My Elite Fiancé Gamed Love; Now Bettors Must Pay Up

Before the wedding, my fianc Stanley Delgado invited every family of the New York elite circle out on a yacht for a bachelor party at sea.

Halfway through the voyage, he lost his footing and fell into the ocean.

The lifeguard on board was nowhere to be found, and not one person there went in after him.

I have a deep-water phobia, but I jumped without a second thought. Between the swells of the waves, I saw Stanley Delgado standing at the bow, laughing without a care.

"Sophie, this bet, I win."

Sophie Pruitt pouted.

"Fine, a bet's a bet. I'll agree not to go abroad for an arranged marriage, all right?"

The waves kept slapping my face, salty water closing over my mouth and nose, my strength draining until I slowly stopped struggling.

So my life was nothing more than a wager between them.

Ten minutes later, the lifeguard finally hauled me back onto the yacht.

Stanley Delgado wrapped a blanket tight around me and kissed the corner of my lips.

"Penelope, you conquered your fear to save me. I'm really touched."

Then I felt a warm stream running down the inside of my thigh, and my heart lurched.

"The baby! Get me to a hospital, now."

Stanley Delgado saw the blood on my hand and went white. He was about to tell the captain to turn the yacht back to shore.

But Sophie Pruitt cut in.

"It's just her period. You two always use protection, how could she possibly be pregnant?"

Stanley Delgado's face darkened.

"Penelope, be reasonable. Don't ruin the mood for everyone."

The yacht kept driving deeper out to sea. I pressed the button on the back of my necklace.

Once that person arrived, they wouldn't have time to regret it...

...

I grabbed Stanley Delgado's sleeve and took out of my bag the surprise I'd meant to give him on the wedding day.

"These are the test results from my hospital visit two weeks ago."

"Stanley Delgado, I wasn't lying to you."

The blanket was around me, but the cold, sea-damp night air seeped into my skin, and I couldn't stop shaking.

Now everything went silent.

Sophie Pruitt's heels clicked across the deck.

She snatched the report out of my hand and gave a little twist of her lips.

"This date on the report, isn't it the exact day Stanley knelt outside the old Delgado estate to marry you?"

"This faked report is obviously your way of forcing a marriage on old Mr. Delgado."

"Penelope, you really don't need to trick Stanley with this, do you?"

Stanley Delgado glanced at the report in Sophie Pruitt's hand and let out a soft sigh.

"Penelope, I didn't bet on you on purpose."

"It's just that nobody believed you actually loved me. They kept insisting you were only with me for money and power."

"Sophie only did it to help you prove your feelings for me to everyone."

As he spoke, he reached out to pull me in.

"All right, I know I was wrong. Go to the room and change, don't catch a chill."

I stepped back, and his hand froze in the air.

Just one step, and the tug on my lower belly sent a dense sting spreading through it, blood dripping down my thigh onto the deck.

I forced my head up through the pain.

"Turn the yacht around now. Once we reach the hospital, you'll know soon enough what's true."

Seeing the hesitation on Stanley Delgado's face, Sophie Pruitt spoke up.

"Penelope, I've apologized to you, isn't that enough?"

"It's not often everyone gets together. The party hasn't even started. Going back now would really ruin it, wouldn't it?"

A few of the other guys looked impatient.

"Come on, you're marrying the boss. Stanley only made this bet with Sophie because he wanted to prove your feelings to everyone."

"Stanley's the golden heir of the New York elite circle, and he's marrying you, an orphan with no one behind her. Anybody would doubt whether you really loved him."

"See, I told you she's not one of us. Can't even take a little joke. So petty."

"Sophie's better. She comes out with us and never makes such a fuss."

Stanley Delgado raised a hand to shut them up.

"Penelope, don't listen to their nonsense. Change out of those wet clothes first."

I stared into his eyes.

"You think I'm lying to you too?"

Stanley Delgado avoided my gaze and didn't answer.

Sophie Pruitt suddenly hurried over and climbed over the deck railing.

"Penelope Sullivan, don't put Stanley in a hard spot! I'll jump in the sea too, then we're even, all right?"

And she flung herself off, plunging into the water.

"Sophie!"

Stanley Delgado went in after her like a madman, caught her, and carried her back onto the yacht.

"Penelope Sullivan, you know perfectly well Sophie's health is fragile, and you still forced her to jump into freezing water in the middle of the night?"

I pressed both hands over my belly.

"Didn't you make me jump too?"

"You're strong."

"But I'm carrying your child."

Stanley Delgado's brow knotted, his lips pressing into a flat line.

"I used protection every single time. There's no way you're pregnant, unless... the child isn't mine."

The whole crowd turned their mocking eyes on me at once.

I looked at the blood dripping at my feet like scattered petals, and I swallowed the explanation back down my throat.

"The wedding's off. Let's break up."

"Penelope Sullivan!"

Frost lay thin and cold over Stanley's face.

"Everyone in the New York circle knows I knelt outside the old Delgado estate for three days and three nights to marry you. And now you say the wedding's off, just like that?"

