Becoming the Richest Man Alive

“How’s that possible? You’ve already owed them a buttload of money, so why would they lend you any

more?” Casper asked incredulously.

To his surprise, Terrence scrutinized his car and suddenly grabbed the hem of his shirt. “You mentioned

earlier that you’re rich, didn’t you? Why don’t you lend me some money? I’ll win this time, trust me. I’ll

definitely win!”

Upon hearing that, a deep frown creased Casper’s brow. My goodness, Terrence’s gambling addiction

is beyond cure. He’s in such dire straits, but instead of mending his ways, he only wants to gamble

more.

“Mr. Clauder, you’re already deep in debt, and there’s no way you’ll win your money back. Please give

up on it. What’s Giselle supposed to do if you carry on like this?”

Alas, that only riled Terrence up. “So what?” he snapped. “I’ll win the money back sooner or later! I can,

and I will!”

Casper knew Terrence’s addiction had spiraled out of control, and no amount of advice would help at

that point. Unfortunately, the latter was still his future father-in-law, and he couldn’t possibly leave him

stranded.

“All right, Mr. Clauder. Why don’t you head home to get some rest first? Once you’ve regained your

energy, you can try your luck at the tables again. I’ll also give you as much money as you want.”

Terrence, however, gave a flat-out refusal. “No. I have to win my money back tonight. I’m so close to

getting a win! Trust me. Lady Luck’s about to shine on me. When that happens, I’ll be able to recoup

everything that I’ve lost!”

Even as he made those claims, Terrence held onto Casper’s arm like a dying man desperately

clutching at his last lifeline.

Having witnessed the appalling behavior, Casper couldn’t believe that the man in front of him was the

father of someone as kind and thoughtful as Giselle.

After pondering for a while, he finally replied, “I understand, Mr. Clauder. I’ll withdraw the money and

take you there myself. I have faith that you’ll win everything back tonight.”

“That’s wonderful!” Terrence exclaimed as his face lit up. “You’ll only have to lend me five million, no,

make that three million! Three million, and I’ll double it in one night. Everything will be settled in the

morning!”

“That’s good to hear, Mr. Clauder,” Casper answered, having no choice but to play along. “Let me get

the money. I’m positive that we’ll make a killing tonight! Mrs. Clauder will also regain her confidence in

you when this is all over.”

At the mention of Giselle’s mother, Terrence suddenly froze up. “Oh, yes. Belinda will forgive me

without a doubt. I won’t let her down…”

“Indeed. We’ll win our money back tonight and take it to Mrs. Clauder first thing in the morning,” Casper

added.

Terrence couldn’t stop nodding as he heard that. “Yes, yes, yes. We’ll look for Belinda tomorrow

morning so she won’t be sad anymore.”

“In that case, why don’t you tell me your home address now, Mr. Clauder? We’ll be so happy with our

winnings in the morning that I’m sure we’ll go drinking and celebrating. If you get drunk, my subordinate

wouldn’t know where to send you to.”

“Ah, you’re right,” Terrence said with a nod. “How can we not drink our fill after a big win? Anyway, I live

on the south side of town, in the third building in Mayfair Gardens. We’ll head over once we’re done

drinking in the morning.”

Casper committed the address to memory, but as soon as he confirmed it with Terrence again, he

knocked the latter’s lights out with a swift chop to the back of the neck.

Without further ado, Casper turned to the man sitting at the wheel, who happened to be one of the

underlings at Firewolf Chamber of Commerce. “Did you hear the address he gave? Send us there

now,” he ordered.

The man immediately did as instructed, though he couldn’t help himself from glancing at the

unconscious Terrence through the rearview mirror. Wow. How did Boss knock him out with a single hit

to the neck? It’s just like in the movies!

Meanwhile, Casper’s mind was in turmoil as he stared at the man he had just knocked out. I can’t

believe Giselle has such a useless father, and she never told me about it. Thank goodness I ran into

him at the gambling resort. Otherwise, it might get to a point where even I won’t be able to repay his

mountain of debts.

Alas, no matter how much he racked his brains, Casper still couldn’t figure out how to help Terrence

quit his gambling addiction. As he began drumming his fingers against his knee, he closed his eyes

and only opened them again after a long while.

One thing was for sure—Eugene was right. Gambling addictions were just like taking drugs. It was

easy to get hooked on it, but it’d be a tall order to get the addict to quit and turn over a new leaf.

