Chapter 433: Chapter 433: The Gambler’s Performance
After hearing the explanation from the resident of 1105, Grace Sutton’s doubts were resolved. She murmured, "So that’s what happened..."
Just then, Cameron Summers chimed in, "Grace, you heard him. All that stuff we brought back was earned through my and Clark’s hard work. I really wasn’t gambling! I know gambling ruins lives. I swear I’ll never touch it again!"
Cameron Summers looked completely sincere, and Grace Sutton couldn’t see the slightest hint of a lie on his face. Her suspicions gradually faded.
With her doubts cleared, Grace Sutton belatedly realized how rude she had been. If she hadn’t insisted on getting proof, the resident of 1105 wouldn’t have had to reopen old wounds and show his severed hand to a group of strangers.
Thinking of this, Grace Sutton felt rather embarrassed. She apologized profusely to the resident of 1105, "Oh, I see... I understand now... I’m so sorry. We’ve disturbed you!"
The resident of 1105 just waved his hand dismissively and said magnanimously, "It’s no problem, as long as everything’s cleared up! Summers has helped us so much, I’d hate to see him misunderstood by his family."
The man thought for a moment, then added, addressing Grace Sutton, "Ma’am, and I don’t mean to lecture you, but in times like these, supplies are life! No one would gamble with their supplies. You don’t need to be so suspicious!"
After seeing Cameron Summers and the other two off, the resident of 1105 silently drew his severed right arm back into his sleeve and closed the door with his left hand.
Just then, another man in his forties walked out of the bedroom. He was holding a dice cup and asked the resident of 1105, "Saul, who was that just now? You were talking to them for a while. It wasn’t the Emergency Management Office doing a check, was it?"
Saul Archer sneered and replied, "No, it was that guy Summers from 1101. His family almost caught him, so he came to get our stories straight."
The man with the dice cup understood immediately. He scoffed, saying with a hint of contempt, "This Summers guy... has to sneak around just to gamble. Not much of a man, is he!"
He paused, then frowned. "But then again... we’ve put a lot of bait on the line for this Summers fella. We let him take back so much coal and so many cotton clothes. I wonder how much we’ll actually get back from him."
Saul Archer touched the severed hand hidden in his sleeve and replied in a low voice, "What’s the rush? If you want to catch a big fish, you have to use enough bait. The more he wins, the deeper he’ll fall. Only by letting him get a real taste of winning will he dive in headfirst!"
"This Summers guy was able to cough up rare goods like ham sausages and chocolate before. He’s most likely a rare fat sheep! We’ve let him win so many times, the payoff is bound to be huge..."
On the way home, climbing the stairs, Grace Sutton lamented to Melody Summers, "I was scared to death when I saw all those supplies just now. I thought your third uncle had won them gambling... Thank goodness he hasn’t relapsed. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know how to explain it to your grandma..."
Melody Summers listened silently, her expression grim ever since the confrontation. It was unclear what she was thinking.
The moment they returned to 1606, their grandma came up to greet them. She grabbed Grace Sutton’s arm and asked worriedly, "How did it go? What about Cameron... Has he started gambling again?"
Grace Sutton managed a smile and patted her mother-in-law’s hand reassuringly. "Mom, Cameron isn’t gambling. I saw for myself. Besides, with the snow disaster and the power outage, he can’t get to a casino or access gambling websites. Even if he wanted to gamble, he couldn’t. Don’t worry so much!"
Hearing this, her grandma seemed to let out a sigh of relief and quietly sat back down on the sofa.
For years, she had worried herself sick over her youngest son’s gambling addiction. Lately, even her dreams were filled with nightmares of him gambling away all their winter supplies and freezing to death in his rented room.
Grace Sutton was about to say more, but Melody Summers signaled for her to be quiet, then quietly pulled her into her room.
As Grace Sutton looked on in confusion, Melody Summers said with a grave expression, "Aunt Grace... our family can’t get involved with Third Uncle’s family anymore!"
Grace Sutton was completely baffled. Just as she was about to ask why, she heard Melody Summers say in a lowered voice, "Third Uncle was lying. That resident from 1105 is a gambler! Third Uncle wasn’t helping take care of an old person. He was there to gamble!"
Grace Sutton was stunned. She blurted out, "What?! How do you know?"
Melody Summers fell silent for a moment before answering softly, "Because I know the resident of 1105. His name is Saul Archer..."
In truth, Melody Summers hadn’t recognized Saul Archer at first either. After all, she’d had no interaction with him in her past life.
But when she saw his cleanly severed right hand, she suddenly remembered—in her past life, there had been a major incident with group gambling at The Metropolis Residences, and it had gotten way out of hand!
Back then, when the floods came, many areas were submerged. The Metropolis Residences had started reconstruction projects, hiring many workers to begin work on the back mountain.
To pass the time, some of the workers started organizing gambling rings, and slowly, more and more people joined. These workers would often receive their wages and supplies, only to lose everything that same night. Later, desperate from their losses, they actually formed a mob and robbed the supply depot.
Fortunately, the unrest was quickly suppressed. Everyone who had ganged up to rob the supply depot was captured, including this very same Saul Archer.
Snapping out of her memories, Melody Summers said to Grace Sutton, "Aunt Grace, Saul Archer said his right hand was mangled by a machine at a factory job. He’s lying! His hand was chopped off with an axe after he was caught cheating at gambling!"
The reason Melody Summers remembered it so clearly was thanks to the official announcement from her past life. The report had specifically highlighted Saul Archer’s case, using him as a cautionary tale to emphasize the dangers of gambling.
"Now Third Uncle is mixed up with this Saul Archer, and Saul even helped him lie. It can only mean one thing: Third Uncle has started gambling again!"
Grace Sutton sucked in a sharp breath. She never imagined this was the real situation!
She recalled how Cameron Summers had just been explaining himself so aggrievedly, swearing up and down as if he’d been terribly wronged. To think it was all an act!
As she thought about it, an inexplicable chill crawled up from the soles of her feet. It was as if she was only now realizing that gamblers truly have no bottom line. For the sake of gambling, they could really put on an Oscar-worthy performance!
Melody Summers continued, "I originally thought that after all these years, after the disaster and a near-death experience, Third Uncle had truly changed and wouldn’t gamble anymore... But now it seems that a gambling addiction really is something you can’t kick, even until the day you die..."
At this, Melody Summers sighed helplessly. "Aunt Grace, since Third Uncle can’t quit gambling, we can’t keep getting involved with them..."
Although Melody Summers didn’t say it outright, Grace Sutton understood. Now that Cameron Summers was gambling again, if they didn’t cut ties with him promptly, their own family would likely be dragged down with him, forced to pay off his gambling debts!
Grace Sutton was silent for a moment, then frowned and said, "No, I have to go to 1101. I need to tell your Third Aunt about this so she can prepare herself!"
