Chapter 271 Let’s Play Poker
“So, did you have fun today?” Yvonne asked Veronica as soon as they sat down in the private room, hoping that she could lighten up the mood.
Veronica nodded. “I guess so.”
“Well, that’s good to hear. We should have all the fun we can; it’s not every day we get to hang out like this,” Conrad interjected, smiling affably at Veronica before turning his gaze on Matthew. “And what about you, Matthew? You brought Miss Dame onto your turf and got some first-hand experience with the amenities here. Is there anything you think could be better?”
Matthew looked up at that moment and met Conrad’s eyes.
Out of his peripheral vision, he could see Veronica staring at him as well.
Matthew then ignored her and replied impassively, “The opportunity for further improvements has yet to present itself, but you’ve always had the keener eye for detail, Uncle Conrad, and I’m all ears if you have any suggestions.”
The two men dived into an earnest discussion after that, which left Xavier in a rather awkward position.
Veronica grew guilty at the sight of this. Xavier had been the one who invited her along to the ski resort, but he ended up keeping her company most of the time and had missed out on all the fun. With that in mind, she started to make small talk with him so that he wouldn’t feel sidelined by the other two men at the table.
It didn’t take long for all the dishes to be served. The table was full to the brim, and everyone had a glass of wine poured out for them.
Taking the lead, Conrad raised his glass and said, “Shall we toast to a pleasant day out and friendship?”
“Xavier’s driving today, Uncle Conrad, so drinking is out of the question for him. I can drink on his behalf, though,” Veronica piped up. She couldn’t hail a car in this remote area, and she didn’t want Xavier to drink and drive.
Taking his drink on his behalf was what a good friend would do. However, she could feel a sharp look thrown her way the moment she proposed the idea. At that, she glanced up almost habitually and immediately met Matthew’s icy gaze.
“You seem to be on good terms with Young Master Xavier,” Conrad observed casually, though his eyes were glittering with amusement.
“It’s no problem, Young Master Xavier. You can drink and Roni will drive you home later,” Yvonne chimed in, thinking her solution was the most straightforward and practical.
Xavier wasted no time in responding, “The roads are slippery after the snow. It isn’t safe for Roni to drive.”
His reply was enough to give anyone the impression that things between him and Veronica were more than just platonic.
At once, Ruka could feel the man next to her grow sullen and the barest hint of a smile touched her lips as she commented, “How very chivalrous you are toward Veronica, Young Master Xavier. Perhaps I should take Matthew’s drink on his behalf as well. Wouldn’t want to be stuck here waiting for a taxi that will never come, would we? What do you say, Matthew?” Underlying her melodic voice was an assertive tone that drew everyone’s attention to what she said.
Alas, no emotion flickered past Matthew’s stoic and handsome face as he hummed curtly in response.
Veronica never expected Matthew to move on so quickly after their split. Scumbag, she thought sourly after seeing his interactions with Ruka.
“Shall we all have juice instead of wine?” Yvonne tipped her head to the side as she looked at Conrad inquisitively. “What do you think, Conrad?”
She had been calling Conrad by his first name throughout the whole trip. There was nothing strange about this, except for the fact that she was addressing him so colloquially even though he was the oldest among the group.
No one would bat an eye if the both of them were meeting for the first time and thus called each other by their first names, but Yvonne knew precisely who Conrad was. In any case, calling the seventh son of the Kings Family by his given name despite knowing his formidable status implied that there was more to their relationship than they were willing to admit. She could try to pass this off as a casual dynamic all she wanted, but it was an unconvincing attempt.
“Very well,” Conrad said with an approving nod. “Yvie’s right; I should have known better than to order wine for the table.”
With that, he summoned the waiter and ordered, “Have all the wines here replaced with fresh fruit juice, please.”
“Yes, sir. Just a moment,” the waiter replied courteously as he set himself to work. He took away all the glasses of wine and replaced them with fruit juice quickly.
Thereafter, everyone toasted to the fun day out and started to dig into the feast.
Veronica was ravenous after walking around the park for most of the day, and she wolfed down her food without bothering with decorum. Seeing how hungry she was, Xavier heaped a second helping onto her plate and pointed out affectionately, “Slow down or you’ll choke on your food.”
Then, he reached for a few shrimps and began to peel them for her.
Stunned by how indulgent he was being, Veronica wanted to stop him, but that was when she saw Ruka doing the same thing for Matthew. He was usually anal about someone touching his food, but surprisingly, he ate up all the shrimp she put on his plate.
Granted, she was using disposable gloves, but that could not be the only reason why Matthew ate the shrimps so readily.
Veronica was disgusted by how pretentious he was. Following this, she decided not to stop Xavier from deshelling shrimps for her. She looked down at the plump crustaceans lying curled on her plate, and after a moment of hesitation, she picked up her fork and dug in.
“Have some shrimp, Conrad,” Yvonne said sweetly as she put the deshelled shrimps on Conrad’s plate. “Go on, try them.”
“Oh, you shouldn’t have.” Conrad gave her a kind smile while scooping those shrimps up before placing them onto her plate instead. “Here, you can have them.”
Suddenly, the atmosphere in the dining room shifted. It was turning out to be more like a competition among couples to see who could be the most loved-up pair in the group.
As Veronica ate her food in silence, she started to sense that something was off. Everyone else seemed to be in a romantic mood, which made her question her own presence here.
Shit, am I here as just a third wheel? At the thought of that, she couldn’t help losing her appetite even though she had been starving earlier. She took a few more bites, then set her utensils down as she announced, “I’m done. The rest of you can carry on.”
Xavier mirrored her and said, “I’m full too.”
Upon hearing this, none of the others went on with their meals.
“I remember hearing you say you have a good hand for poker, Roni. Look, there’s a deck of cards over there. Wanna play?” Yvonne suggested happily as she pointed at the deck of cards on the sideboard.
“Sure.” Veronica nodded instantly. “I think that’s a great idea. Let’s play a round of poker before we head over to the ice-sculpting event. Uncle Conrad, Xavier, should the four of us play?”
“Sorry, I know I should be more cultured after my years abroad, but the truth is—I have no idea how poker works,” Conrad confessed self-deprecatingly with a shake of his head, looking helpless.
“Aw, but that means we’re one man short,” Yvonne mumbled with a sigh.
“Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure Matthew knows how to play poker.”
“I don’t know how to play poker, either. I guess I’ll be joining Sir Conrad on the sidelines,” Ruka said without a smidge of complaint.
Frowning slightly, Veronica gave Matthew a long look, then the corners of her lips tipped up in a smile as she said, “Alright then.”
As she said this, she walked up to the sideboard confidently and took the deck of cards. The rest of them walked up to the table and pulled up their seats. In the end, Xavier, Matthew, Veronica, and Yvonne sat clockwise around the table.
When they had settled down, Veronica said, “Right, so we’ll kick off with a Five Card Draw. The first person on the left will place the bet, and the rest of us proceed clockwise to either call, check or raise. Got it?”
The Five Card Draw had the simplest gameplay, and while it required a certain skill level, luck played an important role to win too.
Yvonne nodded. “Okay.”
The men, on the other hand, said in unison, “Got it.”
“I’ll set up a group so that we can use that as a pot. The winner gets to click into the code and transfer the winnings,” Yvonne suggested.
