Part 2The Big Sister's Game

I froze for a second, my fingertips unconsciously tapping against the railing.

I knew my sister’s assets down to the last cent. Everything she owned was already on that table. A pang of raw pain shot through me as I looked at her thin, fragile frame.

Her hands trembled as she pulled out her phone, frantically switching between more than a dozen loan apps.

After a full hour, she barely managed to scrape together a hundred thousand dollars.

“That’s it?” Caleb scoffed, slamming his glass down. “Ava spends more than that on a spa day.”

Ava covered her mouth with a delicate hand, a sweet smile playing on her lips. “Just give up, sister. I’ll be merciful and let you go.”

Leo shoved a mountain of chips into the center of the table. “I’ll see your bet, and I’ll raise you double!”

The color drained from Luna’s face.

“Seeing as you’re so desperate for cash, let me help you out again…”

Caleb pressed a button on a remote, and the giant screen flared to life once more.

This time, it was a deepfake video. My sister’s face had been flawlessly edited onto another woman’s body. The movements were lewd, the sounds obscene. It was horrifyingly convincing.

“That voice… it’s driving me wild. I’m hard already.”

“What do you expect from an heiress? She knows how to perform in bed!”

“I’ll pay two million for the full collection!”

Luna shot to her feet.

She was trembling from head to toe, staring in utter disbelief at the two boys she once called her friends. But their eyes were only for Ava, as they gently draped a coat over her shoulders.

“Turn it off! Turn it off now!” Luna shrieked.

But her voice was swallowed by the frenzied bidding.

A waiter bowed, holding out a tablet. “Miss Byrd, would you like to sell the distribution rights to the video?”

“Otherwise,” he added coolly, “you can either raise the bet or fold.”

Luna’s face was ashen. She covered her face with her hands and began to sob. “I… I really have nothing left…”

The men around her stared with greedy eyes, like a pack of wolves circling their dying prey, waiting for the moment she surrendered to tear her apart.

My knuckles were white. I was about to stand up.

But then I saw Luna, her hands shaking, pull a dull, gray stone from the pocket of her worn-out coat. She placed it carefully on the waiter’s tray. “Trade this… for chips.”

A wave of laughter exploded through the room.

Ava was bent over, howling with mirth. “Oh my god! Has my sister gone completely insane? Did she just pick up a rock off the ground and try to trade it for chips?”

The waiter respectfully carried the stone away. Less than three minutes later, he returned, pushing a cart neatly stacked with five million dollars in chips.

“Your chips, Miss Byrd.”

The hall went dead silent.

Ava’s smile vanished. “That piece of junk is worth five million?!”

Leo shot to his feet. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Caleb kicked over a chair. “Get the appraiser out here! Now!”