Chapter 286 What's Next
As a key person, Maggie was the focus of attention as soon as she entered the casino. Just as the initial arrangement, several people went upstairs to report to Barrios, and more people secretly surrounded him and led Maggie upstairs.
The person who brought the news went up successfully, but the people who were guiding them were horrified to find that they could not move.
Xina was still crying and gasping for breath. She kept turning around in the large and noisy casino looking for her father. She had already collapsed and could not cause any ripples in the casino. Maggie, who was forgotten by her, took the little white snake made by Della and put it on her shoulder, looking at her silently.
Maggie followed Xina's desperate steps not far away, his lips pursed, his handsome face serious and calm, but one of his black eyes, which seemed equally calm, flashed a faint blue light. That eye, which manifested the change of his soul, showed the real shock of his soul.
For hundreds of years, no matter how his environment changed or how his mind shifted, Ximena was always the most shining gem that constructed Maggie. The gem that he had sealed with his own hands in the past now appeared before his eyes again.
In the past two years, he has seen a fake of Ximena, Ron, who became 80% similar to young Ximena after drinking the Polyjuice Potion, the puppet that turned into Ximena before his death and in his most vivid state as he expected, and even the voice of Ximena that was now stolen by the puppet. Maggie would always feel uncontrollably excited by those similarities, but the concept of "fake" would always shock him, making the false joy of seeing an old friend again an intangible curse that followed him everywhere.
But now, an unexpected gem has emerged that is difficult to identify as genuine.
A gem that not only looks the same on the outside, but also shines with a similar light on the inside.
In the past, Ron acted too stupid, and the puppet acted too desperate and utilitarian. Now her voice was filled with a sharpness that Ximena never had. And behind the desperate crying of the girl in front of her was an innocence that could be seen through, and a stubbornness that was subtly identical to Ximena's.
"Ms. Perea," different people were assigned different tasks. Maggie didn't want to be disturbed, but she acquiesced to the actions of the people who were watching Xina. Another group of people who had only received a single instruction came up and invited Xina skillfully, "Your father is still in the VIP area on the second floor. I'll take you there."
Maggie looked at this man who spoke politely but had a look of contempt on his face. He narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice, "Lead the way, and let your boss go as well."
"What level are you--" The man just said this, and the sound he made suddenly disappeared strangely. His body shook backwards, as if some invisible big hand suddenly grabbed his throat.
"Don't be afraid, young lady." Maggie placed her hands on her thin shoulders and gently turned the crying young lady to the other side, so that the man's face, which was wide open with fear, was out of her sight. "I'll go with you. Nothing will happen. I promise that nothing will happen to you when you leave now."
After her frail body stepped into the cannibalistic casino, Xina felt despair and fear at the same time. The words that Leah had warned her finally came to her mind again. At this moment, Maggie, who was gentlemanly and polite beside her, made her feel at ease but also scared.
She was the type who didn't want to think too badly of people, but she also knew that there were few good people to be found in a casino.
But this is the only piece of driftwood she can hold on to now. Even if the fate of being swallowed by the deep sea is inevitable, Xina cannot let go of the brief hope brought by the driftwood.
"Thank you, sir..." Xina's body trembled unconsciously when facing Maggie's kind face, but her anxiety for her father made her ignore the trembling coming from the depths of her soul.
"..." Maggie looked at Xina's somewhat timid expression, his eyes sank. He smiled gently, and took the poor girl like a master, surrounded by the crowd, to the trap set for the Perea family.
Barrios and Leah were already waiting at the door of the VIP room. Just a few minutes ago, there were news that "Riddle came in" and "the chips were in hand". In the end, these two pieces of news were dramatically mixed together, becoming "Riddle is standing up for the chips."
Before meeting the two guests who were mixed together, Barrios made a few dirty jokes with Leah in a relaxed manner. Riddle lost his composure because of a woman at the important moment of the meeting, which showed that he was not an impeccable man. As long as there were weaknesses that could be discovered, the enemy would not be so scary.
Leah had a frown on her face the whole time, not having the time to show her usual disgust for male dogs in heat, because she had met Maggie and didn't think that she was a man blinded by lust, and she always felt that Maggie would make up for his misconduct with greater deterrence.
Leah's intuition was correct. She and Barrios opened their eyes wide the moment they saw the person coming. The two people who had never fought against each other for the first time moved their backs slightly closer and adopted a cooperative defensive posture.
In the crowd centered around the crying young lady and the gentleman, there was another eye-catching "person". The man who had previously shown disdain on his face was floating lifelessly in the air, his neck tilted to one side, his face ferocious, his eyeballs bulging, and his tongue sticking out long.
However, such a horrific unnatural death in public did not attract anyone's attention. The younger brothers were still doing their job and leading the way, paying no attention to their companion's new appearance; the young lady was still wiping her tears, and still couldn't believe that her father, who had sworn not to come to the casino again, came again to ruin their lives that had finally returned to normal; the gentleman, on the other hand, looked leisurely as he strolled in the garden. He looked at the man who died in the air and met Barrios' gaze with a smile.
"Who is Riddle?" This kind of eye contact in an abnormal environment even frightened the evil Barrios. He didn't dare to move his lips too much, and only gritted his teeth and asked Leah in a low voice.
"......" Leah suddenly felt afraid to say the word "wizard", a word she only yearned for when facing Della. Maggie made her see the destructive power of magic so directly for the first time. She could only say to Barrios, "I can't say. Don't mess with him, and don't mess with the girl who made him lose control."