"I threw away my dignity for you, and you want to break up over one stupid bet?"

My hands tightened around the blanket, inch by inch.

"This betif you'd lost it, what was the penalty?"

Sophie answered for him.

"If you hadn't jumped in to save Stanley just now, Stanley would have had to crash my wedding and stop me from marrying the man in the alliance match."

I bit my lip.

"So win or lose, the whole point of this bet was to stop Sophie from marrying someone else."

Clark Chavez, the ringleader of the friend group, laughed out loud.

"You're only figuring that out now? Sophie and Stanley grew up together, childhood sweethearts. There's no way he'd ever let her marry another man."

"If you hadn't shoved your way in, Stanley would've had Sophie in the Delgado family a long time ago."

"Clark, nobody thinks you're mute just because you keep quiet."

Stanley only shot him a light glance.

Clark shut his mouth at once.

Then Stanley walked over to me and took my hand.

"Penelope, the one I've always meant to marry is you. Sophie is just a little sister to me. They've got it all wrong."

Sophie stood behind him, her eyes dark with resentment.

Just as Stanley and I were still locked in the standoff, she suddenly stepped forward.

"Penelope, I actually brought a change of clothes and some pads. The wind's strong out herelet me take you to the lounge to change first."

Not giving me any room to refuse, she forced her arm around mine and steered me toward the lounge.

Stanley let out a breath.

"Sophie, thank you for this."

The hand hooked through my arm dug in secretly, her long nails gouging into me until it hurt.

She leaned close to my ear and lowered her voice.

"You know why Stanley doesn't believe you're pregnant?"

I turned my head to look at her.

The corner of her mouth curled into a nasty little smile.

"That party where he drank until he blacked outyou took the early flight out the next morning. After you left, I went into his hotel room."

"He thinks that night was with me"

My steps stalled.

No wonder that after that night, Stanley had bid three times over market price at the auction to win the pearl necklace I'd had my eye on.

It wasn't a gift. It was compensation, from a man who thought he'd done something wrong.

I yanked my arm hard out of Sophie's grip.

She didn't resist. Instead she deliberately made it look as if I'd shoved her, staggering and crashing down hard onto the deck.

Her forehead struck the boards, going red.

Stanley heard it and came flying over, pushing me out of his way and pulling Sophie up off the deck into his arms.

"Penelope Sullivan! Why did you push Sophie?"

I hit the deck, and the pain tore through my belly again.

"I didn't push Sophie. She said the party two months ago"

"Stanley."

Curled in his arms, Sophie's voice broke.

"I was only trying to be kind and take Penelope to change, and she's still holding a grudge about the bet you and I made. She just went after me out of nowhere."

At that, Stanley turned a cold stare on me.

"Penelope Sullivan, you're the future Mrs. Delgado of the Delgado family. If you're angry, say so. Don't vent your feelings with cheap, gutter tricks like this."

Sophie glanced timidly at Stanley, then spoke, her voice trembling.

"Penelope, if you're still angry about the bet, fineI'll bet you again."

My chest heaved.

"How do we bet?"

Sophie stepped out of Stanley's arms and pointed at the dice on the table nearby.

"Roll dice. Six dice each, highest total wins."

"You wanted the yacht to turn back, didn't you? The loser jumps into the sea and swims back to shore from here."

There was no fear in her eyes, only excitement she couldn't hold down.

"Penelope Sullivan, do you dare?"

I was about to accept when Stanley cut in sharply.

"Stop this nonsense. The bet doesn't work. We're a hundred nautical miles from the harbor. How is anyone supposed to swim back?"

"Stanley, relax. Of course we won't actually make her swim all the way."

Sophie hooked her little finger around his, then tilted her head toward me.

"We'll have a lifeguard follow alongside in a rescue boat the whole way. If she runs out of strength, she can climb in and ride back."

"Penelope, what do you say?"

I stood and looked at her, long and hard.

"I'll take the bet."

Sophie didn't know I came from a gambling dynasty. Rolling dice was child's play to me.

No one had ever beaten me at a table. Not one.

In the lounge I peeled off the bloodstained clothes without a flicker of expression and changed into something clean.

I would settle this account in full.

Ten minutes later everyone gathered on the deck again.

Two dice cups and twelve dice sat on the table.

Clark stepped up, inspected everything, then nodded to Stanley.

"All clean."

Stanley rapped two fingers on the table.

"It's only a game. Don't take it too seriously."

Sophie smiled, stepped forward, and picked up the cup on the right along with six dice.

"You don't mind if I choose my cup first, do you?"

I said nothing and took the remaining cup and dice.

The moment Clark called the start, Sophie and I began shaking our cups at the same time.

I kept my ear on the sound of the dice inside her cup, and a cold smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.

Cheap tricks.

Sophie slammed her cup down on the table first.

The dice settled.

I heard the numbers inside.

Five fives and a four.

She'd played that swindle carefully.

Sophie smiled at me.

