Darnell took a sip of tea and spoke calmly, “Do you have the nerve to negotiate with me?”
“If I hadn’t come today and won this round, Jefferson would be beyond redemption by now. You show no mercy, so why should I?”
Amber was momentarily speechless, then sneered, “I’ll give you five million more to erase our agreed terms, and then we’ll bet fifty million.”
“Not interested.”
Darnell remained unmoved. “I only care about the outcome of this round.”
Amber’s face turned sour, and her voice was as cold as frost. “Leave some room for maneuver. We may meet again in the future.”
Seeing Amber retreat to this extent, Karlee hesitated, wanting Darnell to stop.
“That’s a good saying. Fine, leave some room.”
Darnell laughed and then changed his tone. “Miss Wilkes, if you really want to settle this with money, then forty million!”
“Give me forty million now, and I won’t make you crawl out barking like a dog. Otherwise, I’d rather not take your twenty million…”
A twist of fate!
Forty million would just cover Jefferson’s debt tonight! Darnell won a round, making Amber’s heart tighten slightly as she looked coldly at Darnell.
She now realized that this man had used her underestimation against her, but the rules and stakes were set by herself…
There was no room for regret or criticism. She was truly unwilling. If Darnell had gambled ten times and won forty million from her, Amber could have accepted it.
But now a single trick had turned her upside down. She sneered coldly and pointed at Darnell.
“You’ve got guts!”
Jefferson laughed heartily, “Amber, stop bluffing. Either lose face or lose money.”
“Bang!”
Amber threw the car keys, property deed, and Jefferson’s three-million-dollar IOU onto the table and shouted, “Let’s go!”
Though Amber was angry and unwilling, she was decisive enough to leave in such a tangled situation.
Rachael wanted to say something but was silenced by Amber’s cold gaze. “I said, let’s go!”
“Darnell, we’ll meet again!”
Amber led Rachael and the others out. At the door, she suddenly turned back to look playfully at Darnell.
In response to his lazy smile, she walked up to him in her high heels. Her tall figure and piercing gaze exuded an intimidating aura as she lightly poked Darnell with her finger.
“I’ll remember you! Be careful walking around Whiteville.”
Then she looked at Karlee. “Next month, we have a big race. Don’t disappoint me.”
Karlee responded coolly, “It seems you’re always the one disappointing me.”
Amber said nothing more and left quickly with over ten companions.
“Jefferson, here are your car keys, house deed, and IOU.”
Darnell tossed them all to Jefferson. “Be more cautious in the future. Otherwise, you’ll lose everything.”
Jefferson was shocked. “You… you’re giving these to me?”
This was Darnell’s win. He didn’t have to give them back.
Karlee was also surprised. In her impression, Darnell was quite greedy. Giving away forty million didn’t seem like him.
“You called me ‘boss’ once, after all.”
Darnell adopted Cesar’s style with righteous grandeur. “Since I accepted you as one of my men last time, it’s only natural I stand up for you.”
“Whether it’s kicking Samuel or helping you pay off your debt, it’s what a boss should do. Forty million is a lot but not worth our brotherhood.”
“Besides, I also earned five million.”
Darnell patted his pocket with five checks inside. “So take back what’s yours.”
“Boss!”
Jefferson was deeply moved and hugged Darnell’s leg tightly. “From now on, you’re my boss forever.”
“I’ll be loyal to you!”
Karlee was speechless. She didn’t expect Jefferson to become Darnell’s loyal follower so quickly.
Fifteen minutes later, in a Lamborghini driving down Whiteville Avenue, Karlee looked at the quietly driving Darnell with a playful smile.
“You gained quite a bit today, five million and a loyal follower.”
Darnell glanced at her with a grin. “Would you prefer I gained nothing? Without gains today, you’d have had to fork out thirty million for ransom.”
“I saved you thirty million and earned us money for the future, a double win tonight. You should be grateful.”
Karlee paused and thought it over before pouting slightly. “You profited. What does that have to do with me? By the way, let me ask you something.”
“Did you draw turtles on both slips of paper in the plastic cup? No lying or fooling me!”
“Yes.”
Darnell admitted without hesitation and continued with a smile, “As soon as I saw Amber and her group tonight, I knew they were targeting you.”
“They wanted to scheme against you and use it as leverage against you in next month’s race to affect your performance.”
“After all, losing thirty million would unsettle anyone.”
Darnell saw through their plan clearly. “So, there were only two ways-either be a sucker and give them thirty million or find an opportunity to win big from them.”
“Giving thirty million wasn’t an option, not just because I didn’t want you to be humiliated but also because I couldn’t bear to lose money.”
“I drew two turtles on the slips and let Amber choose first.”
He smiled slyly. “She’s smart. Otherwise, she couldn’t have won forty million from Jefferson or become the leader of her group.”
“When she saw my confidence brimming over, she’d think I might be tricking her with two blank slips.”
“She could’ve demanded we reveal both slips publicly to humiliate me.”
Karlee understood now, her eyes sparkling with realization. “But she didn’t, because she was so proud that she wanted a complete victory by outsmarting you.”
“So she tore up her slip, forcing you into revealing yours, to humiliate you.”
“Exactly.”
Darnell glanced at Karlee’s chest mischievously. “This shows that women should have boobs but no scheming minds. Otherwise, they’ll make a fool of themselves.”
“Jerk! What are you looking at?!”
Karlee punched Darnell playfully.
After some playful banter between them, Karlee pointed ahead, saying, “Drop me off at the intersection. Remember to come see me at school tomorrow.”
“It’s our 40th-anniversary celebration, a lot of celebrities will be there including Yaretzi Elwes performing last.”
Darnell looked puzzled “Yaretzi Elwes? Who’s that?”
“Keep pretending! I don’t believe you don’t know who she is! She’s Lightford’s ‘Best Boobs’, after all.”
“The ‘Best Boobs’?”
Darnell slammed on the brakes, reached over, and grabbed Karlee’s left breast, asking, “Is hers as big as yours?”
“You bastard!”
Karlee’s body jolted in shock, but she quickly bit Darnell’s hand and then shyly pushed the car door open, scrambling out.