All Chapters of Turning the Tables: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1

“Maisie, this is my fault. I’ll get a job right now. I swear I’ll earn the money back.”Dad grabbed my arm, tears streaming down his face.“You old fool! How could you lose Josh, too? Do you know how hard it is to find such a good son-in-law?” Before I could stop her, Mom smacked him on the shoulder, furious.I’d heard of people gambling away money, sure. However, this was the first time a person was lost.My phone had buzzed earlier with a message from my boyfriend, Josh. [Your dad gambled me away to your cousin. Let’s break up.]He was so eager, probably wanting an excuse to dump me for ages. Now, he finally had a legitimate one.Dad opened his mouth again, but Mom swatted him before a single word came out. “Enough! You lost everything, and you still dare talk?”Then she patted my shoulder. “You’ve always been a level-headed kid. I trust you.”So, the three of us headed to my cousin Taylor’s place. The moment she saw us, a smug, gloating smile appeared.“Auntie Patricia, Unc

Chapter 2

Now it was my turn to get impatient. “What does it matter to you? So, are we playing or not? If you’re not interested, I’m leaving.”I gathered my things and turned to walk out, but Taylor rushed over and yanked me back toward the house. “Of course, we’re playing! Don’t be mad, Maisie.”The three of us entered the living room. Josh was sitting on the couch, scrolling on his phone.“Come on, Maisie. You don’t even know how to play cards. Aren’t you basically just giving me free money?” Taylor smirked.“Then let’s play something I can play.”Taylor thought for a moment before saying, “Dice, then. It’s easy. If you’ve got hands, you’re qualified. You at least know how to compare totals, right?”I nodded. “That works. Let’s start.”Then, I walked straight to the card table and sat down on the side against the wall.“Oh, Maisie, you’re challenging Taylor at dice? You’ve already lost. Taylor’s the queen of dice. Even the pros can’t beat her.”My aunt and uncle stared greedily at my

Chapter 3

However, even the kindest person has a limit. Losing money wasn’t something to be ashamed of.Mom took a deep breath, steadied herself, then came over to pull me up.“Come on. We’re going home. We’re not taking part in this anymore!”I let her pull me to my feet.Taylor, seeing I was about to leave, immediately shouted, “Wait!“Let’s go big this time. Yesterday, Uncle Paul lost half a million. If you win this round, I’ll give it all back.”I pulled my arm free from Mom’s grip. “Fine. I’ll play.”“But, Maisie, do you have any money left?”I took out my property deed and said bluntly, “Let’s cut the crap. This is what you really want, right?”I had bought the house for my marriage, and though it wasn’t much, it had cost me over five hundred thousand.“No! We are not putting the house on the line!” Mom snatched the deed instantly.“Patricia, what are you screaming about? Taylor is doing you a favor by even agreeing to play with you. Who wants your tiny half-million shack? Taylo

Chapter 4

Inside my dice cup, all five dice stood straight up, vertically stacked, and facing Taylor’s side, with every single one showing a three.This meant all five dice had landed on the exact same number, either all ones or all sixes.“Impossible! How could you roll a full vertical stack?” my aunt shrieked.Taylor was slightly calmer. The top die facing her was a six, but that didn’t guarantee the ones underneath weren’t ones. If even one of them were a one, I’d lose.She scoffed. “What a joke. Did you learn that trick from some internet tutorial? That only fools amateurs, not me.”I lifted the first die, which showed a six. The second was another six, and the same for the third and fourth.Now, only one die remained. If it were six, I’d win. If it were one, I’d lose.Taylor’s confidence was crumbling, her brows knitting together.“Hurry up and open it! Stop trying to be dramatic. There’s no way it’s another six!”I lifted the final die, and there it was—a six.I won.Taylor star

