Chapter 149: Chapter 149: A Starved Camel is Still Bigger Than a Horse

Sebastian Hawthorne’s attention wasn’t drawn away by Jasmine Vance and Jade Golding’s conversation. He didn’t even spare Jade a single glance.

While Jade Golding secretly breathed a sigh of relief, a trace of resentment also welled up inside her.

After playing a tile, Sebastian Hawthorne turned to glance at Cecilia Croft, who was standing quietly beside him watching the game. He then looked up at a server.

"Bring a stool over."

"Right away, Mr. Hawthorne."

The server quickly brought a stool over and placed it beside Cecilia Croft, saying respectfully,

"Miss Croft, please have a seat."

After a soft "thank you," Cecilia Croft graciously sat down beside Sebastian Hawthorne.

Sebastian occasionally turned to chat with her.

Jade Golding’s expression darkened, a flash of displeasure in her eyes.

It was as if Sebastian Hawthorne didn’t even see her, a situation that had never happened before.

Jasmine Vance, perched on the armrest of her brother’s chair, continued to chat about the game.

Jade Golding looked upset the entire time, but she had to maintain her composure, making her expression seem a bit stiff.

"How much longer will you guys be?"

"Do you know which tile to play?" Sebastian Hawthorne was talking to Cecilia Croft and didn’t answer Jade Golding.

Finn Vance’s attention was entirely on his tiles. He was also on guard against Jasmine Vance snatching one of his tiles and throwing it out to mess up his strategy, so he didn’t reply either.

Just as Jade Golding’s face fell, Connor Grant, who was sitting across from Zachary Grant, answered her.

"Four rounds left. Why don’t you go rest on the sofa for a bit?"

Only then did Jade Golding nod slightly and walk over to a nearby sofa to sit down.

Giselle Grant exchanged a few pleasantries with Zachary Grant before also sitting down and starting a conversation with Jade Golding.

A project under her company was still in collaboration with the Golding family. Despite her growing dissatisfaction with Jade Golding, she didn’t want to make things too awkward.

Jade Golding was fuming and had no desire to talk to her.

Giselle Grant tried to make conversation, but after Jade Golding ignored her twice, she decided not to waste her breath and stood up to leave.

Jade Golding realized she was being too emotional and coming off as a sore loser, so she reached out and grabbed Giselle Grant’s hand.

"Giselle, where are you going?"

Giselle Grant offered a faint smile and said in a low voice,

"You seem to be in a bad mood. I thought you might want some time alone to cool off."

Jade Golding bit her lip and mumbled, "No, I’m not. I was just thinking about something."

Giselle Grant raised an eyebrow but didn’t call her out.

"Good, as long as you’re okay."

’She lost money today, so it’s normal for her to be a little emotional.’

’It’s just that I don’t really like being friends with brainless people.’

’I used to think Jade Golding had some sense, but now it seems that’s all there is to her.’

Jade Golding silently took a breath and said no more, but her gaze kept drifting uncontrollably toward Cecilia Croft and Sebastian Hawthorne.

At some point, Sebastian Hawthorne had actually scooted his chair aside and let Cecilia Croft take his spot to play for him.

He, in turn, continued to coach her from the side.

Seeing this, Jade Golding couldn’t help but take a deep breath, her eyes swirling with emotion.

Giselle Grant glanced at her impassively, remaining silent.

’The marriage between the Golding and Hawthorne families is far from a done deal. Her possessiveness over Sebastian is a bit too much.’

The four rounds of mahjong ended quickly.

As Sebastian Hawthorne stood up, he casually pulled Cecilia Croft up with him.

Originally, Sebastian Hawthorne had been losing a few chips before Cecilia Croft arrived.

After she came, he turned his losses into a win.

Zachary Grant had been breaking even, but ended up losing a little. He immediately howled.

"Sebastian, you can’t do that! Switching players in the last few rounds completely changed the luck of the game."

Sebastian Hawthorne said nonchalantly, "Next time, you can bring someone to switch with too."

Zachary Grant: "..."

"Fine! Next time I’ll bring two!"

Sebastian Hawthorne replied coolly.

"Bring three, it won’t matter. A loss is a loss."

Finn Vance was the big winner. He immediately said to Zachary Grant,

"Pay up when you lose. Don’t be such a sore loser."

Sitting not far away, Jade Golding felt the sting of Finn Vance’s jab, and her recently softened expression immediately darkened again.

After counting the chips, Sebastian Hawthorne said to Cecilia Croft in a low voice,

"Hurry up and pull up your account so they can transfer the money."

