Chapter 58: Gambling Away a Fortune
As Alex promised, the debt was cleared within the hour, and Hae-Won could finally sigh in relief. Not to mention she had a fat stack of cash hidden away from her husband that would allow her to comfortably save money so that her family was no longer in such dire straits.
And while Hae-won thought carefully about how she would repay Alex for such a generous gift, her husband was naturally up to no good. He was on his phone, playing slot machine, and had even spent his last dollar, only to lose yet again.
The man practically howled like a werewolf when he realized he was completely out of money, yet again. He had to get some extra cash, and quickly. Or else he would never be able to make up for his losses. While Hae-won was busy baking cookies with a smile on her face. Her husband had begun to search through the house for anything that was remotely valuable, which he could pawn off for some gambling money.
Unfortunately, for Hae-Won, she did not hide the money that Alex had given her nearly as well as she had thought, because it took the man all of fifteen minutes to find it. And when he realized there was ten whole grand hidden away in a shoebox, he could not believe his mind. Just where did his wife get this money?
Was she secretly saving for money behind his back? And such a large amount? She couldn't possibly be saving for a divorce attorney, now could she? It was this level of paranoia that caused the man to seize his wife's cash, going so far as to mutter his thoughts beneath his breath.
"You unfaithful bitch! You think you are going to divorce me, and leave me alone with this debt? Go fuck yourself, I'll show you! I'll spend this money and win big, and you will be on your knees worshipping me!"
It was with this in mind that the man decided to leave the house and take the ten grand to the bank, leaving Hae-won none the wiser. He had almost managed to do so when he ran across his daughter who was studying in the living room. The girl looked up at her father, who was about to leave, and immediately narrowed her eyes as she asked where he was heading.
"Father, where are you going at this hour?"
The man panicked, as he realized he was caught, and immediately looked over to the kitchen where his wife was in her own world, listening to music and baking cookies with a wide smile on her pretty face. He could not remember the last time he had seen her so happy, but honestly, he didn't really care about that at the moment, and instead made a quick excuse to his daughter.
"We are out of milk, so I'm going to the store to pick some up. Don't bother telling your mother, I will be back momentarily!"
After saying that, the man fled from his house as if it were a crime scene. Leaving his daughter deeply suspicious about his actions. She knew the man well enough to know when he was up to no good.
But if she were being honest, the less she involved herself with her parents' problems, the less drama she would have to deal with. After all, in her mind, studying was far more important than worrying about her family's problems.
After getting to the bank and depositing the money into his account, Hae-won's husband immediately began to spend it on online gambling. Like the addict he was, he did not gamble piecemeal, and instead spent the entire ten thousand in one go.
As the flashing lights on his phone turned, the man was practically salivating like a starving hyena. He wanted nothing more than to win the jackpot, and was practically praying to every god he could think of for this to become his reality.
"Jesus, Allah, Bhudda, fucking Vishnu, please bless me with this jackpot just this once! I swear if I can win big once, I will never gamble again!"
As if the heavens had aligned particularly in his favor, the man had finally gotten his big break and won the jackpot. A whopping two million dollars, which he could cash out that very next second, and make all his dreams come true.
Hae-won's husband felt as if his entire body had suddenly become molten slag. He could not believe he had actually won the jackpot. He was so ecstatic that he was just about to cash out, and never gamble ever again. But like all addicts, there was that little devil in the back of his mind that whispered poisonous words to him.
"Think of how much you could win if you got another jackpot with a two million dollar bet! You would never have to work again in your life! You could quit your boring profession, move away from your nagging family, and party like it's the end of the world! Only to settle down with super model when the time is right!"
With such a tempting prospect in his mind, the man made the biggest mistake of his life, and did not cash out when he could, and instead let the money ride. The man was literally shouting at his phone, demanding the heavens favor him twice.
"Come on! Jackpot number 2! You pricks fucking owe me!"
Perhaps it was the lack of humility with his second attempt, but the favor in which the heavens had suddenly shone the man was cruelly stripped away in the very next second, when he suddenly lost everything.
If it was at all possible for a man's soul to leave his body, then that was exactly what happened to this man, as he dropped his phone and fell to his knees with an utterly defeated expression on his haggard face.
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After finishing baking the cookies, Hae-won suddenly realized that her husband had left without telling her. This caused her to worry, and immediately her thoughts drifted to one thing. Which was confirmed with a text message notification from her bank, which informed her of the deposit of ten thousand dollars to her and her husband's checking account.
Hae-won practically died from shock. Her husband had stolen the money that Alex had given her and had deposited it into their account. She quickly pulled up her banking app to check to see if the money was still there, and much to her dismay, it was already spent. And on an online gambling site, no less.
This was the final straw.... Alex had so kindly paid off the debts which her worthless husband had accrued, and given her ten grand to get her life started again. And her fool of a husband had already wasted it, before she could even pay the fucking rent.
Hae-won had never wanted to murder another human being more in her life than at this moment, and was quick to make a decision at that moment. Thus, she sat in the living room chair in silence, waiting several hours for her husband to come home.
And when he finally did, he was a drunken mess. Hae-won could only guess what had happened, but if she knew the truth, she would be even more furious than she already was. Thus, she was quick to scold the man for stealing her money and wasting it on gambling.
"This is it In-Su... I have finally had enough.... I have stood by you and your addiction for several years now. But no longer... I want a divorce!"
The man named In-Su glared at his wife and responded to her words with a vicious tongue.
"I knew it! That ten thousand dollars was your savings to hire a divorce attorney, you fucking ungrateful bitch! After everything I have done for you, this is how you repay me! Fine! Go ahead, I don't even care anymore. I lost two million dollars today. Do you really think your threats of divorce can possibly compare to that?"
Hae-won stared at her husband with a murderous gaze while she spoke in a hateful tone. She did not know how he had gotten his hands on two million USD, but if his past behavior was anything to prove, it was likely accrued through debt.
"Two million fucking dollars? Don't tell me you put our family back into debt, after I had finally managed to pay it off! You worthless sack of shit!"
In-Su stared at his wife in disbelief. She had managed to pay off their debt? How? He was too intoxicated to inquire about this, and instead bitched about what he had done.
"No! It's not like that! I spent the ten grand you were hiding from me and won two million. However, I lost it just as quickly as it had come...."
After hearing that her husband had won two million dollars, and gambled it away in the next second, Hae-won truly believed the man was a lost cause, and simply stood up from her seat, before scoffing in disbelief.
"You truly are a lost cause.... I am taking Min-Ji to a hotel for the night... Tomorrow I will contact my attorney, and have the divorce papers written up. You are truly and utterly pathetic In-Su...."
After saying this, Hae-won walked up the stairs and gathered her daughter before driving off away from their family home. Meanwhile, In-Su fell to his knees once more, and bawled his eyes out. He cared less about his family leaving him, then he did squander two million dollars. All he could do was to blame the heavens for gifting him with such a miracle and taking it away in the next second.
As for Hae-won, she immediately texted Alex the details, and was surprised to find that he was offering to let her stay at his place. Thus, rather than drive to a hotel, she brought her daughter to Alex's penthouse, where the two of them would spend the night.
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Thank you for reading my novel, if you wish to read a more serious story with an intricate plot, and complex world building, as well as a decent sized harem, and a few smut chapters. Please check out my two other novels: Tyranny of Steel, and Interstellar Age.
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