Before the woman's small smile had completely faded, her hand had already reached for the coins in the tray.
She felt she had found the right rhythm, changed her equipment, distanced herself from that man, and her luck returned.
Next, continue at the same pace, betting one bet at a time, winning one bet at a time, and you'll be able to make up for the losses.
But this good mood didn't last two seconds.
The slot machine dealt her another heavy blow.
Three patterns, three directions, three colors, not a single line connected. The familiar message popped up on the screen. "No win, try again!"
The woman's expression didn't change much.
It's normal to miss the first time.
Luck can't win every time. Winning on the first try on the new machine is already a good omen, she told herself, and then picked up the second coin.
Undeterred, she threw in another one.
The result was still empty; the pattern remained a series of random cards.
Another attempt, and it was empty again.
I threw three or four times in a row, but didn't make a single shot.
The coins I had just won with great difficulty were mercilessly swallowed back by this new machine in the blink of an eye.
The joy on his face gradually froze, and his eyes began to well up uncontrollably again, a sour feeling rising up once more.
She froze, staring blankly at the slot machine in front of her, a wave of confusion and resentment washing over her.
Clearly... clearly I'm already so far away from that person!
There are two machines between them now!
Why... why am I still so unlucky? Where did my luck go? It just came back for a little while, why is it gone again?
Just as her eyes began to sting again--
Beside them, across two machines, came Draco's voice, which was no longer unfamiliar but still mocking.
"Miss, this time... it's not my fault, is it?"
The woman froze abruptly, her face turning bright red!
So embarrassed I wanted to hide somewhere.
She never expected that her childish and ridiculous little thoughts would be seen through so clearly by this strange man!
Moreover, he pointed it out to my face!
She wanted to retort, "That's not what I thought at all!"
But... the facts are undeniable: even when she stayed away, she didn't keep winning. That one small prize she won just now seemed so pale and powerless in the face of her continuous losses.
I could only lower my head deeply.
There was a few seconds of silence.
The woman finally peeked out from her embarrassment.
"... I was losing the whole time over there..."
She offered a final defense: even if it wasn't his fault, she lost on the original machine anyway, so... so it couldn't be entirely said that she was taking her anger out on him?
After saying that, she slipped away again.
It was probably to escape this suffocatingly awkward situation.
This time, she went even further, heading straight to an empty spot two slot machines away.
This distance between her and Draco should keep her away from the man who sees through her thoughts and brings her bad luck.
As she sat down, she secretly glanced at Draco, who was still sitting calmly in the distance, and quickly looked away after confirming that he was still in the same spot, pretending that she hadn't done anything.
Draco was quite exasperated by this series of childish actions, but he was more curious to see if he was really that unlucky, bringing bad luck to anyone who got close to him.
However, not long after...
From the woman's side, the clear clinking sound of coins falling was no longer heard. On the contrary, even from a distance, her fingers gripped the lever tighter and tighter.
Without even looking at the machine's results, Draco knew—she had lost again, and lost miserably!
Just as the woman was feeling wronged and helpless, with tears welling up in her eyes, a well-dressed man walked over.
He was a man around thirty years old, wearing a well-tailored dark suit and with slicked-back hair.
On this cruise ship, almost everyone was either rich or powerful, but the man's face did not display gentlemanly politeness, but rather a frivolous and scrutinizing gaze.
His gaze lingered on the woman without restraint, as if he were sizing up prey.
He walked straight over, his steps confident, as if he didn't think his approach would cause any discomfort to anyone.
"Hey, miss, playing alone?" He stood close to the woman, near the edge of the slot machine.
He glanced at the empty tray in front of her and said,
"If you're having bad luck, how about... I try for you? I'm having pretty good luck today."
The man's gaze seemed glued to her.
The woman tensed instantly. Already aloof and cold towards strangers, her vigilance and discomfort reached their peak in the face of this obviously ill-intentioned approach.
She instinctively shrank back, the chair silently sliding half an inch backward on the carpet, her upper body leaning slightly back, creating a small distance between her and the man.
He pulled his arms closer, holding the canvas bag even tighter, as if it were a shield to protect himself.
"No."
The woman then emphasized, "I'm waiting for my husband." She hoped that his status as her husband would make him more restrained.
But this man didn't take her rejection seriously at all. Instead, his smile became even more frivolous and even disdainful because of her resistant attitude and the mention of her husband.
The man took a small step forward, trapping her in the narrow space between the slot machine and the chair.
"Waiting for your husband?" He laughed dismissively. "That's so boring. Why don't you chat with me for a while to relieve your boredom?"
He glanced at her empty tray and continued, "How much did you lose? I'll pay you back, how about it? Consider it making a friend."
The tone was full of condescension and enticement.
The woman's face turned deathly pale. She was panicked and afraid, and all she wanted to do was leave this disgusting man immediately.
Because she didn't know if she could handle it, and no one had taught her how to deal with a man who couldn't understand the word "no."
She just wants to find her husband as soon as possible.
In her panic, she looked up, her gaze passing over the man's shoulder, and towards the gambling area.
But rows of slot machines blocked my view like a barrier. The screens of those machines lit up with colorful lights, one after another, densely packed, like an electronic forest.
She couldn't see her husband at all.
I don't know which table he's at, whether he's noticed what's going on here, or when he'll be back.
This made the woman feel fear and helplessness.
She frantically tried to get up and get away.
With her hands on the armrests of the chair, she leaned forward, bent her knees, and prepared to stand up and walk around the man.
But before she could finish her movement,
The man grabbed her wrist!
He was very strong; his fingers gripped her slender wrist like iron clamps, causing a sharp pain.
The woman cried out in alarm, struggling desperately but unable to break free!