?Chapter 343:


    The moment hisst syble hit the air, a soft but sharp voice sliced through it like a knife. “I will.”


    Two words. Calm. Unshaken. But they hit like thunder.


    Heads turned instantly.


    Everyone looked toward the voice and stopped breathing. A woman stood there, absolutely stunning. She looked like she’d stepped straight out of a fantasy. She was unfairly beautiful.


    “Hah! Which idiot just said—” The lean man whipped his head around, his taunting grin freezing mid-sentence. His jaw dropped. He stared at her like she was a goddess carved from marble. He couldn’t bring himself to tear his eyes away from her.


    “What’s she doing here? This ain’t women’s business,” someone mumbled from the back, their voice dripping with outdated misogyny. It was as if the world had silently agreed on certain unspoken rules that defined certain things as a man’s domain.


    The lean man looked like he’d forgotten how to blink. His eyes were wide, his mouth half-open. He was practically drooling. If his eyeballs had popped out and stuck to her, no one would have been surprised.


    “Y-You wanna y against me?” he stammered, tripping over his words.


    Christina didn’t even blink. “Yeah. I do.”


    The elderly man who had just lost his money gave Christina a quiet once-over. His eyes shed with something sharp. She definitely had guts. But guts weren’t enough to beat a cheater. Did she have real skills? That lean bastard had been rigging the game from the start. Taking him down wasn’t going to be simple. Not by a long shot.


    Christina walked ahead, not missing a beat. People automatically moved out of her way, their eyes full of curiosity and disbelief.


    “Miss, don’t,” the elderly man pleaded, stepping in front of Christina. The calm he had earlier was gone. “That guy’s good. I’ve already taken the loss—don’t get involved.” His eyes were red, and his face seemed to have aged ten years. Losing that money had clearly hurt. It was probably everyst penny he had.


    “Rx,” Christina said with a small smirk. “I’m not just getting your money back. I’m sending you home with extra.”


    Your favorite tales are on gα?ησν????s??оnn


    The whole crowd sucked in a breath.


    The lean manughed out loud, looking her up and down as though she were a joke. “You? You think you’re gonna beat me?”


    “Yeah, me,” she replied, her voice smooth as ss—no fear, no hesitation.


    The lean man smirked, shaking his head in amusement. “Tell you what—I’ll even give you three chances. If you can win one round out of three, I’ll call it your victory!”


    The lean man was confident he could crush her. What could a woman know about the game? She was doomed to lose. People around them started running their mouths.


    “Miss, don’t do this. Plenty of others tried. Nobody’s ever beaten him.”


    “Yeah, he’s slick. You won’t make it past one round.”


    “Be real. What are you even doing here? Shouldn’t you be home feeding a baby or foldingundry or something?”


    .


    .


    .