Cecilia Croft paused, then said with a sheepish smile, "Is that really okay?"

As she spoke, she was already pulling up her account information.

Seeing her acting like a little money-grubber, the corner of Sebastian Hawthorne’s mouth curved into a faint smile.

Zachary Grant immediately took out his phone to transfer money to Cecilia Croft, then said with a laugh,

"What’s not okay about it? You won that money fair and square. Technically, when you took over, Sebastian was still losing. He should be paying you too."

Sebastian Hawthorne chuckled and touched his forehead. Seeing that Zachary Grant was determined to drag him into it, and not being a stingy person himself, he took out his phone. "Alright, I’ll pay up."

When Cecilia Croft saw Sebastian Hawthorne about to scan her QR code, she quickly covered it with her hand.

"There’s no need."

She had already benefited enough from his generosity today.

Zachary Grant immediately chimed in, "You can’t play favorites, Cecilia. If you don’t take his money, you can’t take ours either."

Sebastian Hawthorne casually moved Cecilia Croft’s hand away from the QR code and transferred two hundred thousand to her.

Only then did Zachary Grant feel that justice was served.

Cecilia Croft looked at the money that had just arrived in her account, her heart pounding with excitement.

She had been really short on cash lately. She never expected to make such a windfall just by stopping by today.

She had honed her mahjong skills long ago, back when she was trying to secure investments for Vantage by playing with all those rich wives.

For those women, mahjong was their only form of entertainment. They played almost every day, and in the beginning, she had lost terribly.

’How could a pampered young lady like Jade Golding possibly compare to their skill?’

Seizing the opportunity, Jasmine Vance also pulled up her account information and said to Finn Vance with a fawning look,

"Bro, Sebastian let Cecilia collect her winnings, so you should let me collect mine too, okay? Please, big bro?"

Finn Vance was speechless for a moment, then laughed. "Are you a bandit?"

Jasmine Vance: "No, I’m just poor. Even Jade could see I’ve been down on my luck lately. How come you haven’t noticed at all?"

Jade Golding: "..."

’I just lost control and said one wrong thing. Is Jasmine Vance deliberately trying to hold it against me?’

Finn Vance sighed in resignation and had no choice but to let Jasmine Vance collect her money.

"Fine, fine, take it. I guess I was just working for you today."

Jasmine Vance’s face blossomed into a smile.

"Thanks for the charity, bro."

Cecilia Croft felt Jade Golding’s venomous glare on her. A small smile played on her lips as she turned to Sebastian Hawthorne, beaming. "Thank you too, Sebastian."

’That’s what she gets for mocking me in the other private room earlier.’

’Since she cares so much about Sebastian, I know just how to provoke her.’

’Bring it on. Two can play at that game.’

For once, Sebastian Hawthorne refrained from his usual sharp-tongued remarks.

"You won with your own skill. Why are you thanking me?"

"How were your earnings before?"

Cecilia Croft happily waved her phone. "I was the big winner."

Sebastian Hawthorne raised an eyebrow. "Not bad at all."

Jasmine Vance leaned in and gestured a number with her fingers.

"Cecilia won 200 points, a full ten million!"

Zachary Grant had only watched one round over there and didn’t know the stakes were so high. Hearing this, he exclaimed in surprise.

"You guys were playing for that much?"

They only played for such high stakes during business-related games.

When it was just the guys playing for fun, the wins and losses never exceeded a million.

Jasmine Vance said with a grin,

"Is it a lot? Miss Golding said this was just a small game. Cecilia and I were so scared we just tried to win any hand we could and get out of there."

Jade Golding was once again the target of Jasmine Vance’s jab, and she almost lost her composure.

A flash of surprise appeared in Zachary Grant’s eyes.

"Is that so? I had no idea Jade played for such high stakes. It’s fine once in a while, but playing like that often can be pretty draining."

The Golding family’s profits had been in steady decline for the past few years.

At the end of last year, the Vance family’s profits had surpassed the Golding family’s by 50%.

It’s true that a starved camel is still bigger than a horse, but the fall and collapse of a major family has far-reaching consequences.

The Grant family still had business with the Golding family, after all.

Zachary Grant didn’t have any ill intentions; he just felt that since they were all friends, he should give a friendly reminder.

Jade Golding just grunted a sullen "mhm," feeling utterly exasperated.

She shot a resentful glare at Jasmine Vance, but Finn Vance caught her gaze the moment she did. She could only force her lips into a helpless grimace.