“Marvin, how could you?”
Gennifer’s voice trembled.
Her eyes were red, and tears were beginning to pool along her lashes.
“Do you not love me anymore?”
The question turned the already heated atmosphere awkward.
Gennifer wasn’t angry about the bet.
She was afraid.
Very afraid.
Because what Marvin had put at stake wasn’t money or a position—it was their marriage.
Marvin looked at his wife for a moment.
But before he could answer, Derick stood up first.
“I agree with Gennifer.”
His voice was loud.
“Marvin, you’ve gone too far.”
He pointed at his son-in-law.
“For an entire year, my daughter stayed by your side. She visited you every week, defended you when everyone else doubted you, and refused every bit of pressure to divorce you.”
Derick shook his head in disappointment.
“And now you’re just putting your marriage on the line?”
Elena spoke up as well.
“He’s right.”
Her gaze was filled with displeasure.
“You didn’t even think about Gennifer’s feelings.”
Although they had wanted a divorce all along, that didn’t mean they were happy to see their daughter made part of a bet.
At least, that was how they felt right now.
Yet Marvin remained calm.
Because he knew one thing.
Not a single person in this room believed he could win.
They had all already considered him defeated before the bet had even begun.
“Are you done?” Marvin asked.
Everyone turned to him.
“I never intended to lose Gennifer.”
Marvin’s voice was calm.
“Because I’m not going to lose.”
Raymond immediately laughed.
“You’re way too confident.”
Marvin looked at him.
“Or maybe you’re just too afraid.”
Raymond’s smile slowly disappeared.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
Marvin stood up.
His gaze was sharp.
“If you’re so sure I’m going to fail, why do you look so bothered?”
Raymond’s face hardened.
“Don’t turn this around.”
“I’m just asking.”
Marvin stepped closer.
“Weren’t you the one who told me to do something that would humiliate me?”
Raymond didn’t answer.
“Then don’t pretend to be the victim now.”
The room fell silent again.
A few seconds later, Raymond gave a faint smile.
But the warmth was gone from it.
“You’ve really changed since getting out of prison.”
“And you’re still the same as before.”
“What was I like before?”
“Arrogant.”
Russel’s expression changed immediately.
Raymond merely chuckled.
“Interesting.”
He picked up the bouquet of roses he had been carrying.
Then he walked over to Gennifer.
“Putting all this nonsense aside, I still brought something for you.”
Raymond handed her the flowers.
“I picked them out myself this morning.”
Gennifer didn’t move.
She had no intention of accepting them.
But Raymond continued holding them out.
His smile looked warm.
At least to everyone else.
To Gennifer, however, that smile felt forced.
And the longer it lasted, the more uncomfortable it made her.
“I don’t need them,” Gennifer said.
Raymond kept smiling.
“There’s no harm in accepting them.”
“There is for me.”
Her answer caught Raymond slightly off guard.
Gennifer had always been polite to him.
Today was clearly different.
Before things could get any more awkward, Marvin suddenly spoke.
“My wife doesn’t need those flowers.”
Everyone turned toward him.
“What do you mean?” Raymond asked.
Marvin gave a faint smile.
“Tomorrow, I’ll give her something much better.”
Russel immediately snorted.
“Here we go again.”
But Marvin ignored him.
He looked at Gennifer.
“I’ll give you something worthy of you.”
“Marvin...”
“Because you waited for me for an entire year.”
Gennifer’s gaze gradually softened.
Meanwhile, Raymond began to grow irritated.
He didn’t like seeing the two of them so close.
Not one bit.
“And what’s this gift?” Russel asked mockingly.
Marvin answered without hesitation.
“Something special.”
Russel shook his head.
“Unbelievable. You haven’t even managed to solve a single problem, and you’re already talking about gifts.”
“At least I don’t use gifts to buy someone’s feelings.”
Raymond’s eyes narrowed immediately.
“Are you taking a shot at me?”
“If you feel targeted, maybe there’s a reason.”
Raymond clenched his fists.
But he managed to hold back his emotions.
He didn’t want to look like he was losing control.
Especially not in front of Gennifer.
So he chose to smile instead.
“I’m not going to argue with you.”
“Because you know I’m right?”
“Because I don’t argue with someone who’s going to lose tomorrow.”
This time, Marvin was the one who smiled.
“Good.”
“Good?”
“Because I don’t like arguing for too long either.”
Their gazes met.
Neither of them was willing to back down.
To everyone else, this might have looked like an ordinary argument.
But to Marvin, it was far more than that.
He was facing one of the people who had destroyed his life.
And one day, every debt would be collected.
One by one.
Not long afterward, Russel and Raymond decided to leave.
They still had plenty of business to take care of.
Before leaving the villa, Raymond stopped.
He turned toward Marvin.
“There’s still time to call off the bet.”
“No need.”
“You’ll regret it tomorrow.”
Marvin smiled.
“We’ll see.”
Raymond snorted softly.
Then he left with Russel.
From behind the window, Marvin watched the red Porsche leave the villa grounds.
Only after the car disappeared from view did the atmosphere finally grow calmer.
Derick and Elena soon left for work as well.
They didn’t believe in Marvin at all.
In their minds, the son-in-law was simply making empty boasts.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
A few minutes later, the living room was empty.
Only Marvin and Gennifer remained.
Gennifer could no longer hold back her emotions.
The tears she had been holding in fell freely.
“I’m scared, Marvin.”
The woman’s voice was soft.
Marvin immediately moved closer.
“What are you afraid of?”
“What if you fail?”
Marvin didn’t answer.
He simply held both of his wife’s hands.
“Everyone looks down on you.”
“Let them.”
“They think you’re crazy.”
“Let them.”
“They don’t believe in you.”
Marvin gave a faint smile.
“What about you?”
Gennifer looked at him.
“I want to believe.”
“Then believe.”
Her eyes began to well up again.
“Why are you so sure?”
Marvin wiped the tears from her cheek.
Because for the past year, this woman had been the only one who stayed by his side.
When everyone else turned away.
When every door was closed to him.
When the entire world believed him guilty.
Gennifer still came.
Still waited.
Still believed.
That was why Marvin would never let anyone toy with his wife.
“Because I won’t let them control our lives.”
Marvin’s voice was low.
But filled with conviction.
“I won’t let Russel use you for his business.”
“And I won’t let Raymond get close to you for his own benefit.”
Gennifer looked at her husband.
“Then what are you going to do?”
Marvin smiled.
It was a smile she had rarely seen before.
“I’m going to remind them.”
“Remind them of what?”
That they had chosen the wrong person to bring down.”
Gennifer fell silent.
For the first time since Marvin got out of prison, she saw the man she had once fallen in love with again.
The man who never gave up.
The man who always found a way out when everyone else said it was impossible.
Marvin gently put his arms around his wife.
“Believe in me.”
He gazed far beyond the window.
Toward the city of Gloriston, visible in the distance.
“This is only the beginning.”
And unbeknownst to anyone in Villa Winston, an important call had just come in on Harven Rockwell’s phone.
A call that would become the first step in Marvin Rock’s resurgence.