Chapter 789

Chapter 789:
All the way to the final shot, William’s composure never wavered, the same calm he carried from the very beginning.
Curtis’s smug indifference slowly collapsed into disbelief. He stood stiff beside the table, clutching his cue while William dismantled the game with effortless mastery.
It no longer felt like a match. He was just an onlooker to William’s dominance. The gulf in skill left him stung with a humiliation he had never tasted before, especially in William’s presence.
Words weren’t necessary; William’s relentless control over the table spoke louder than any boast.
The eight ball slid into the pocket with a quiet finality.
Rising to his full height, William returned the cue to its rack with the casual air of someone brushing off a minor task.
A napkin lay on the table, and he used it to wipe his hands before fixing Curtis with a detached stare. “I’m finished. Now, are we ready to discuss what actually matters?”
Defeat etched itself across Curtis’s face as he collapsed into a chair. A beer bottle found its way into his grip, and after a few heavy gulps, he let out a shaky breath. “You’re a fucking monster…”
All the hours he had spent polishing his pool game overseas seemed laughable now. Against William, he had never even belonged at the same table.
William paid no mind to the insult, simply holding Curtis in a steady silence while waiting for his reply.
“You started the game, so that win doesn’t count!” Curtis barked in protest.
Expecting the excuse, William responded without a flicker of irritation. “Fine. You can break this time.”
Confidence returned to Curtis as he stepped toward the table.
He knew all too well there was no room for error—if he failed to run the table, victory would once again belong to William.
Yet fear had a way of tightening the grip, and the more he worried, the shakier his hands became.
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Though he managed to sink five balls, his control slipped soon after. William moved in without hesitation, methodically finishing the game until the eight ball dropped once more.
This time, William’s gaze bore straight into Curtis. “Are you convinced?”
Curtis dragged a sleeve across his mouth, his eyes shifting as though weighing his options. At last, he gritted his teeth and blurted, “Fine, you win. I’ll spend a year preparing for the exam. But you’d better not short me on the money or the promise!”
“Deal.” William gave a short nod and gestured to Luca, who immediately transferred five hundred thousand into Curtis’s account. “The money is yours. Luca will handle your tutoring and make further arrangements. Now, tell me what you know.”
The buzz of an incoming notification lit Curtis’s phone, and he cast a wary look at William and Luca before speaking in a lower tone. “Before my dad died, when his mind was fading, he talked about the car accident. He swore it wasn’t an accident. In the bushes at the scene, he found something solid, like a metal tag, with an eagle emblem and a few letters on it. He never dared keep it, afraid it would bring trouble, so he took a hidden photo instead.”
An eagle crest, letters carved into metal.
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