"You lost," Mason pronounced again. "Losing is losing."
He added nothing more. He turned on his heel and left the second floor without looking back, leaving a thick silence behind him. His steps descended the staircase like a final verdict. Luke stood frozen, rooted to the spot, his last fragile hope in pieces.
All at once, the air turned hostile.
Victoria was the first to break the silence, crossing her arms with a smile full of irony.
"Well," she said. "Looks like money isn't the only thing you lose tonight."
Theo leaned back on the sofa, watching him with an almost cruel calm. Paul, propped against the railing, shook his head like a man witnessing a pathetic spectacle that no longer even made him laugh.
Luke swallowed. Surrounded by mocking looks, he felt for the first time the real weight of being cut loose. Without Mason at his side, with no one willing to step in, he understood he was alone.
"Listen…" he stammered. "There's no need to take it this far. It was a joke, that's all."
"A joke?" Victoria replied. "You don't make jokes with bets like that."
Luke clenched his fists. Pride burned in his throat, but fear won out.
"Just this once," he said, dropping his voice. "Let it slide. I'm asking you."
Theo got to his feet.
"No."
Paul shook his head too.
"No."
Victoria smiled, satisfied.
"Learn something today, Luke. Nobody forced you to sit down at that table."
The refusals were unanimous. There was no room to negotiate.
Meanwhile, far from the spotlight of the second floor, Lauren slipped discreetly toward the bar's side exit. Taking advantage of all the attention still fixed on the scene upstairs, she crossed the narrow hallway and pushed open the metal door that led to the alley.
The night air of New York wrapped around her at once. She took out her phone and checked her messages. Richard had already answered: the driver was on his way. She'd also texted Victoria, letting her know she was leaving early.
She was tucking the phone into her bag when she heard a vo…
After the Divorce, My Ex-Wife Turned Out to Be a Billionaire
Chapter 28: The Price of Losing
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