Chapter 145: You’ll get better with practice

"Sorry, Luca." Claire dusted the crumbs from her hands and walked over with an amused smile. "Looks like you missed your chance to eat."

Luca had given it everything he had.

He had bluffed.

He had strategized.

He had even silently prayed before drawing his last card.

Yet none of it mattered.

He had finally come to accept one painful truth.

Cards simply weren’t his thing.

Perhaps he was better off babysitting Karlo than playing a game of poker.

Meanwhile, Luca slowly lifted his head and glanced around the room.

Every single guard was happily devouring fried chicken, burgers, and fries.

As for him...

Not even a single french fry remained.

...Not even one?

His gaze lingered on the empty bucket of fried chicken.

I never wanted to eat in the first place.

But why does watching them eat make me so hungry?

His eyes followed a guard taking a huge bite out of the last drumstick.

It’s been so long since I’ve had fried chicken...

His heart cried.

His face, however, remained as expressionless as ever.

He cleared his throat.

"Ahem."

"It’s fine," Luca said calmly. "I wasn’t hungry anyway."

Claire blinked before looking at his stomach.

Right on cue...

Grrr...

The loud growl echoed through the room.

Silence.

One by one, the guards slowly turned toward their boss.

Luca froze.

"..."

Without missing a beat, Claire smiled sweetly.

"Oh?"

"I think your stomach disagrees."

A few guards instantly bit their lips to stop themselves from laughing.

One failed miserably and let out a loud snort.

Another quickly pretended to cough.

Luca shot them a deadly glare.

Everyone immediately lowered their heads.

Claire, however, wasn’t intimidated in the slightest.

She reached into the empty food bag, turned it upside down, and shook it dramatically.

Not even a crumb fell out.

She sighed.

"What a shame."

"If only someone had won the last round."

Luca clenched his jaw.

"I’ll remember this."

Claire grinned.

"I hope so."

"Next time, eat first...and challenge us later."

The room erupted with laughter once again, while Luca stood there in silence.

For the first time in years, Karlo’s feared right-hand man wasn’t defeated by bullets or enemies...

He was defeated by a deck of cards...and an empty bucket of fried chicken.

Clara watched Luca in silence before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small candy bar.

"Well," she said with a smile, "if you couldn’t have fried chicken... I might as well reward all your hard work with this."

She held it out to him.

Luca stared at the candy for a moment.

His pride had already taken enough damage today. Accepting a consolation prize would only make it worse.

"I appreciate it, Miss Claire, but—"

Before he could finish, one of the guards grinned.

"Boss, just take it. Miss Claire has excellent taste in food. I’m sure the candy is just as good."

A few others nodded in agreement.

Luca’s lips twitched.

"I said I don’t—"

Without warning, Clara unwrapped the candy and popped it straight into his mouth.

"There," she said with a satisfied smile. "Don’t be so upset. You’ll get better with practice."

"..."

Luca blinked in surprise.

He looked at Clara, who was smiling as though comforting a child who had lost his favorite toy.

After a long moment, he sighed in defeat.

"...I’m only eating it because you insisted."

"Sure you are," Clara replied, waving her hand dismissively.

The room filled with quiet chuckles.

Luca reluctantly chewed the candy.

...It actually tastes pretty good.

Just as everyone finished eating, the lounge door suddenly swung open.

Don stepped inside.

The cheerful atmosphere vanished.

His eyes swept across the room, widening in disbelief.

"What... happened here?"

His gaze landed on the empty food boxes, crumpled wrappers, and guards hurriedly wiping sauce from their mouths.

His expression darkened.

Only moments ago, they had been mourning Marco’s death.

Yet now...

It looked as though they had thrown a party.

Luca immediately cleared his throat and straightened his suit.

Don ignored the mess and looked directly at him.

"Boss, Mr. Karlo wants Miss Claire brought to the main office."

The moment Karlo’s name was mentioned, every smile disappeared.

The laughter died.

The guards instantly returned to their disciplined, emotionless selves, standing as if the card game had never happened.

Luca gave a single nod.

"Understood."

Don’s gaze shifted to Clara, who simply smiled and gave him a small wave.

He frowned slightly.

For a brief moment, curiosity crossed his mind.

Just who... was this woman?

Whatever the answer was, one thing was certain.

She had managed to do something no one else had ever accomplished—

She had turned Karlo’s feared men into ordinary people, even if only for a little while.

***

Meanwhile, inside the dimly lit room, Paul continued pacing back and forth, his patience long gone.

"This is all your fault, Thomas!" he snapped, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You said you’d bring your daughter, not a walking disaster! Look at the mess she’s caused!"

His glare shifted toward Gen.

She remained silent, her expression unreadable as she stared at the wall, refusing to acknowledge him.

Paul scoffed.

"Look at her! She’s not even sorry."

He slammed his fist against the table, his eyes blazing with fury.

Thomas wasn’t any calmer.

He still couldn’t understand why Gen had shown up at the auction, much less how she’d gotten involved with those dangerous men. But one thing was certain—

She had dragged him into trouble he knew nothing about.

"You ungrateful brat!" Thomas barked. "Do you have any idea what you’ve done?"

His voice echoed through the room.

"Those men outside will kill us because of you! And yet you stand there acting like none of this concerns you!"

Gen didn’t even spare him a glance.

Her silence only fueled his anger.

"Answer me!"

Nothing.

Thomas clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.

Then, without thinking, he uttered the cruelest words he could.

"You’re exactly like your useless mother."

Gen’s eyelashes trembled.

Thomas let out a cold laugh.

"Raine spent her whole life pretending to be kind, but in the end she was nothing more than a burden. She should’ve disappeared long before she did."

That was enough.

Gen slowly turned her head.

For the first time since she’d entered the room, she looked directly at him.

Her gaze was icy.

"So..." she said quietly, her voice frighteningly calm, "that’s what you’ve always thought of her?"