"Penelope, still haven't rolled a number you like?"

The instant she said it, Clark and his crew burst out laughing.

"Sophie, that's harsh, showing his wife up like that, ha ha ha."

"If you ask me, she doesn't know the first thing about dice."

"Just concede now. With Stanley here, we're not really going to force you into the water to swim back."

Sophie turned to Stanley.

"Stanley, if Penelope concedes now and apologizes to me, we'll call the whole bet off."

Stanley looked at me.

I set my cup down.

"Concede isn't a word I know. And that fall earlier was your own little performance, so what exactly would I be apologizing for?"

Sophie lifted her cup, all confidence.

"Penelope, I gave you a way out. You're the one who wouldn't take it."

Clark pointed at the dice in front of her.

"Five fives and a four, twenty-nine points! Sophie's got this locked!"

Stanley came over and pressed my hand flat against my cup.

"Penelope, concede now and what I said still stands."

I shoved his hand off, hard.

Lifted the cup.

Everyone stared at the dice in front of me and drew a sharp breath.

"Six fives. Thirty points. Penelope wins."

Sophie's eyes went wide with disbelief.

"That's impossible."

"You did something to your cup!"

I ran a fingertip across the cup on the table.

"Clark inspected everything on this table in front of all of you. Are you saying he covered for me?"

"I did not!"

Clark burst in, agitated.

"I checked the cups and the dice carefully. There's nothing wrong with them."

I gestured toward the sea behind me.

"Sophie, you lost."

Sophie clenched her teeth, two flames of fury dancing in her eyes.

"One more round. I'm raising the stakes."

"The loser spends three days and three nights with Clark and his brothers on the yacht. They can do whatever they want."

I stared at her, then smiled.

"Fine. One more round."

Stanley's brow knotted, displeasure plain on his face.

"I don't agree. This bet's gone too far."

He looked at how pale I was and reached out to feel my forehead for fever.

"Penelope, are you not feeling well?"

I dodged his hand.

"That's none of your business."

"Stanley, it's a pre-wedding bachelor party. It's just for fun."

Sophie shot Clark a look.

"Whether I lose or Penelope loses, Clark and the others won't actually do anything to either of us. This bet is just a bit of theater."

Clark jumped in at once.

"Right, Stanley, we'd never dare do anything to Sophie or your wife."

"You know Sophie loves a bet. Let her have her fun this one last time before the wedding."

Only then did Stanley relent.

"One final round. And we stop there."

I watched the ugly gleam in Clark and his friends' eyes and clenched my fists.

If I really fell into their hands, they'd either play me to death or peel a layer off me first.

The game went on.

Sophie cupped the dice in her palm and held them out to Stanley.

"Stanley, blow on them for me. Let me borrow some luck from my lucky man."

Stanley smiled and ruffled the top of Sophie's hair, then bent slightly and blew softly over the dice in her palm.

I stared at the sight in front of me.

And suddenly I remembered meeting Stanley for the first time, three years ago.

Back then Stanley had been set up at a casino in Las Vegas, nearly gambling the entire Delgado family away at the table.

It was me who sat down at that table and won it all back for him.

Back then he'd blown on my palm the very same way.

"Penelope Sullivan, I'm putting my life and the Delgados' in your hands. I trust you."

And that was the day we fell for each other at first sight.

Nothing left in the room but the sound of dice rattling in the cups.

The next second, my cup and Sophie's came down on the table at the same time.

Sophie lifted her cup with a smile.

"Six sixes. Thirty-six."

"Penelope, you lose."

My hand stayed on my cup without moving. My eyes went to Stanley.

"Sophie's dice are rigged. You were leaning in close just now, so you must have seen it."

Beside her, Clark and the others changed color in an instant.

Stanley felt Sophie trembling and reached out, patting her back to soothe her.

"There's nothing wrong with the dice."

He looked at me.

"Penelope, it's just a game. Don't be a sore loser."

I looked at the ease in Stanley's eyes and my throat tightened.

Back then, when he was set up at the casino, it was six rigged dice that did it. And now, to shield Sophie, he was lying straight to my face.

It was too ironic.

I drew a deep breath.

"If I lose, I'm the one who gets kept on this yacht to keep those good buddies of yours company."

Stanley cut in coldly.

"They won't hurt you."

"You agreed to play this round with Sophie, so you have to accept the outcome."

I stared at him.

"If Sophie were the one who lost, you'd make her stay too, right?"

Stanley tugged at his collar.

"Of course."

Sophie put on an innocent little smile.

"I proposed the bet, so of course I'll honor it."

"But if you'll just admit you faked the pregnancy to trick Stanley, I might consider letting you off this once."

I said nothing.

I opened the cup in my hand.

The next second, the room went dead silent.

Every eye locked onto my dice, faces frozen in shock.

Five of the dice showed six, and the last one had split clean in two, one half a six, the other a one.

Thirty-seven in all.

The smile froze on Sophie's lips.

"Thisthis is impossible. How could you"

I lifted my chin.

"This round, I won again."