"Come on, aren't you going in?" In the blink of an eye, Maggie brought Hina to the two of them. The little white snake on his shoulder twisted its body to the ground the moment it saw Leah, and then climbed onto its favorite owner again, "It's not polite to make people wait outside."
Barrios was speechless. After so many years of success, he seemed to have returned to his past as a follower. He opened the door and invited the two people in as a subordinate. Leah next to him did the same. The two cadres now looked like welcoming younger brothers.
"No! No! Come again!" As the door opened, a hoarse roar came towards him, "Come again! Lend me some more money! I will definitely make it back!"
"Dad!" Xina looked at the crazy middle-aged man, covered her mouth and started crying. She ran over crying and wanted to pull him away from the gambling table, but her father, who was still crying and confessing to her at home, grabbed her thin arm.
"Look! I have such a beautiful daughter!" Vincent Perea pulled Xina over and showed the girl he had always held in his hands to everyone, "She, she is worth a lot of money. If you give me a little more chips to turn the tables -"
"Mr. Perea, have you forgotten? What you just lost was the last small pile of chips you pawned your daughter?" The sexy dealer in the center of the gambling table politely reminded. Xina looked at her father, who had always had hope, in disbelief.
"Look at her, she's so pretty!" Vincent Perea didn't care about his daughter's collapse at all. He was so desperate that he threw away everything he cared about. "She's definitely worth more!"
"Ms. Perea is very beautiful and as lovable as a priceless gem," said the dealer. She looked at the dazed Hina and pursed her blood-red lips regretfully. "But gems become worthless after being pawned too many times. Mr. Perea, we are very generous to give you the same price as last time when you use your daughter as a chip for money the second time."
The second time...
Hina lost all her strength and she collapsed on the ground, with only her hand, clamped by her father, still in the air. Her forearm was hurting a lot, but no pain could compare to the despair of her father who had to sell his daughter over and over again.
"Look at her, she is definitely worth more money! Just give me a few more chips!" Vincent Perea swung his daughter's arm. He was terribly haggard and skinny from gambling without sleep for days. He was obviously penniless because of gambling, but he only thought about how to make some more money to make back his money.
"Let me play one more round! Let me play one more round--" Vincent Perea's roar stopped abruptly. Maggie quickly walked behind him and knocked him unconscious with a heavy ashtray. The surroundings suddenly became quiet. The staff and several gamblers looked at him in surprise. Barrios at the back made a gesture, and his men began to politely ask people to leave. After a while, only Barrios, Leah, Maggie, Hina and Vincent Perea, who was lying on the ground like a dead man, were left in the huge private room.
Maggie used Tom Riddle's deceptive face, dressed appropriately, with a calm and elegant expression on his face. His blow was so quick, accurate and fierce, as if he was not hitting someone, but hitting a ball beautifully.
The restraints on her hands loosened, and her father fell before her eyes. Sitting on the ground, Hina used her hands and feet to move back a few steps, both to escape from the father whom she no longer recognized as her father, and to make a final struggle against the dangerous situation she had impulsively stepped into.
"Don't be afraid," Maggie whispered. Sheena read an inexplicably suppressed sadness from Maggie's inky eyes. "I just can't bear to see a daughter being treated like this by her father."
Mr. Clingretton is a true aristocratic gentleman, Ximena has always lived in a friendly and happy family, and as her little snake, Maggie also lived in a friendly and happy family.
Ximena must not be defiled, and neither can the family members around Ximena.
The sadness in Maggie's eyes did not seem fake, but Hina could not completely believe him no matter how shaken she was in this environment. Leah, who had been serving as a background with Barrios, came over at the right time. Before she walked over, she exchanged glances with Barrios.
"Is your sister still home alone?" Leah helped Hina up. Hina immediately held on to the woman who had advised her as if she were grabbing a lifeline. "Come on, I'll take you home first. A little girl can't stay home alone. We'll talk about the future later."
What will happen in the future? What will happen?
Sold by her father, Hina sees a hopeless future.
Maggie, overwhelmed by memories, thinks about the subsequent contact.
Leah's move was to break the deadlock and give everyone a way out. After all, Xina, a woman who couldn't escape, shouldn't be the protagonist of tonight.
Maggie watched Hina being helped out by Leah. After the heavy door closed and the greedy figure disappeared, he looked at Barrios standing aside.
"You have the courage to face me alone." Maggie kicked the gambler who could not be called a human being on the ground. "I like to create suspense, but I think I have scared you enough, so I have to tell you the starting point of tonight's conversation."
"What starting point?" Barrios asked, his face surprisingly calm. Perhaps when he really felt that death was imminent, the fear was not worth mentioning.
"I'm a wizard." As he finished speaking, a rustling sound was heard, and long shadows slid out from every corner. The snakes that had been monitoring Barrios appeared. "They are the ones who told me all your whereabouts. Oh, be careful, there are a lot of poisonous snakes in there."
Barrios looked at the snakes that surrounded them. He swallowed and asked in a low voice, "Did you also use the power of the devil to strangle that person? What do you want from me?"
"Demonic power? Muggles still associate wizards with demons?" Maggie recalled the witch hunt he and Bronte had experienced a hundred years ago. Although it was called a witch hunt, it was more ordinary people who died in the protracted persecution. "I am not a lackey of the devil. In fact, we have an entire society made up of wizards."
"In that society, we only use gold, silver and copper as currency," Maggie waved her hand casually, and everything in the room floated up, including Barrios himself, "and I think you also know that I'm not here to see you, Mr. Barrios, I just need an invitation to the manor party tomorrow."
"It would be best if the invitation letter was handwritten by the host." Maggie stood upright on the ground, looking at Barrios, who was one meter off the ground and trying his best to find something to lean on, and added.