Chapter 2

The air around the table came to a brief standstill. Alissa seemed to tighten her grasp on Rhys' hand slightly, frowning as she shot me a glare of displeasure and warning.

Initially, Rhys was taken aback. But thereafter, he ruffled Alissa's hair and said, "Sure. Since Mr. Fisher wishes to participate, we'd better make sure he has fun."

Winifred jumped in to smooth the tension.

"That's right. It's all in good fun. Let's keep the energy up! Mr. Fisher, the rules are very simple. We roll for the highest number. The one with the lowest roll takes a shot and has to pick an item from the pot to give to the highest roller as a wedding gift."

She pointed at the pile of branded watches and jewelry on the table and continued, "Of course, if you are too attached to your things, you can choose to just drink and not pick a gift. But where's the fun in that?"

I nodded, indicating that I understood the rules.

Dice cups were distributed to everyone.

In a practiced manner, Rhys shook his dice cup. Meanwhile, Alissa shook hers briefly before planting it down on the table, her gaze fixed on me the entire time.

I turned away, avoiding the fiery gaze of hers. When I picked up my dice cup, my movements were clearly amateurish, even a little clumsy. During a sudden lull in the music, I could hear some of the chatter around.

"Stanley is well-known for being a textbook workaholic, a complete bore. What is he even doing here? Talk about a total buzzkill."

"Of course, he's here to stake his claim, except Alissa isn't even showing him any respect."

I wasn't looking too pleased. Rhys let out a chuckle and asked, "Mr. Fisher, shall I teach you how to shake the dice cup like a pro?"

I ignored him. I simply mimicked everyone else and gave the cup a few shakes before placing it down gently.

"Open 'em."

The dice cups were lifted.

Rhys rolled a five and a six, bringing his total to 11. Alissa had two fives, making her total ten. Everyone else rolled varying numbers, with some totals being high while others were low.

Lastly, it was my turn. I lifted my dice cup, revealing a one and a two, totaling a score of three. Instantly, everyone around the table burst into laughter.

"Three points! That's the lowest!"

"Mr. Fisher, your luck is something else…"

Winifred held back her laughter as she pushed a glass of liquor toward me. "Losers pay. Drink up. Also…"

She eyed the cufflinks on the table.

Then, Alissa finally spoke up in a frigid voice. "Don't force it if you're not one to play. Drink up."

Rhys beamed from ear to ear as he chimed in, "It was only your first roll, and you've already rolled such a low number. It seems like you're gonna have to spend a lot on our congratulatory gift tonight, Mr. Fisher.

"The quality of these cufflinks looks pretty decent indeed. Don't mind if I do, alright?"

I stared at the glass of liquor, then glanced toward those cufflinks of mine. Those were a custom set that Alissa had purchased for me previously after buying heaps of other items to meet the minimum purchase requirement.

At the time, she said she wanted to give me the best of everything in the world.

I let out a self-deprecating laugh, gently pushing the pair of cufflinks to the center of the table, right toward Rhys.

"A bet is a bet."

I lifted my eyes and continued in a flat tone, "Here's your congratulatory gift."

Alissa's face dropped instantly. Rhys reached out and picked up the set of cufflinks with a smile. As he admired them closely under the lights, he said, "Thank you, Mr. Fisher. These look really nice."

Winifred chimed in eagerly, "Come on, everyone. It's time for round two!"

The game continued.

Rhys rolled a nine—a decent score. However, next in turn, Alissa rolled a total of 12 points, the highest possible roll.

"Wow, that's amazing, darling!" Rhys exclaimed chirpily.

The way he addressed her as "darling" sounded so well-practiced. Once again, my expression darkened.

Everyone else began cheering as well. Then, Wiifred explained with a smile, "According to the rules of our drinking game, getting the highest-possible roll grants you a chance to pick any item from the pot."

Instead of looking at me, Alissa snuggled closer to Rhys and cooed, "In that case, I'll let my husband for the night take his pick. What would you like?"

Rhys scanned the table in front of me before his gaze finally landed on the plain-looking watch on my wrist.

"Mr. Fisher's watch looks pretty exquisite. Let's go with that, shall we?"

Almost imperceptibly, the hand I held my glass with froze. This watch was an item my grandfather left for me before he passed. It might not be worth much, but I always had it with me.

Alissa most certainly was aware of this fact.

Silence befell around the table for a moment before Rhys spoke up again. "What's wrong? Didn't you say I could pick anything I wished? Mr. Fisher, you're not a sore loser, are you? Or—"

I opened my mouth to respond, but Alissa interjected coldly, "Those are the rules of the drinking game. A bet is a bet. Hand it over, Stanley."

I snapped my head up.