Down Five Million, Heaven Sent Me Back

The moment the words left my mouth, Lawrence immediately sat back down, the three of them trading looks of excitement."My bad," he said, feigning an apologetic tone. "I should've known better. We've been friends for a long time. I knew you weren't a coward."I waved a hand with feigned bravado and casually toyed with the chips I had just won. "Actually, two bucks a chip is pocket change. How about 100 dollars a chip with no limit?"Lawrence froze.In my previous life, they were the ones who had pushed for this.His face broke into a wide grin, flashing a row of yellowed teeth. "Not bad, Sebastian. It looks like your luck has turned. You're feeling brave tonight, aren't you?""It's just a game," I said, casually swirling the dice in my cup. "Win or lose, it doesn't matter as long as everyone's having fun."Lawrence rubbed his hands together. "We're still just comparing rolls, right? Since you're new to this, we won't make it hard for you."I nodded. That was exactly what I wa

After everyone rolled, they all kept one hand pressed firmly over their dice cups. Since I had won the last round, I called first."A thousand dollars, no cap."The men exchanged knowing smiles. Including Lawrence, the three of them stayed in. His grin nearly split his face as he said, "Sebastian, don't take it too hard, even if you lose. You're a rookie. There's no shame in it."I kept my eyes locked with his and threw the words right back in his face. "There's no shame in losing. The only shame is trying to get out of paying."He chuckled and flipped his cup open, only to freeze the next second."What? How is this possible? This can't be!"I casually lifted my own cup. "Sorry. Five ones. Best roll on the table."A wave of panic rippled through the group. They scrambled to reveal their own dice, but not one of them came close.I scanned the table and said, "My luck really is something else tonight, isn't it? It's not much, though. Just a little over 100 thousand dollars from

Lawrence's expression stiffened. He quickly averted his gaze, guilt written all over his face. "What are you talking about?"I held up my phone, a cold smile cutting across my face. "That's fine. You don't need to understand. I recorded everything. The signals you used, the way you switched the cards—it's all right here in my phone."Upon hearing this, Lawrence lunged for the phone, but I kicked him away before he could reach me. "I already sent the video to a friend as backup. Deleting it from my phone won't help you."I stood up, leveling a finger at his face, letting my rage finally boil over. "Lawrence, I thought you were my friend. And this is how you repay me? By setting me up and conning me? Do you even have a conscience?"Pay up, now! Don't even think about getting out of it, or I'll make sure you spend New Year's in jail."Noah grabbed Lawrence by the arm, his voice frantic. "Lawrence, just pay up! Didn't your family get four or five million dollars in compensation? Besid

After saying that, Lawrence reached for the deck, eagerly dealing three cards to everyone.This time, I kept my eyes glued to his hands, tracking the rhythm of the shuffle and the subtlest movements. Still, I couldn't catch anything.When I checked my cards, I found three sevens—another three of a kind.Lawrence leaned back against the couch, casting a leisurely glance at me. "I think I'll take a page out of Sebastian's book this time. Let's make it 300 dollars."Dad's hand came down over mine, and excitement flashed across his face before he could hide it. "Sebastian, this one's yours!"Looking at Dad's behavior, I finally understood what Lawrence was doing. He was feeding me good ones, hand after hand, so I would think my luck had turned and keep calling until I fell right into his trap.One of the players called.When it came to me, I decided to test my theory. I took my time laying my cards face down. "I fold."The second the words left my mouth, Dad frowned and slapped his

The moment the other guys saw this, their hands shot up into the air as they scrambled to save their own skins. "Officer, this has nothing to do with us! Lawrence made us do it! He said if we played along, he'd give us a 40% cut!"The young man quickly pulled out his phone and showed the police officers his bank records. "It wasn't just the cash on the table! I also transferred money to them. They scammed me out of all of it!"Only then did I realize that Lawrence had started settling after every hand. He was probably afraid someone would switch the deck halfway through and ruin his plan the way I had yesterday.Even so, this worked out for the best.The evidence of his gambling was ironclad, and there was no talking his way out of this.The officers didn't hesitate, snapping handcuffs onto all four of them.Only then did Lawrence snap back to himself. His face flushed red as he struggled, leveled a finger at me, and cursed, "Sebastian, you gambled, too! Why aren't they arresting