Chapter 385 The Crazy Gamble (4)
Ryder shook his phone and grinned, "Yo, Mark, almost forgot! Got a video too. Wanna see it? I can play it right now!"
Mark, sitting across from him, looked like he was about to blow a fuse, his eyes practically shooting daggers.
The gamblers around them were buzzing, totally floored.
"No way! Are those pics legit? Kenneth went through that? Just seeing them makes my blood boil. It's brutal!"
"Man, I heard whispers that Kenneth got messed up before he died. Thought it was BS, but guess not!"
"Ryder seemed like a chill dude, but who knew he could be this savage?"
"This is nuts. Ryder's got a death wish, poking the bear like this. Hope he doesn't end up in pieces!"
All the murmurs hit Mark's ears like a freight train.
"Shut up!" Mark roared, cutting through the chatter.
Mark's face was a storm, glaring at Ryder. "Ryder Clark, do you even get what you're doing here?"
Ryder shrugged, "Does it mean I'm dissing you? Throwing down the gauntlet? Or just asking for trouble? Doesn't matter what I think; it's your call, man. This is your playground."
Mark's eye twitched, not expecting Ryder to keep pushing his buttons.
But the real kicker? Ryder had those nasty pics of Kenneth, and even a video!
His son was gone, and yeah, he messed up a lot, but no dad wanted his kid's name dragged through the mud after they were dead.
After a beat, Mark spoke, "So, what's your game plan with those pics and this so-called video?"
Ryder pocketed his phone, leaning on the gambling table, cool as a cucumber. "These are my chips in this game. Don't like it? Fine. This stuff will be all over Houston, Texas, and beyond in no time."
His words were pure fire, no doubt about it.
Sure, it wasn't the classiest move, but Mark started this by snatching up Lily and Charlotte.
In this cutthroat game, playing nice was for suckers.
Mark's eyes narrowed, then he let out a cold laugh. "Your info's juicy, but to me, it's only worth one life. Between those two women, you pick one! Don't like it? Then they both go down. Kenneth would get it."
The gamblers couldn't help but nod, impressed. Mark was slick, flipping the script with just one line, putting Ryder in a tight spot.
What was Ryder gonna do now?
Ryder started clapping. "Mark, you're sharp. You say this info's worth one life? Fine, one life it is! But about your son understanding you, do you even get your son?"
Ryder whipped out his phone again and tapped on a pic.
This time, he didn't flash it around for everyone to see. Instead, he got up and moved to hand it directly to Mark, so only he could get a good look.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Ethan slammed the table, throwing his arm up to block Mark.
Ryder smirked, "Chill, man. Just wanna show him a pic. No need to get all worked up."
Mark pushed Ethan's arm down, saying, "It's cool. Let's see what he's got."
Ethan nodded and stepped back.
Ryder handed the phone to Mark.
When Mark glanced at the screen, his face went stone cold.
The pic was a screenshot of a chat, and it was a long one.
The convo was pretty explicit, between a guy and a girl, with texts, pics, emojis, and short vids.
From the avatars, it was clear the two were his son Kenneth and his mistress, Olivia.
While Mark was still processing, Ryder snatched the phone back.
He'd gotten this chat log from Kenneth's phone at Wild Lake. The trick was simple: he added his own contact on WhatsApp, sent all the juicy stuff to his phone, then blocked and deleted the contact. Kenneth never knew what hit him.
Ryder had kept this info for a reason, knowing he'd face Mark one day and needed some ammo.
Ryder crossed his arms, "Mark, if this pic, along with the audio and video, hit the internet, how much chaos would it cause in Houston? Wouldn't it be headline news and spark a huge debate?"
"You..." Mark was breathing heavy, rage bubbling up inside him.
If this got out, it would be even worse than the previous dirt.
"You sneaky bastard!"
Mark managed to keep his cool, not blowing up at Ryder.
He glanced at Ethan, who gave a slight nod.
Mark looked at the cards on the table, noticing the Ace of Spades had turned into the Ace of Hearts, forming a straight flush: 10 J Q K A of Hearts.
A straight flush, the second-best hand, only beaten by a Royal Flush: 10 J Q K A of Spades. But that was impossible.
Because the Ace of Spades had always been in his hand, now swapped by Ethan.
So Mark was sure he had this round in the bag.
Ethan, the mastermind, leaned back in his chair, staring coldly at Ryder with a smirk.
During the shuffle, he'd memorized the order of every card, knowing exactly what everyone had.
The card swap happened when Ryder showed Mark the phone, with Ethan's quick hand move.
It was done so fast, no one noticed. That's the skill of Houston's gambling king.
'Ace of Spades is in my hand! Let's see how you win now.'
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