Chapter 5

Never expecting that someone like me, as broke as I was, would accuse her of lying, Taylor instantly exploded. She stormed into her room, came back dragging a huge suitcase, and popped it open right in front of us.Inside were stacks and stacks of cash, bundled tight.Her expression shifted back to that smug look of hers. “Well? Scared now? I’ve got more money than I can spend. What exactly are you using to fight me?”The next round started immediately.This time, Taylor went all out. She rolled four sixes and a five.“You might as well give up. There’s no way you can roll five sixes again.”However, just like she wanted, I rolled exactly five sixes. Not more, not less, and just enough to beat her.Taylor was shocked. “No way! You cheated! How can you get five sixes every time? You must be cheating!”I lifted both hands. “The dice are yours. We’re in your house. How exactly can I cheat?”It was the truth. So Taylor deflated, though she still spat venom on her way down. “It’s j

Chapter 6

My aunt and uncle were finally panicking. They rushed toward Taylor to persuade her, terrified of losing everything they owned.“Taylor, stop already. If you keep playing, our whole family’s going to go bankrupt.”However, slipping away now was impossible.Last night, Dad lost every dollar he had to them, even refusing to lend him two bucks for the bus. He had to walk several hours in the dark just to get home.Since they were that ruthless, I had no choice but to wipe them out completely.“Auntie Patricia, Taylor is someone who makes a ton of money. As a small-town woman who’s never seen the world, how would you understand? You have to risk something to gain something.”Taylor was already irritated. She shot my aunt a vicious glare. “You know nothing, so shut up. The clothes on your back and the food you eat were all bought by me. What right do you have to tell me what to do?”I nodded, satisfied. “Taylor, are we continuing or not?”“Of course! You didn’t seriously think I’m o

Chapter 7

Of course, my aunt and uncle were reluctant. Those were their burial money. If they lost that too, they’d have nothing left.However, Taylor wasn’t about to give them a chance to hesitate. “Hurry up and bring it all here! I’m winning this time!”She tossed a Hermès bag and a bank card onto the table. My aunt’s face went pale with shock.“Didn’t you say that money belonged to Mr. Smith? How dare you spend it!”Whoever Mr. Smith or Mr. Johnson ‌was mattered not to me. The only thing I cared about was whether she actually had enough to keep betting.“What are you afraid of? I’m winning this round anyway! If I didn’t have confidence, would I dare put this on the table?”Taylor was brimming with certainty. So, my aunt and uncle could only convince themselves to trust her. After all, if you’re betting big, why stop halfway? Only a fool would refuse the chance to turn pennies into millions.The three of them tore the house apart looking for valuables. God knows what Taylor had been doi

Chapter 8

My aunt and uncle dragged my parents aside. “Shut up! One more word and you’re out of my house!”Since this was the final round, the room fell into a suffocating silence, quiet enough that a pin drop would echo.At the same time, Taylor and I picked up our dice cups, and the crisp clatter of dice bouncing inside filled the room.She stared at me dead in the eye. Neither of us wanted to put our cup down first.My arm was starting to go numb from shaking. I couldn’t be bothered to drag it out anymore and shouted, “Open!”Taylor held her breath and slowly lifted her cup. One by one, the dice came into view.The first die was a six. The second one was another six. The third and fourth—also six.My aunt, unable to hold back, started celebrating.“All sixes! Maisie, you’re finished! Hahaha! You think you can beat us? You? Really?”Taylor’s expression brightened, too. She’d thrown everything she had into this last round for this exact moment.She lifted her hand and revealed the f

Chapter 9

Seeing that we weren’t giving in, my aunt finally stopped begging. Her expression twisted with anger, and suddenly she shot to her feet and rushed into the kitchen.The next second, she came back out holding a kitchen knife!“If you don’t leave the money here today, none of you are walking out of this house!!”The blade was sharp, catching the light with a distant glint.My parents instantly stepped in front of me, shouting, “What are you doing? Put the knife down and calm down! It’s just money. You don’t need to throw your life away and go to jail!”However, the moment Taylor saw her mom grab a knife, she panicked and grabbed one too, pointing it straight at us.“If you take all the money, we’re as good as dead! So don’t blame us if we fight for it. Put the money down!”This whole family really would rather die for cash.I raised both hands quickly. “Okay, okay, don’t be impulsive! We won’t take the money!”Even with giving up the thirty million, we’d still have the eight mil

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