Chapter 4

"Russian roulette? Derek, tell me you're joking."

Derek stared at his phone screen like it might change if he looked hard enough. "That's what it says. 'The game has changed. Russian roulette. One bullet, one chance.'"

My knees gave out. I grabbed the nearest marble pillar in the lobby to keep from falling. "He's going to kill you."

"Maybe it's a metaphor." Derek's voice cracked. "Like, you know, one shot at winning?"

"With a gun, Derek! Russian roulette is played with an actual gun!"

People in expensive suits walked past us, their heels clicking on the marble floor. None of them looked at the desperate couple having a breakdown in the lobby. This was probably normal for them.

Derek's phone buzzed again. He read the new message and his face went from white to green.

"What now?"

"He says... he says it's not what I think. It's still poker, but the stakes are different." Derek scrolled through the message. "One hand. If I win, we go free. If I lose..."

"If you lose, what?"

Derek couldn't meet my eyes. "If I lose, you belong to him for a year, not six months. And the debt doubles."

The lobby started spinning. "A year?"

"But I'm going to win, Chloe. I have to win."

I wanted to laugh. Or scream. Or both. "Derek, you haven't won a poker game in three years. What makes you think tonight will be different?"

"Because everything depends on it." He grabbed my shoulders. "Because I love you and I won't let him take you."

For a moment, I saw a flash of the old Derek. The one who used to hold doors for me and bring me coffee in bed. The one who promised we'd conquer the world together.

Then reality crashed back.

"If you loved me, you wouldn't have stolen from your boss. If you loved me, you wouldn't have gambled away our rent money every week." My voice rose despite myself. "If you loved me, you sure as hell wouldn't be betting my freedom on a card game!"

"I'm trying to fix this!"

"By making it worse!" I pushed away from him. "Call him. Tell him no. We'll figure out another way."

"There is no other way. It's this or prison."

"Then go to prison!"

The words hung between us like a slap. Derek's eyes filled with tears, and for a horrible second, I felt sorry for him.

"You don't mean that," he whispered.

"I don't know what I mean anymore." I pulled out my phone. "I'm calling a lawyer."

"With what money? We have twenty-three dollars to our name."

He was right. We couldn't afford a lawyer. We couldn't afford anything. Derek had made sure of that.

"Mrs. Martinez?"

I spun around. A man in a black suit stood behind us, his hands folded politely. He was young, Asian, with the kind of stillness that suggested violence was always an option.

"Mr. Zhang would like to see you again. Alone."

Derek stepped in front of me. "She's not going anywhere without me."

The man's expression didn't change. "Mr. Zhang was very specific. Mrs. Martinez only."

"It's okay," I said quietly. I was tired of Derek making decisions for me. "I'll go."

"Chloe, no. We stick together."

"Like you stuck with me when you were stealing? Like you stuck with me when you were gambling away our future?" I shook my head. "I need to hear what he has to say."

The elevator ride back to the twentieth floor felt different this time. Heavier. Like I was riding toward my execution.

Mr. Zhang was standing by his window when I entered, looking out at the city below. He didn't turn around when the door closed.

"Your husband is going to lose tonight."

"You don't know that."

"I do. Because I'm going to make sure of it." He finally faced me. "The question is, what are you going to do about it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you have a choice, Mrs. Martinez. You can wait for Derek to gamble you away, or you can take control of your own fate."

I crossed my arms. "I'm listening."

"Work for me willingly. Six months, as originally discussed. In exchange, Derek's debt disappears and he stays out of prison."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then we play the game. Derek loses. You work for me for a year, and he goes to prison anyway for violating the terms of tonight's agreement."

My throat felt like sandpaper. "You have this all planned out, don't you?"

"I'm a businessman, Mrs. Martinez. I don't leave things to chance."

"Why me? Why not just take the money and be done with it?"

For the first time, Mr. Zhang's mask slipped. Something hungry flickered in his eyes. "Because money is easy to come by. Interesting people are not."

"Interesting?"

"You graduated summa cum laude from business school. You speak three languages. You have an MBA you've never used because you've been supporting a gambling addict for three years." He moved closer. "You're wasted on Derek."

Heat flooded my cheeks. "You investigated me."

"Thoroughly. Your professors still remember you. Brilliant, they said. Destined for great things." His voice dropped. "What happened to those great things, Chloe?"

"I fell in love."

"You fell for a lie. Derek has been planning this for over a year. Did you know that?"

The room tilted. "What?"

"He found out about your trust fund eighteen months ago. The gambling addiction, the debts, the stealing - all calculated to put you in exactly this position."

"No." The word came out as a breath. "Derek wouldn't..."

"He's been working with my competitors. Feeding them information, losing money on purpose to create leverage." Mr. Zhang pulled out a tablet and showed me photos. Derek shaking hands with men I didn't recognize. Derek counting money. Derek signing papers.

"This is from last week," Mr. Zhang said, swiping to a new photo. "Derek meeting with Marcus Rivera, my biggest competitor. They're planning to split your trust fund between them once this is over."

The photos blurred as tears filled my eyes. Three years of marriage. Three years of supporting him, believing in him, sacrificing my dreams for his.

All of it a lie.

"I don't believe you."

"Call him. Ask him who Marcus Rivera is."

With shaking hands, I dialed Derek's number. He answered on the first ring.

"Chloe! Are you okay? What did Zhang want?"

"Derek, who is Marcus Rivera?"

Silence stretched so long I thought the call had dropped.

"Derek?"

"I... how do you know that name?"

My heart shattered into a million pieces. "Oh God. It's true."

"Chloe, wait, I can explain…”

I hung up and let the phone fall from my hands.

Mr. Zhang was watching me with something that might have been sympathy. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way."

"How long have you known?"

"From the beginning. I've been waiting for the right moment to make my move."

"And I'm your move?"

"You're my opportunity. Work with me, Chloe. Not for Derek, not because of the debt, but because you're worth more than this." He gestured toward the window, toward the city, toward possibilities I'd forgotten existed. "I can give you the life you were meant to have."

"As your employee."

"As my partner."

The word hung between us, loaded with meanings I didn't want to examine.

My phone buzzed with frantic texts from Derek. Apologies, explanations, promises. All of it worthless now.

"What exactly are you offering?"

"Six months. You help me run my businesses, accompany me to events, be my right hand. In exchange, Derek goes free and you get to discover who you really are when you're not carrying dead weight."

"And after six months?"

"After six months, you choose. Stay and become my business partner officially, or leave with enough money to start over anywhere you want."

I stared out the window at the city below. Somewhere down there, Derek was probably planning his next lie, his next betrayal. Somewhere down there was the small apartment where I'd slowly disappeared into someone I didn't recognize.

"If I say yes, what happens to Derek?"

"He gets exactly what he deserves. Nothing more, nothing less."

I closed my eyes and thought about the woman I used to be. The one with plans and dreams and a backbone made of steel.

"I have conditions."

Mr. Zhang smiled. "I'm listening."

"No games. No tricks. If I'm working for you, I want complete transparency about what that means."

"Agreed."

"And I want to be involved in every decision that affects me. This isn't about Derek anymore. This is about my life."

"Also agreed."

I opened my eyes and looked at him directly. "And if you're lying to me, if this is just another game, I will find a way to destroy you."

His smile widened. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

I walked to his desk and picked up a pen. "Where do I sign?"

Just as the ink dried on the contract, the door burst open.

Derek stumbled in, wild-eyed and desperate. "Chloe, don't! I figured out his plan…"

But he stopped short when he saw the signed papers in my hand.

"Too late," Mr. Zhang said calmly. "She's already mine.”