Smiles and Untamed Hearts

[Her POV] I could feel it... the pleasure transmitted by my neurons. The crowd's cheer and the loud music starts to slowly trail off as I place my 200,000 bet on the table. I watch their lips move, they're saying something but I couldn't hear anything except for the voices echoing inside my head. Bet... bet... bet! Namimilog ang mga matang nakatitig ako sa aking kalaban na nakaupo sa kabilang dulo ng poker table, nag-aabang sa kanyang gagawin. Tumaas ang sulok ng aking labi nung umiling siya bago binaba ang kanyang baraha. "Sino ba siya?" "Siya 'yung na-banned sa kabilang casino." "Talaga? Ba't daw?" "Palaging panalo eh." Tumayo na ang ibang player para umalis. Meron namang mga umupo para makisali sa susunod na round. A seven of spades and a seven of hearts, that's my card. The players started to give a raise of 10,000. I smirked before betting four times their raise. Three cards are now place in a set. A hearts of eight and five, and my baby, seven of diamonds. Based from the first three cards, I can already feel the victory within the grasp of my hands. The other players decided to call while I made a raise of 45,000. Napatingin silang lahat sa akin pero mabilis kong itinutok ang mga mata ko sa hawak na baraha, acting as if their reactions doesn't please me. Let me build the pot guys. A card was added to the set, it was a clubs of four. One of the players made a raise of 50,000 which made all the audience gasp because of the sudden high raise. What are you planning, huh? Trying to intimidate me? The other players started to make a raise of up to 55,000. All in all, there is a 455,000 amount of pot. Yes, ito ang gusto ko. Iyung malaki ang pot at mayayabang na mga kalaban. I wonder what will happen to their ego and pockets after this round. Lahat sila napatingin sa akin dahil ako na lang ang hindi pa nakakapagdesisyon. Bumuga ako ng hangin at napailing. "I'll... call." They all smirked victoriously. A total of 510,000 pot money. The last card was drawn and my eyes glittered in amusement especially when I saw that three players folded. Seven of clubs No one in the table can surpass my card. I know for sure that the pot will entirely be mine. "I'll give a raise," one of the players said as he bet 70,000 on the table. "I raise." Damn, I will win this thing. Raise-raise pa kayo riyan, it's obvious sa mukha niyo na wala na kayong pondo. Lahat sila ay napatingin sa akin. Binasa ko ang pang-ibabang labi ko bago dinagdagan ang aking taya. "100,000," I said. The one who has the most bet was biting his lower-lip before saying, "Raise." A pot of finally 785,000. Another round of betting was made and one of the players folded. "All in," those magic words took all the blood off his face. He bit his lip before sighing, "all in." 2M of pot money There's only two possibilities why he bet that huge. It's either straight ang baraha niya or two-pairs. Nevertheless, walang laban iyun sa quad ko. To be honest, I don't really care about the money. The expression on their faces is the real prize! The two of us opened our cards and I paid attention to his face. His eyebrows started to furrow, anger flash through his eyes and his entire face went pale. Umawang ang bibig ko at malapad na napangiti dahil sa panginginig ng kanyang labi. He's in disbelief, especially when all the pot money was given to me. Damn! I felt like I reached my c****x. "Another round?" Kita ko ang pagpipigil ng galit ng mga kalaban ko. Padabog silang umalis ng mesa na ikinatawa ko. Play wise and nice next time guys! I sat back and played with my gin when no one came to the table to play. "You're not up for it?" I asked the dealer. Kinakabahan siyang napaiwas ng tingin at napalunok. Yeah, right. Baka maputo ang casino dahil sa 'kin. "Nevermind, I'll wait." I said as I took a sip. Binasa ko ang pang-ibabang labi ko habang pinapanood ang maingay na mga mesa sa kabila. Lahat ay nagtutumpukan maliban na lang sa mesang kinabibilangan ko. "How many players would you wait for before starting, Ma'am?" "One is fine, I don't really care." Yeah, as long as makakalaro ako. Bawat mga taong dumadaan ay namimilog ang mga mata habang nakatingin sa dami ng chips ko. "What's up?" May isang lalaking lumapit sa mesa. Nakapamulsa at parang batang aliw na aliw sa kabuuan ng casino. "Pocker, want to play, Sir?" The dealer asked. Tumaas ang sulok ng labi niya bago tumango at umupo sa kabilang dulo. "Sir, you need to place a blind bet." The dealer said to him. "Excuse me?" "You need to bet before seeing your cards." Umawang ang labi niya at napatango. "Is this enough?" Tanong niya matapos mag-place ng 300,000 na blind bet. Nagsalubong ang kilay ko dahil sa antisipasyon ng kanyang mga mata sa sagot ng card master. "Surely, Sir." I also made a blind bet with the same value as him. Now that the cards were distributed, I got a jack of clubs and spades. "What about you, Sir?" The card master asked him after I made a call. "Do you fold, raise, or call?" Nagsalubong ang mga kilay ko dahil sa pamimilog ng kanyang mga mata. He clearly doesn't have any idea how poker works! "All," he said thoughtlessly, baka nabingi ito na imbis call ay all ang kanyang narinig. "All in? That's what you mean, Sir?" The dealer asked for confirmation. "Y-yeah, sure." Dali-dali itong tumango pero bakas sa mukha niya na wala siyang may naintindihan. His card is an ace of hearts and a seven of diamonds. In comparison to the set in front of us which is a pair of six diamonds and hearts, a queen of spades, a three of clubs, and a five of spades... he has negative percent of winning against me. For the first time in my life, I was speechless. Nakatulala lang ako sa pot money na 2.4 million na napalanunan ko. The amount is way larger than the games I had earlier and I won it against someone who obviously never gambled his entire life. "This game is quite complicated," nakangusong aniya habang nakakamot sa kanyang ulo. "You're good!" Turo niya sa akin. Seriously? I didn't even shed a sweat winning this round. "You look like a minor. Hindi ko inakala na pwede pala minor dito." "I'm 19," I said while smiling sarcastically at him. "Woah? 20 ako!" Did I just played poker against a child? He's way worse than my six year-old brother. "Paano na 'yan? Wala na akong itataya?" Bumuntong-hininga siya. Tumaas ang sulok ng labi ko at pumangalumbaba habang nakatitig sa asul niyang mga mata. "Pero gusto mong maglaro?" I asked, sounding so convincing. "Yeah, pwede ba?" "Oo naman." Excited siyang napaupo nang maayos habang kinukuskos ang mga palad niya. "Pero hindi pera ang itataya mo," I said and he looked at me confusingly. "Ano?" "Your life... your dignity and time... your everything." I said with terror and hunger for the prize that I'm aiming for. "Ganoon ba? Sige!" Agad na nawala ang ngisi ko sa bilis niyang sumagot. "Let me make it clearly, you're betting your life here and your everything. You'll be my slave." I said to make myself specific and clear. "For how many months?" "Just for a month," I said. If hihingi siya ng palugit na gawing isang linggo, sasang-ayon ako– "Okay!" He's not kidding, is he? Natatawa na lang ako bago umiling. Tumayo ako at tinawag ang isa sa mga bodyguard ko. He quickly handed me the contract. I always bring tons of contract just in case. Madami na kasi akong kakilala na gusto pang maglaro pero wala nang pera... that's how I built my empire, an empire of my personal slaves. And that night in the casino, another slave was added to my empire with a name of Ignimus Castiel Miller.