Price of a Name

I glance up with a faint smile — the kind that suggests I already know more than I’m letting on.

"Life isn’t a chess game," I say, voice low and steady, eyes fixed on yours. "It’s more like poker, if you really think about it. That’s the truth of the world — a grand poker game."

The air carries the faint scent of whiskey and velvet dust, and in this empty late-night casino, it feels like the whole world has narrowed to just this table… and you.