The atmosphere within the cramped, soot-stained confines of the office was thick with a tension that felt almost physical. Outside, the mountain wind hissed through the cracks in the wooden window frames, but inside, the only sound was the heavy, jagged breathing of Kevin Vance. Ace Kane had just shattered the traditional rhythm of the game. In this high-stakes escalation, the bidding had doubled at every turn, recently reaching eight hundred thousand dollars. By any logical projection, the next step should have been one point six million. Instead, Ace had bypassed the curve entirely, launching the bid straight into the stratospheric realm of two million dollars.
The move was a psychological masterstroke. Even at the lower projection, Kevin would have been struggling, but at two million,
