Chapter 21

The other gamblers, who had just been about to place their bets, turned to stare at her in unison. Occupants of surrounding tables also turned to look.

Lily furrowed her brows. What, did she do something wrong?

Next to her, Shu Kori shook his head and forced a smile. This table was supposed to be for smaller stakes, but Lily's move suddenly brought the pool up $50,000 USD. How could that still be considered "small"? The entire table wasn't even worth that much. Her excessive bet had turned everyone's attention on them.

"What is everyone looking at? Never seen such a huge bet? Hurry up and place your bets," Shu Kori said. There was a smile on his face, but his voice was cold.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "Huge"? Her bet was considered huge? And there she was thinking it was small — after all, she'd just lost a million dollars.

"Small."

And there went her $50,000. Lily didn't react, save for a shrug of her shoulders. She was out of chips… she needed to go buy more.

Shu Kori ignored the rest of the players, who were currently elatedly dividing up their winnings. He was too busy observing the thirsty gleam that had appeared in Lily's eyes. Without a second thought, he grabbed her and dragged both of them far away from the table.

It was his fault. He shouldn't have brought her to such a small stakes table knowing that she was rich and had a tendency to spend extravagantly. Thanks to that, now all the other gamblers had their attention set on them — he had made a serious blunder.

"What are you doing? I didn't say I wanted to leave," Lily complained as Shu Kori dragged her out of the casino.

"You don't even know how to play, what's the point of staying? Come on, I'll take you somewhere better. Gambling isn't all there is to Las Vegas," Shu Kori said. He mind flashed back to the hungry, thirsty looks of the other players back at the casino. They had looked like they wanted to tear into Lily like she was a piece of meat, their eyes glimmering with dollar signs. A moving, beautiful gem like her was rare in such a chaotic place; a highly-coveted object.

Lily scowled. "You're not about to tell me you brought me here to look at the stars, are you?"

"Star-gazing?" Shu Kori couldn't help but laugh. "Please don't associate me with such tacky ideas. Those overly romantic things are below me. I'm just an average person! That stuff is too much for me."

His face was filled with repulsion. Lily took a look around at the bright lights shining throughout the city around them and then raised her head towards the blurry sky above. Although the sand swirling around in the air from the nearby desert didn't completely blot out the sky, there was still nothing to see in the dark, vague abyss overhead.

"We're here."

Dragged over to a chair by Shu Kori, Lily looked at him with her eyebrows raised. "I'm not into this intimate evening chat stuff."

"Do I look like someone who's into that?" He asked with a laugh. "I told you, I'm just a regular guy, I don't do over-the-top things."

"This is a Chinese restaurant, the food's pretty decent. Try it."

Lily eyed the dubious-looking black contents of the dish Shu Kori was pointing at and grabbed some with her chopsticks. After a few bites, she shook her head appreciatively. It was delicious, and the taste was incredibly authentic.

Her satisfaction and subsequent enthusiasm put a smile on Shu Kori's face, and he too picked up his chopsticks and joined her. He had known from the first moment he met her that she wasn't a pretentious person. Her carefree nature and unaffected manner was both the source of his frustration and what drew him to her.

He could pretty much gather, from the car racing incident, that although she appeared distant and aloof on the surface, she was a principled and kind person underneath. He was determined to keep such a woman within his sights.

Clack!

Suddenly, both Lily and Shu Kori's chopsticks clicked together as they both reached for the last piece of codfish. Lily smirked at him. "Manners, manners."

He shook his head. "A man can't satiate himself with manners," he deadpanned. After a while, he smiled at her and added, "But if someone were my girlfriend, I could make an exception."

Lily scoffed, and he continued, "I'd give you anything you wanted if you were my girlfriend. And with my protection, even the Blue Clan wouldn't touch you."

The implication behind his words was not lost on her. Lily concluded that the man sitting in front of her was certainly well-connected. Regardless, she rolled her eyes and laughed. "So are you paying for this meal or am I?"

Shu Kori raised his eyebrows at her sudden change of topic. "And if I say you are?" He asked.

"Then I'd tell you to forget me being your girlfriend," she replied with humor, "because, as they say, guests should appease their hosts."