Chapter 4

Mom kicked me out of the house, leaving me with only one thing to say.

“Go work and make some money! I don’t want to see you!”

The bus back to campus had already stopped running for the night, so with nowhere else to go, I could only curl up in the hallway and spend the night there.

But sometime after midnight, I suddenly heard a door opening.

I peeked through the fire door and saw Mom quietly leaving the building in the middle of the night.

A bad feeling immediately washed over me.

I quietly followed her, wanting to see where she was going.

After making several turns, she walked into a private game room and disappeared down the hallway.

Strangely, the place was completely silent. It was the middle of the night, and everyone should have gone home to sleep. There was no one else inside.

What had she come here for?

I tiptoed toward the end of the hallway, only to discover that it was a dead end.

Mom had vanished into thin air!

Then I noticed a raised switch in the corner.

I pressed it, and a secret room suddenly opened behind the wall!

The moment I opened the door, it felt like I had stepped into another world.

The room was packed with all kinds of people, and every single one of them was gambling.

It was an underground casino!

I quietly slipped inside and blended into the crowd.

It didn’t take long for me to find Mom sitting at one of the tables.

A thick stack of chips sat in front of her, while the people around her showered her with flattery.

“Margaret, you’re really living large! Having a wealthy ex-husband sure has its perks!”

Mom draped an arm around one of the gamblers, looking remarkably familiar with everyone there.

She grinned from ear to ear and tossed a $2,000 chip to each person at the table.

“Here, this is on me. I’m in a good mood today.

“My ex-husband sent me another two hundred thousand dollars a few days ago. I’ve got more money than I know what to do with!”

Mom gambled recklessly, placing bets without even blinking.

It didn’t take long for her to lose the entire two hundred thousand dollars.

Not only had she lost all the money, but she also ended up owing the house more than fifty thousand dollars.

One of the casino employees glared at her menacingly.

“Settle the debt first. Otherwise, we’re going to have a problem.”

But Mom didn’t show the slightest concern. She simply shrugged.

“What’s the big deal? I’ll just come up with another excuse to get my ex-husband to send me money.

“I’ll tell him our daughter has cancer and needs a million dollars for treatment. There’s no way he’ll refuse!”

I trembled with rage, desperate to rush over and expose her for what she really was.

So this was where all the money Dad had been sending over the years had gone.

Mom had been using it all to gamble!

When I saw Mom actually take out her phone and call Dad, I turned and ran the moment she hung up.

She sounded smug as she told the gamblers,

“Just wait. The money will be in my account within ten minutes.

“Come on! One more round! I’m definitely going to win it all back!”

The moment I realized how serious the situation was, I immediately fled.

I pulled out my phone and called the number Ethan had given me.

The call was answered almost immediately.

“Hello, this is the House of Carter. How may I help you?

“Tell Nathaniel Carter that I’m Amelia Carter.”

Ten seconds later, Dad’s urgent voice came through the phone.

“Where are you? We need to meet immediately.”