Kylie sneered. "So, are you in or out? If you're not showing your hand, we'll take that as a fold."

That was the gap between the rich and the poor. The wealthy could casually toss in what a poorer man couldn't scrape together, even if he risked everything. Every call became heavier and more suffocating.

Just like Owen said, he was pushing me around because I had no money.

I glanced nervously at Amelia and Dad.

At that point, Dad's face had gone pale. He couldn't understand how a simple game had spiraled this far out of control.

Right then, Amelia spoke up. "My parents left me a house. It's not in the city, but it's still worth 500 thousand dollars."

I grabbed her hand at once, my voice shaking with urgency. "No! I bought our house and the gold jewelry. If I lose it all, we'll break up.

"You won't get dragged into it. But if you stake your family's assets on my hand and I lose, I'll bankrupt them!"

Amelia replied coldly, "We're not backing down. If we do, we'll never stand tall again. I trust that you wouldn't do this unless you were sure."

I trembled uncontrollably, but with joy. I knew I was going to win. All of this was just an act meant to make Owen think I was nervous, too.

But from Amelia's side, it was different. She had no idea what I was holding, and still, she was willing to stake everything on me.

"Not all houses are equal," Owen said, his tone dripping with mockery. "You're still one million dollars short. How do you plan to make that up?

"If you can't, then get the hell away from the table. Stop whining like sore losers!"

I took a deep breath before saying, "The neighborhood back home is getting redeveloped. There are four of us—my parents, Amelia, and me. Every dollar of our payout is yours."

At that, Kylie covered her mouth and chuckled.

"What, you think this is some booming city? This is just a rundown rural area. Four of you would only get 600 thousand dollars, so you're still 400 thousand dollars short."

Then, she turned to Owen and added, "I'm not trying to insult your relatives, but look at him—scraping and clawing together every last dollar. Is he even going to come up with it?"

"The way you're scrambling to piece together this bet is pathetic and embarrassing. Sometimes, respect is given to you. Other times, you're the one who loses it yourself. If you can't cover the bet, just fold," Owen said flatly.

Seeing that I couldn't come up with the money, Uncle Peter let out a breath of relief.

A beat later, he turned to Dad and snapped, "Your son doesn't know his place! Now look. He can't even keep up. Everything he's already put in is gone!"

Dad stood rooted to the spot, his face ashen. He swallowed hard and turned to me. "What were you thinking? What else are you going to put up? You've gambled away everything our family has!"

Yet, I said nothing and tapped away on my phone, taking out every online loan I could get.

Once I was done, I set the phone down in front of Owen. The available funds shown on the screen were 400 thousand dollars.

He froze for a second. "How do you have that kind of credit?"

"I borrowed from eight different lenders and used my car as collateral for all of them."

Initially, I'd planned to take out loans for my wedding. I had applied everywhere to compare the interest rates, building up credit lines with each one.

I hadn't expected it to come in handy like this.

Owen let out an exasperated laugh. Then, he pulled out a cigarette and held it between his teeth. "You've really outdone yourself. Taking out online loans just to gamble with me. You know that if you can't pay that back, it's over for you, right?"

"I know. But it doesn't matter. I'm seeing this through with you to the end," I replied.

Owen asked, "You really want to take this until we both go down, huh?"

"When my dad lit your cigarette, you couldn't even be bothered to cup the flame," I shot back.

At that, Dad panicked. He rushed over and grabbed my arm. "Owen's a big-time businessman now! He doesn't sweat the small stuff. Stop this! There's no need to push the stakes this high. He didn't mean it!"

"I meant it!" Owen roared.

The color drained from Dad's face at once. He urged, "There are so many people here. Please, don't embarrass me, okay?"

But Owen's patience snapped. He jabbed a finger in Dad's face and spat, "Your son started this! You don't have any dignity to embarrass!

"If my dad weren't your brother, you think I'd even bother with relatives like you? Yeah, I didn't cup the flame on purpose. You should be grateful I let you light it at all. Bunch of broke losers!"

The insults kept piling on, and Dad's expression grew darker by the second.

Nearby, Uncle Peter let out a sigh, putting on a show as he said, "Owen, how can you talk to your elders like that?

"Don't mind him, everyone. He's had too much to drink. He's always like this in public, throwing his weight around just because he's made some money."

I shot Uncle Peter a glance. He sounded like he was scolding Owen, but in reality, he was propping up his son.

Owen slammed his hand down on the table, teeth clenched as he snarled, "You jerk! You really bet everything just to force a showdown with me, huh? Fine! Let's see your cards."

Just as he was about to flip his cards over, I asked, "When did I say I was going to show my hand?"

Owen froze, along with everyone else. He stared at me blankly. "You're not revealing them now?"

I shook my head.

That was the most terrifying part of the game. The first one to break and call for a showdown had to put in an extra stake.

But in this game, the stakes only escalated. We were already this deep, so anyone who wanted to force a reveal had to put up another one and a half million dollars.

I shrugged. "If you can't take it anymore, go ahead and show your hand. But put up the extra stake first."

Owen glared at me, fury blazing in his eyes. "You're just trying to push me into another bet. Even if I match you now, you won't be able to keep up in the next round. You just want to force me so I fold!"

"Think whatever you want. I'm just telling you I'm not revealing my cards. If you don't match, you're folding," I said flatly.