Free Web NovelChapter 100: Chapter 100: Public Display of Affection
Of course, she couldn’t just argue with Second Aunt-in-law in front of so many people.
But if she bluntly said she didn’t have the money, she’d probably embarrass Damien Vaughn.
Cecelia Archer averted her gaze, her mind racing. Just as she was trying to come up with a foolproof plan to smooth things over, a large hand suddenly landed on her shoulder.
"I was wondering where you’d gone when I got home from work. So you ran off to play here. Don’t you know how? What made you suddenly want to play mahjong?"
It was Damien Vaughn.
Cecelia felt like she was looking at her savior and hurriedly looked up to meet his eyes.
Seeing his calm, familiar eyes, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"I told Second Aunt-in-law I don’t know how to play, but she said her seat had terrible luck and she didn’t want to lose anymore, so she insisted on dragging me over. I haven’t played a single tile myself this whole time, and I don’t even know how the score was kept. I just somehow owe 600,000. Damien, you’re not mad at me, are you?"
In just a few sentences, she had laid out the entire situation, clearly exposing how ruthless Second Aunt-in-law had been.
Damien Vaughn’s gaze shifted to his aunt, whose expression soured.
"What kind of nonsense is that? What do you mean you ’don’t know how’ and I ’dragged’ you over? What do you mean I can’t afford to lose? The Vaughn Family has a vast fortune! A single one of my dresses or bags is worth more than a few hundred thousand. Do you think I care about this little bit of money? If I wasn’t worried you were bored all by yourself, I wouldn’t have bothered with you at all! I was just trying to be nice and let you join in the fun, but then... Oh, did you all see that? This is what you get for being a good person these days. One wrong move and you’re the villain!"
Cecelia, at least, had been tactful, but her aunt-in-law had just dropped all pretenses, on the verge of flying into a rage out of sheer humiliation.
The scene had become so ugly that Mrs. Gordon and Mrs. Clark were frozen in embarrassment.
"This was just supposed to be for fun. How did it turn into a debate about good guys and villains? Don’t let us cause any bad blood between you two. You know what, forget the money. We should get going."
Second Aunt-in-law herself had said it: the Vaughn Family had a vast fortune, and even one of her dresses or bags was worth more than a few hundred thousand. If word got out that she was welshing on a mahjong debt, wouldn’t she be an utter disgrace?
Damien Vaughn chuckled. He squeezed Cecelia Archer to the side, pulling her to nestle against him as they shared the chair.
"A loss is a loss. Since it’s a game, you have to follow the rules. Why wouldn’t we pay? Second Aunt-in-law is right; the Vaughn Family isn’t short on this kind of money. Ladies, take out your phones. I’ll transfer it to you."
Seeing how things were just a moment ago, Mrs. Gordon and Mrs. Clark had thought the money had gone down the drain and were quite upset. But now Damien Vaughn was saying this.
They gleefully took out their phones. "Oh, look what a fuss this has become. We were just playing around, why so serious? Damien, since you put it that way, we’ll accept the money today. Let us know when you’re free, and we’ll treat you to dinner."
"No need to wait for another day. I’m free right now. Ms. King is already making dinner, and I had her prepare portions for you as well. Stay and eat with us. Besides, it’s been a while since I played, and my hands are getting itchy. Let’s play a few rounds together."
Huh?
Mrs. Gordon and Mrs. Clark exchanged a look. Damien Vaughn’s long-fingered, elegant hand picked up a tile, rubbing it between his fingertips.
"What’s wrong? You don’t want to play with me? Don’t you ladies like me?"
How could that be?
The two were just afraid of getting an earful from their husbands for being home too late, but since it was with Damien Vaughn...
"It’s rare for you to be in the mood, Damien. Of course we’ll play; we wouldn’t want to turn down you young folks. Let me just call my husband and let him know."
The two women took their phones and stepped aside to make their calls.
Damien Vaughn turned to look at Cecelia Archer, reaching out to smooth her hair.
