When fate plays its hand

The moonlight was bright and clear, with a cold wind howling outside. Inside the bar, though, it was warm

as summer.

Calvin had organized a gathering, and a group of people were deeply engrossed in a high–stakes card game.

“Two against one, I win! Haha, your Ferrari’s mine!”

“You’re cheating! Let’s go again!”

“Ah, you really can’t handle losing, can you? Alright, I’ll give you one more chance, but if I win again, that beach house at Lune Bay’s mine too.”

*Deal!”

It was just a car and a house, so it was no big deal.

Meanwhile, Calvin wasn’t betting; he just watched the action from the sidelines. After one round, he glanced back and noticed Hansel sitting alone on the couch, drinking quietly.

“Hey, why are you drinking alone, Hans? The stakes are high; you want in?”

Hansel barely looked up. “You guys have fun.”

He reached to pour himself another glass, downing a bottle of vintage Lafite like it was just another drink by finishing half in a few swigs.

Calvin winced, then left him to it and returned to watch the game. Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.

Hansel, who was expressionless, continued pouring himself drinks when his phone suddenly rang. It was. Willow. He didn’t want to answer, but recalling how she’d helped him out a few times, he finally picked up.

“Hello?”

His breathing was heavy, his voice cold, and the loud music blasting in the background quickly let Willow know he was at a bar. Even so, she didn’t ask about it. She only mentioned dinner plans for the next day. Hansel’s voice was lazy, as if nothing mattered. “Sorry, I’m meeting with a client tomorrow night.”

Willow knew she should take the hint and hang up calmly to show she wasn’t bothered–that was what Hansel expected in a “partner“. But she couldn’t help wanting to say a bit more.

Before she could, though, Hansel asked first, “You mentioned you had a final exam today?”

“Yes, and it was very unique.”

“Oh? How so?” he asked absentmindedly.

Willow explained about their trip to the botanical garden and the unusual exam format. “We’re staying here tonight too. Isn’t it interesting?”

“Yeah. Did you finish gathering all the specimens?”

A dark shadow passed over Willow’s eyes, but her tone remained unchanged. “Yes, we found all ten

required plant samples.”

Hansel’s interest waned. He had no desire to continue the conversation. Willow managed a quick” goodbye” before he could hang up, and this decisiveness made him arch his eyebrow slightly,

Putting his phone away, Hansel poured himself more wine, filling his glass nearly to the brim. Then his phone rang again.

This time it was Evelyn, calling to say that Tina hadn’t been answering her phone, and she was starting to worry something was wrong.

Hansel offered a few reassuring words, but Evelyn kept going. In the end, he simply hung up, feeling agitated. Even so, he couldn’t ignore his sister entirely, so he dialed Tina’s number.

The first attempt didn’t connect, so he called again–a little more patient this time.

It went through, but before he could say anything, Tina’s voice came through in a rush, “Why are you calling now, Hans? Did you hear Miranda went missing and want to ask about it too?”

She didn’t know how Miranda had so many connections, but in less than 30 minutes, she had stirred up everyone at the botanical garden. They’d made an emergency broadcast, mobilized staff for a search, and even called in police from two local stations!

Tina had even heard that both the head and deputy head of the garden had personally arrived to oversee the search efforts.