“Oh, well. I think it’d be best to ask Eugene for some advice first,” Casper muttered before making a

call to Stallion.

As it turned out, Eugene didn’t have a phone or an ID card. Back in the day, he was always on the run

because of his gambling activities, and many countries had since put him on their blacklists. He was

now a fugitive, which explained why he couldn’t have a Paypal account or many other things that an

ordinary person would have. That said, it was impressive he could still make a name for himself despite

staying off the grid in today’s information age.

Stallion picked up the phone and instantly choked out, “Boss, Eugene started gambling with us once he

got here, and I’ve already lost all my money to him. Everyone else now owes him money too.”

For a moment, Casper was speechless. Hasn’t it only been a few minutes? Gosh, Eugene sure is fast.

“We’ll talk about that another time. Get Eugene on the phone.”

“All right,” Stallion muttered. A few seconds of background noise later, a raspy voice finally came on the

other end. “What is it?”

Casper cleared his throat and proceeded to tell Eugene everything about Terrence’s plight. After

listening to the entire story, Eugene scoffed, “I’m very sure someone has set this guy up, and they

aren’t doing it for the money. Their aim is to get him addicted to gambling and ruin his family.”

Having accumulated years of experience in the world of crime, Eugene could easily discern the truth in

any situation, and Casper was well aware of that.

He was stunned as one name quickly came to mind—Sawyer Lingham.

“So, that brat’s been waiting for me, huh?” Casper said through gritted teeth. He’s way too ruthless,

though. Who knew he’d resort to such underhanded means to get Giselle? What a scheming b*stard.

“By the way, if you want the guy to give up gambling, you can forget about it. It’s impossible,” Eugene

remarked.

“No way. It might be impossible for others to quit, but I have to do whatever it takes to help this man

overcome his addiction. He’s important to me.”

“Fine. Since you’re so insistent, there are other methods you can explore. For example, you can do

what I did and chop off his hands and feet. He won’t be able to gamble even if he wants to.”

Once again, Casper was at a loss for words.

Must Eugene always give such mind-blowing remarks? How can I possibly agree to something as

ridiculous as chopping off my father-in-law’s limbs?

“No. That method’s too extreme. Let’s hear another one.”

Eugene, who was most probably puffing away at a cigarette, fell silent momentarily before speaking up

again. “Well, yes, there’s another way. The thing is, it’d also have to depend on fate and not just

himself.”

“What is it?”

“Um… It’s hard to put into words. I’ll tell you when I see you tomorrow. Anyway, I got to go. I still have a

game to play,” Eugene replied. “Hey! Who were the ones who said they wanted to play dominoes? Get

over here!”

Raucous shouts rang out around Eugene as he hung up the phone, leaving Casper to rub his forehead

in exasperation. He was happy that someone as remarkable as Eugene had joined his association, but

he was also worried that the latter might leave the other members saddled with debt.

Before long, Casper had arrived at Terrence’s house. Giselle usually stayed in school instead of home,

so he wasn’t worried that she’d find out about his impromptu visit.

With Terrence on his back, Casper gingerly made his way to the address provided earlier. Even though

Terrence owed a lot of money, the fact that he still had his house only further confirmed the suspicion

that Sawyer had set it all up. Otherwise, why would the loan sharks choose to go after Giselle for debt

collection instead of repossessing the house?

“From the looks of it, Giselle’s family most probably belonged to the middle class before her father’s

gambling ruined everything,” Casper muttered under his breath. He quickly went up the elevator with

Terrence, only to hesitate when they finally got to the door. It’s already the middle of the night. It can’t

be appropriate to knock on someone’s door at this hour, can it?

Despite that, Casper knew he had no other choice. “Mrs. Clauder, are you home?” he asked as he

knocked politely, even holding Terrence up in front of the peephole so Giselle’s mother could see them

both.

After a while, a middle-aged lady’s voice sounded from inside the house. “Who are you?”

“I’m Giselle’s friend. I bumped into Mr. Clauder earlier and decided to give him a lift home…”

The woman, however, was a little skeptical. “Giselle would never tell anyone about this, and this man

would never come home either. You’re here to collect a debt, aren’t you? How much does he owe this

time?”

A long sigh soon followed, and Casper could hear her disappointment, frustration, and a hint of

resignation.