Chapter 90

Opal didn't look happy, but Jacques felt great. With his arm around my shoulder, Jacques said proudly, "My baby sister is more influential than the three of us." Puzzled, I said, "However..." "No however. You're the wife of Carroll. Who dares to mess with Carroll in Costsley?" Following that man, Jacques led us into the club. This club was a billiard room with fancy decoration. I didn't play snooker, but I had watched the game on TV. This club was more spacious and luxuriously decorated than those rooms on TV. "Baby sister, do you play snooker?" Jacques handed me a pure white cue.  I weighed the cue in my hand and found it quite heavy. I answered, "No." "Good. Let me teach you!" Speaking, Jacques pulled my hand. Simon stopped Jacques by saying, "No. You are a poor player. Let me teach her." "Come on, both of you. She is my sister!" Opal pulled me behind him. "No, let's have a competition. Whoever wins will teach Kelly!" Opal suggested. Simon added, "Three out of five sets!" Soon, the competition began.  Then, the popular saying came to me, and that was men were childish in fact.  Today, I agreed with this saying. There were a doctor, a military officer, and a famous scientist in this room. To outsiders, these men were eligible bachelors. In my eyes, they were childish and noisy boys now. I smiled at these childish men. Right then, the man who had just led us in came over and said respectfully, "Miss Kelly, my boss wants to see you." Looking at the innermost room, I nodded slightly and then followed the man. I should express my gratitude to this boss since he allowed us to play here.  In the private room, I saw a pale and sick face. Wearing a beige leisure suit, the man sat on the sofa and looked at me playfully with his legs crossed. "What's wrong? Don't you know me?" I tried to run away by instinct, but the big door behind me was locked. I braced myself to say, "Hi, Peter." "Do you have time? Did that paranoid, Carroll, finally set you free?" Peter put one cup of tea on the table and motioned for me to sit down. I slowly moved over and reluctantly sat on the sofa. By the way, the tea tasted good. It tasted sweet with no bitterness as that I had drunk.  I put down the teacup and complained, "Carroll is not paranoid. The men you said exit in romance novels, and there only. Carroll's good and considerate ." After a hollow laughter, Peter sipped his tea. "It is new to me that Carroll is said to be considerate. You don't know how he managed to secure his position as the patriarch of his family, do you?" I became curious. "Can you tell me about it?" "You just robbed me of 1.2 million dollars and now want a story. Kelly, you're a good match for Carroll. Both of you are unreasonable!" Peter turned his head away with dissatisfaction. "1.2 million dollars is your compensation for my bag!" Thinking of that incident, I felt sad. "You couldn't bicker here if I didn't save you!" Peter glared at me. He was right. However, I instantly pulled a straight face at the thought of something. "Because all your tenants are bad guys. You are young, so why don't you spend your energy on something good?" In this argument, I completely ignored the great wealth Peter had at such a young age. I couldn't help it because Peter impressed me with his evilness.  After a sad sigh, Peter filled my cup with tea. "I won't argue with you because I feel like bullying a child. I can tell you the past about Carroll, but tell me where you bought that cake." "I made it! I made it! I made it myself! You can't get it even if you have money!" I emphasized the fact by repeating the same sentence three times. I had told Peter the last time, but he didn't believe me. "Really? Make me some, and I'll tell you!" Peter became a rogue again. "Tell me first, and I will make cakes for you later!" I copied Peter and crossed my arms over my chest.  "Okay!" Peter adjusted his posture and stretched out his finger to me. "Childish!" I rolled my eyes, stretched out my finger, and hooked it with his.  From Peter, I learned about the other side of Carroll. Peter pushed the snacks on the table toward me. He lit a cigarette, stared at the chandelier, and opened his mouth. "Carroll got his position with his brutality because Old Madame Brown was vicious." I nodded. "I was almost buried alive a few days ago. However, Carroll said that the old lady was brainless." "Of course. This is a secret known by all people in Costsley. If she had a brain, how could Carroll survive?" Peter agreed with Carroll on this point. I took a piece of cake and put it in my mouth. "I can't understand Old Madame Brown. She can lead a luxurious life. Why does she keep causing trouble? She, a fool, can't beat Carroll!" Peter sneered. "The bumpkins always dream of being new money, so they strive hard." Without reason, I saw inexplicable sadness in Peter's eyes. There was loneliness too as if Peter was missing something. Looking away, I said gloomily, "Am I not a bumpkin?" "You? No. You don't have their persistence!" Peter got up and picked up a cue. "Do you?" "No." I curled my lips. "Come, I'll teach you!" Speaking, Peter stuffed the cue into my hand. He stood by my side and seriously taught me how to play. "Steady your hand, and look determined. Snooker is a psychological battle. Did you learn geometry? Three points and one line. Aim at your target, and give it a steady push." I repeated, "Three points and one line?" "That's right!" Peter surrounded me from behind but deliberately kept a certain distance from me. Therefore, I didn't feel awkward.  Bang! The white ball hit the red one, made a gorgeous turn, and rolled to the black one. "This is physics too!" What had happened surprised me. "Focus. Hit the black ball." Peter tapped on my head. As Peter had said, I hit the black ball into the middle bag. "Not bad, you're smarter than I thought!" Peter returned to the sofa.