The Deceitful One

Bryan smiled and replied politely, "Hello, Miss Celine. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Celine pursed her lips and jokingly stated, "What's with the 'Miss'? You don't have to act so formally with me. Since you're Ron's friend, you're my friend as well."

Chuckling, Bryan raised his hands slightly in surrender, "Very well, Celine. Also, thank you and Ron for inviting me over."

Ron warmly patted Bryan's shoulder, "Of course, It's only natural that we invited you over."

He then came closer to Bryan and whispered, "By the way, those ladies around Celine are all single. Want me to help you set up a date?"

Bryan simply rolled his eyes at him. Fooling around with women once in a while was fine for him.

However, he couldn't commit to having a relationship with them. Bryan had so much on his plate already.

From working with the Silver Owls to cultivating diligently in his own free time, he wasn't willing to take extra time out of his schedule to start dating girls. He felt that it was an unnecessary burden.

Bryan continued to make small talk with the couple. Celine also introduced him to her friends. He found that some of her friends were actually interested in him.

But he politely and euphemistically refused their advances. Tonight, he just wanted to get drunk and have fun with his friends.

After a certain point of drinking, if he felt like he needed a girl to spend the night with, he would think about it then.

After all, past a certain alcohol consumption level, men always wanted to feel the warm embrace of another woman.

Bidding them farewell for the time being, Bryan then walked toward the area where he saw his friends drinking.

"Henry! You're finally drinking?" Bryan saw Henry sit on a couch and drink something from a glass so he was greatly surprised.

Every time he invited Henry to go out drinking with him, he always refused. Moreover, he had never seen or even heard of Henry ever drinking alcohol.

Henry looked at Bryan and chuckled, "It's not what you're thinking. This is simply warm water mixed with honey. The perfect drink for this cold weather."

Bryan's lips couldn't help but twitch as he thought, 'Of course, what the hell was I even thinking?'

He then walked to Andrew and Elijah who were standing close by and greeted them with great enthusiasm, "So, are we getting drunk tonight or what?"

Andrew and Elijah gave him warm hugs one after the other. Andrew then put his arms around Bryan and grinned,

"Oh, we are drinking, all right. But before that, shall we play a game of poker? I'm feeling lucky today, hehe"

"Ohh? Do you wish to play poker with me? Looks like I'm getting rich tonight." Bryan teased.

Elijah then came closer to Bryan, nudged him with his elbow, and whispered, "By the way, Bryan. What do you think of Celine?"

Bryan looked at him strangely and replied, "Celine? I think she's quite hospitable. Why? Did something happen?"

Elijah replied with a hint of unease, "I don't know. When I met her earlier, the way she glanced at me, it felt as if a hungry animal was looking at me."

"Pfftt!" Bryan burst into laughter, "Eli, when was the last time you got laid? Celine's friends are single, you know? Let me be your wingman tonight and help you out."

Elijah's face turned red from embarrassment, "Hmph! I have sex with women more often than you think."

Bryan, however, teased him with a mischievous smile, "Having sex with machines doesn't count."

"Youu-" Flabbergasted, Elijah was about to retort but was cut off by Bryan.

"Hahaha, okay okay. Let's go play poker. I'm just messing with you." Bryan then dragged him and followed Andrew to one of the rooms on the first floor.

On the way, Bryan also met up with Emma and Olivia. They were also having drinks and chatting with Celine's friends.

Surprisingly, Livia was also present. However, she just sat on the couch and had her drink in a comfortable manner, not bothering to strike up a conversation with anyone.

Bryan walked up to her and smiled, "I'm surprised you're here."

"Heh, I'm surprised I'm here too. I wouldn't have come here if Emma hadn't forced me." Livia replied languidly.

Chuckling, Bryan replied, "Do you want to come and play some poker with us?"

Livia waved her hand, "No, you guys go ahead. This place is too boring, I might just leave in a while. It has already begun to snow and sleeping is the best during such times."

Bryan's eyebrows couldn't help but twitch, 'What a sloth!'

He then chatted with her for a while more and then went to the room where Andrew and the rest had already gone to. He also made sure to get himself a glass of bourbon.

On the way, Olivia joined him since she too liked playing cards and was also quite good at it. Emma on the other hand refused to come and went to spend time with Livia instead.

When Bryan entered the room with Olivia, he found that Andrew and Elijah had already set up a round table in the room and set up five chairs around it.

Henry was the last one to enter and then all five of them took their seats. Andrew took out a deck of playing cards from his pocket and started to distribute them as he said,

"Same rules as before. The small blind is 1 pound and the big blind is 2 pounds. And most importantly, no usage of spiritual force!"

Everyone tacitly nodded. Bryan took a sip of bourbon as he waited for his hole cards. A few moments later all the cards had been distributed and the first three cards—the flop—were also placed at the center of the table.

Bryan covertly picked up his hole cards and took a look at them. Then a strange expression appeared on his face.

Because the pair of cards he was dealt was the King of Spades and the Joker!

"Andrew, I've been dealt the Joker." Bryan waved the Joker card.

"Joker? That's weird. I was sure I had removed it from the deck. Never mind, everyone please return the cards. I'll reshuffle and distribute them again." Andrew instructed the rest of the people.

A few moments later, the game of cards had begun.