"It’s only 600,000. I’ll win you back 6,000,000 in a bit. Don’t be upset. Give me a smile."
Cecelia: "..."
’Did Damien see how much it pained me to just throw away 600,000? And now he’s going to win back 6,000,000!’
"Are you that good at mahjong?"
Seeing her eyes light up at the mention of winning her money back, Damien Vaughn couldn’t help but find it amusing. frёewebηovel.cѳm
"It has nothing to do with skill. It’s all about what’s up here."
He tapped Cecelia’s head. "All that stuff about feng shui and luck is nonsense. A brainless idiot can’t play mahjong well."
It seemed like he was talking about Cecelia, but it was obvious who he was really alluding to.
Nearby, Second Aunt-in-law’s face was so grim it nearly hit the floor.
The two ladies quickly finished their calls and returned. The tiles were pushed in, shuffled, and automatically rose from the table. Cecelia Archer drew her hand.
Damien affectionately squeezed her fingers. "I’ll teach you how to play. Here, discard this one... Don’t touch that one yet, discard that one instead..."
Although it was just like before, with Cecelia acting as a mere tile-drawing machine and taking orders from someone else, the atmosphere was completely different.
Damien held her in his arms. The two of them—a handsome, talented man and a beautiful woman, vibrant with youth—were whispering and interacting, so sweet and lovey-dovey it was almost tangible.
It was enough to make the older women’s hearts turn sour with jealousy.
’We’ve never heard anything about Damien Vaughn dating. How did he suddenly get a girlfriend? And one he’s so clingy with.’
’How on earth did this woman snag him? How did she get so lucky?’
Cecelia Archer’s luck was indeed good.
The moment Damien arrived, her fortunes returned.
They won the first round, won the second, and won the third.
By the time the Old Master grew impatient and sent Ms. King to call them for dinner, they had won thirteen straight rounds.
They won so much that Mrs. Gordon’s and Mrs. Clark’s faces started to turn green.
"Oh my, let’s eat, let’s eat! No more playing. This is more tiring than a whole day at work. I’ve been sitting for so long my back is sore, my legs are numb, and I’m getting dizzy from hunger. Damien, you’re the lucky one. You just sat down and Cecelia is already wiping the floor with us."
Damien said, "We’re just getting started. If you two ladies aren’t done having fun, we can continue after dinner."
"No, no," Mrs. Clark said, waving her hands in a panic.
"My son has a parent-teacher conference tomorrow, so I need to get some rest and go to the school. Another time! We’ll have a proper game another day when we’re free."
’They were so happy when they were winning money from other people. But now that it was their turn to pay up, look how reluctant they were.’
Damien, being a prominent man, wasn’t supposed to bicker with them.
But to make Cecelia happy, he directly presented her payment QR code.
"Alright, let’s call it a day then. You two ladies are veterans, so I don’t need to help you calculate the score. Let’s just settle up before we eat."
Mrs. Gordon and Mrs. Clark had assumed that a big-shot CEO like him, and a man at that, would be more courteous about it. They never expected him to be so direct...
The two transferred the money, looking quite displeased.
And just like that, half a day’s effort was for nothing.
Not only did they have to give back what they’d won from Cecelia, but they also ended up losing what they’d won from Second Aunt-in-law to Damien.
Cecelia was startled when she saw how much money she had received.
After covering the initial 600,000 debt, they had made a profit of over 300,000!
Having lost money, Mrs. Gordon and Mrs. Clark no longer talked about staying for dinner. They made their excuses and went home separately.
Damien and Cecelia walked side-by-side back toward the Old Master’s courtyard. Cecelia tried to give the money to Damien.
"This is all yours. The principal was yours, and so are the winnings. I’ll transfer it to you."
Damien refused. "You keep it as seed money. Who knows, they might ask you to play again. I’ll have Ms. King practice with you tomorrow. With your intelligence, once you get the hang of this game, it’s way more profitable than going to work."
