Yifan was coming strong.  His father-in-law must have been serious about an absurd dowry from the way the older alpha was concentrating.
 

Chanyeol’s eyes hardly wavered on him, all through the four hours they had been playing.  His father-in-law never said a word about having breakfast with Kyungsoo earlier, or perhaps Yifan suspected that Chanyeol had known beforehand. 
 

When the older alpha even shook his hand and wished him good luck before the tournament started, the younger one didn’t believe him one bit.
 

Chanyeol still remained the one with the most chips, though, and they were only three participants left on the table, including the dealer, who was a German omega.
 

The board had Jack of spades, Jack of diamonds, 9 of diamonds, 5 of hearts and 9 of clubs.
 

The German’s face turned pallid. 
 

Chanyeol didn’t have to observe him to know the German was in a precarious position.
 

Yifan looked awfully satisfied with himself.  “Raise!” he announced, sneering at Chanyeol and the German, as he shoved all of his chips in.
 

The German began to fidget with the cards in his hand.  He looked over at Chanyeol’s direction.  The Kid was only staring at Yifan with a formidability that would pierce through the hardest steel.
 

“F-Fold!” The German dropped his cards and his chips on the felt.
 

It was a first in an international poker tournament that the final game was going down between two South Koreans. 
 

“What’s it going to be, sawi?” Yifan asked, almost as a taunt.  “We’ve got all night if you want to take this further.”
 

With his father-in-law’s chips, the pot was currently at $32 million Euros.  If Chanyeol was going to go all in, it had to be now.
 

That would make it 76 million Euros.
 

The faces of his loved ones flashed before his eyes—Kyungsoo’s, his mother’s, his father’s, his uncle’s, his dongseang’s… 
 

“Don’t make me choose between the two of you,” Kyungsoo had cried.  “I shouldn’t have to.”
 

“Money isn’t everything, Chanyeol-ah,” Jongdae had reminded.
 

“Let it go, adul,” his mother, Baekhyun, had begged. “You have been angry for so long.  Please don’t hurt Kyungsoo.  Promise me.”
 

Chanyeol diverted his focus from his father-in-law’s provocation and determinedly surrendered all of his chips at the center of the felt.
 

He heard Yifan exhale in gratification, as if his moment of redemption had arrived finally.
 

Chanyeol subtly studied his cards.  He had the Jack of hearts and the Jack of clubs among them.  If he were to make an educated guess, the probability was he would produce the higher full house versus his father-in-law.
 

Making it another undisputed win for The Kid.
 

“We’re happy now, aren’t we?” his omega had pleaded, wrenching his soul.  “Can we just move on from all of this?”
 

Chanyeol clenched his left fist, his wedding ring digging into his finger to the point of pain.  
 

All he had been doing was lying to his omega—about his past, about everything Kyungsoo knew of him—from the very beginning.
 

He had kissed the smaller one on the forehead, when he took him in his arms just hours ago.  “Sarang-hae.”
 

That part was pure, honest and true.
 

His love for Kyungsoo was the only thing in his life that was.
 

Goddamnit.  
 

Chanyeol slammed his cards on the table, face down, his right hand trembling as he did.
 

Yifan held his stare, half-gloating, half-vexing.
 

“Fold.” 
 

As soon as the word slipped from Chanyeol’s lips—clear and indomitable—the younger alpha aversely looked into his father-in-law’s wide-eyed, flabbergasted gaze.
 

“This year’s winner: YIFAN FROM SOUTH KOREA!!!”
 

Suddenly, Yifan was being taken to the stage to receive his grand prize, showered by cheers and congratulations, while Chanyeol fell limp on his seat, feeling hollow… and lost.
 

Why did he do that?
 

The Kid didn’t know how long he had been adrift with his dazed thoughts or had the ballroom been emptied out, when all of a sudden, he was being grabbed by the arms and dragged outside.
 

“Let go of me!” Chanyeol ordered the two bodyguards who were lugging him towards the parking lot, it seemed. 
 

“The boss wants a few words with you,” one of them said, smirking.
 

That was when Chanyeol recognized that it was the bodyguard who had punched him in the stomach back in Las Vegas.
 

“I suggest you save your breath and keep quiet, if you know what’s best for you,” the bodyguard continued, leering at him now. 
 

“What does he want from me?” Chanyeol retorted.  “More money?”
 

The Kid heard a shallow chuckle behind him.  “Sawi, sawi, sawi…”
 

Chanyeol turned around, as the bodyguards unhanded him. 
 

Yifan, surprisingly, was alone.
 

“What happened back there?” the older alpha inquired in bewilderment.
 

Chanyeol just glared at him. 
 

Yifan frowned.  “Leave us,” he barked at his bodyguards, who were startled at the command, yet scuttled out of sight in a second.  “I mean it.”
 

Once they were completely by themselves, his father-in-law narrowed his eyes at him.  “What are you up to, you punk?” he demanded, his voice rising.  “I checked your cards.  You would have won!”
 

“What is it to you?” Chanyeol snapped.  “You’re the big winner now!  Isn’t that you want?!”
 

“You're a better player than that!” Yifan shot back.  “By folding, you’ve undermined me!”
 

“You make me sick!” Chanyeol scowled.  “You almost killed me when I defeated you in Las Vegas, and now I let you win—”
 

“Shut the up, you street rat!” Yifan interrupted him, pushing against his chest.  “You choked!  That’s different from granting me a favor or offering me deliverance!  So don’t talk down on me as if that’s what you did!  Poker might just be a game to you, but it’s something much more important to me.  I have built half of my network here and I rely on the association—”
 

“For your credibility?” Chanyeol confronted, a skeptical grin uncurling his lips.  “I wasn’t aware you had any.”
 

Yifan met Chanyeol’s glare with the same intensity.  “And you do?”
 

That wiped off the sarcastic smile on Chanyeol’s face.  “This conversation is over.”  
 

“I can’t believe my child married such a spineless excuse of an alpha!  What did Kyungsoo ever see in you?!”
 

Chanyeol would rather get run over than to dignify that insult with a response.  He had an omega waiting for him upstairs and he would much prefer to return to Kyungsoo’s arms. He strode over to the service elevators in determination and pressed the up button.
 

“How dare you turn your back on me, you mannerless prick?!  I’m not finished, Chanyeol-ssi!  You are WORTHLESS, you hear?!  YOU’RE—”
 

Then he heard the older alpha give out a long, drawn-out groan, followed by a loud thud.
 

Startled, the younger one whirled around.
 

Several feet away, Yifan had collapsed on the floor.
 

AAAAIIIISSSSSHHHH!!!
 

He scanned the deserted parking