Hierarchy

"Do you need the company of a beautiful woman?" Asked Sofia who suddenly came closer to her. Lucien didn't know that Sofia had secretly joined his group.

Lucien looked at Sofia meaningfully, he knew that he needed Sofia now to show Victor and Ruby that he was not Lucien, but a new person who would soon haunt their lives.

"Up to you!" he said. One sentence that made Sofia smile and understand Lucien's heart that was filled with hatred.

They entered the main hall on the first floor, where dozens of people were playing on nearly every available gaming table to party music and bottles of beer.

All eyes were on them, as Lucien and company made their way through the crowd toward the elevator. In an instant, Lucien was able to become the center of attention with Sofia walking with him.

But when they arrived on the ninth floor, where Lucien would be playing tonight, Victor's and Ruby's faces immediately greeted them just a few meters in front of the elevator door.

Realizing that a figure he knew named Levi had come made Victor feel even more excited. He knew that he had to test the figure before he finally decided whether or not it had something to do with Lucien.

Lucien who was walking over to Victor, Ruby and the hierarchs stopped right in front of them without showing an easy-to-read expression. He looked calm and that annoyed Victor, while Ruby couldn't stop staring at him.

"I'm playing for Mr. Reinhardt tonight! Can I see him?"

"I don't know if you still dare to set foot in my casino, Levi!"

"I don't really feel that we have a problem that requires me not to be able to come to this place anymore, Mister Victor!" Lucien replied to Victor's words with an even and cold expression on his face. Ruby who stood beside Victor shuddered, she really felt like seeing her husband again.

Sofia could realize Ruby's heart which kept wondering about this man standing in front of her. Her little heart said that this man was Lucien, her husband who disappeared one year ago. But there was not a bit of doubt in his heart that this man was not Lucien, but just someone who had a face so similar to him.

Victor giggled at Lucien's answer. He knew that Lucien was right about them having no issues whatsoever apart from the misunderstanding from the other day which made the atmosphere between them slightly tense.

"Yeah, you're right! Sorry for making you feel uncomfortable. I was just wondering if you were in a relationship with someone I used to know, that's all!"

"Lucien Sanders?"

"Yes, of course!"

"I understand, sir!" He said as he left Victor and Ruby and headed to room number 107, where he would play for Mr. Reinhard tonight.

Ruby trembled, she almost cried when she saw Lucien's face. He was afraid of something he didn't understand. Sofia looked at him with a sinister smile, instead of immediately following Lucien who had entered room 107 with his bodyguards, Sofia chose to stay for a moment to read Ruby's mood.

"You're shaking, are you all right?" she asked. Of course the question wasn't meant to show that he cared. It was obvious that he didn't care about Ruby at all, who for him had succeeded in making the Lucien he once knew didn't care about anyone but himself, into a good husband who loved his wife so much. There was great anger in Sofia's heart that made her feel that all this was unfair to her.

Hearing Sofia's question, Ruby answered with a bitter smile. Sofia knew that Ruby was very scared and nervous. She was with her new lover when she met a man who looked so much like her husband who had mysteriously disappeared.

"I'm fine thank you." Ruby said. Sofia responded with a smile, then walked away towards room 107.

In a room that has been ordered by several rich men to gamble their millions of dollars as a means of having fun as well as to measure who is at the top of the hierarchy.

The room with dim lights, low temperature, the smell of expensive perfume, cigarette smoke and the distinctive aroma of champagne bottles served by the waiters.

Beautiful women accompany middle-aged men in tuxedos who talk to each other about the business of light and darkness that is a secret between them.

At the gambling table, some of the best jockeys have sat down and are getting ready to start the game. Their faces showed high confidence that each of them was sure they would win the game. But when Lucien came to the table and sat down in the chair that had been prepared for him, their expressions started to change.

They had heard that Jonathan, who was called one of the best jockeys in Las Vegas, was defeated by a newcomer jockey named Levi Mayr. They tried to revive their spirits and believed that this figure would not be able to defeat them.

Sofia held Lucien's shoulder and before the game started, they kissed right when Victor and Ruby entered the room. Ruby felt a little strange because she had to see a man who looked so much like her husband kissing another woman. He felt hurt, but he knew that he also had no right to feel that pain.

Victor who was standing beside him smiled as he touched his shoulder. Ruby was shaking, she really didn't know what she was feeling right now. Everything is mixed together.

"I told you he's not your Lucien, Ruby! He's a stranger and in his eyes you're nothing. So act as usual and stop thinking he's Lucien!"

"But he-"

"Stop behaving like this or I will punish you!"

Ruby was silent, she knew that she could never go against Victor.

"Okay honey, I understand. I'm sorry."

***