Thwack!, As one pool ball after another sank precisely into the pockets, the crowd beneath erupted into excited shrieks, seemingly in awe of my accurate shots., And with every shot, my confidence soared, especially with the thought of Ernest right there by my side. A voice in my heart roared: Felicia Hudson, it's time to show him a side of you he has never seen. Ernest and I had been together for ages, but he had never seen me play pool., Because my pool skills were tied up with memories of Conrad Wagner, I feared Ernest might feel uneasy knowing that., But here I was, flaunting my skills right in front of him..., Crash!, I took another shot, the ball spinning towards the pocket, but just as it seemed about to drop, it inexplicably stopped, as if sucked in by an invisible force., So, I didn't manage to clear the table in one go, and it was Yolande's turn to shine., The crowd screamed again, this time in anticipation of the showdown between Yolande and me., Oddly enough, though Yolande and I were both newcomers to the scene, and neither of us professional players, the audience seemed to naturally split into Team Felicia and Team Yolande. Yolande picked up her cue, leaned in, aimed, and shot., Every move she made was perfect, and her stunning figure only added to the scene, making each shot look both gorgeous and flawless., The crowd screamed, some even shouting,

"Go, gorgeous!

", Yolande was on a roll, sinking ball, after ball with precision. When ope, one ball remained on the table,cour scores were tied. If she sank this, last ball, I would lose., The crowd fell silent, realizing that if I lost, it would be just like when Jefferson made a mistake earlier; their bets would be lost too., The earlier excitement died down as they seemed to remember that I was the one they should be rooting for.,

"Ms. Hudson, sorry about this,

" Yolande taunted with a smirk at that moment., Fair play is the rule of the game, even if losing meant I couldn't negotiate with Henrik. But I couldn't show weakness, especially not in front of Ernest., I smiled lightly and gestured for her to proceed., Yolande, unbothered, struck a graceful pose and, under everyone's watchful eyes, took her shot., In that moment, everyone held their breath, watching the cue ball strike the black ball, sending it towards the corner pocket., Just as we were about to witness, the outcome, suddenly the lights went out, plunging the place into darkness. Screams erupted from the crowd and someone grabbed my wrist pulling me away, ov, uncontrollably. , In the chaos of the dark, I was pushed and shoved but kept running, guided by the firm grip on my hand, even though I had no idea where we were headed.

"Jefferson, I can't keep up,

" I panted, realizing after what seemed like forever that it was just the two of us left. But he didn't reply, just slowed down a bit., I caught my breath and asked him,,

"Who planned all this? Was it, Conrad? This is too risky, Henrik, must have had defenses in place. He, wouldn't let us escape easily, , IMS, Jefferson remained silent, and a chill ran down my spine. I reached out with my other hand, grabbing him,

"Jefferson, why aren't you speaking?

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