Ghost Billionaire-Chapter 38: One of Them

"What do you mean, they didn’t arrest him?" Rick’s voice bounced off the walls of the private room like a thrown glass. "He was in on it! He was one of them!"

Alen remained seated, his posture composed, hands folded on the low table between them. "Unfortunately, Ghost isn’t one of them. He was registered as a new participant just last week. Argent met him only at the start of the event. We found no ties between him and the staff. He’s clean."

Rick stared at his uncle, mouth opening and closing like he couldn’t process the words.

"No—no, that’s not right," he said. "I was there. I saw them. They were working together, Uncle. That Ghost was picking perfect stones like he already knew what was inside! That’s not normal. That’s not luck." He refused to believe that the man really has an ability to identify gems! It must be because he was working with the staff!

"We checked the logs, the surveillance feeds, the internal staff reports. Nothing points to him being involved. He didn’t speak to anyone beforehand. No digital messages. No money was exchanged. The attendants verified the carts were randomized. Cosim tampered with the earlier batches alone."

Rick took a step back and dragged a hand through his hair. He turned away from Alen, pacing toward the drinks cabinet, then stopped, spun back around, and pointed toward the door like Ghost might suddenly walk through it.

That man humiliated him in front of his uncle. All this time, he thought he was there to scam him. Now... "I thought he was one of them."

"Is that why you kept watching? Thinking, he was trying to scam you into using your own money to bet?"

"I was waiting for him to slip!" Rick fired back. "I was observing him. I saw how he acted. Calm, like he knew he was safe. That’s not someone innocent."

"We even did a secondary scan," Alen added. "No tech on him. No implants, no signal jammers, no third-party transmissions. We ran his prints twice. Nothing suspicious. No criminal history, no known affiliations. Ghost is... a ghost. He appeared from nowhere, but nothing illegal tied to his name."

Rick turned again and kicked the leg of the armchair across from him. The sharp crack echoed through the room, but Alen didn’t react.

"This doesn’t make sense," Rick muttered, now pacing. "It doesn’t make sense at all. He has to be cheating. People like that don’t just show up and win a dozen times without something shady going on."

"He won," Alen said simply. "You lost. Perhaps that’s what really bothers you."

Rick spun around. "You’re siding with him?"

"I’m siding with facts," Alen replied. "You let your emotions cloud your judgment. You lost control tonight."

Rick’s nostrils flared. "So that’s it? We let him go?"

Alen ignored his nephew’s question as he looked at Duke. "What are your thoughts?" Alen asked.

"Thanks to your nephew, the report that we received was indeed true." Duke set the porcelain cup down with a soft clink, his fingers still loosely curled around the saucer. "We confirmed it," Duke said. "Aside from a handful of low-grade stones, the rest of the rocks were worthless. The ones cut earlier for show? They were swapped in. And Ghost is not involved." This time, Duke eyed Rick. "He won fair and square."

"So you mean to say, he got all that money as well?"

"The betting was real. Clean," Alen said. "Those people probably planned to scam him, but the moment you walked in, they panicked. They couldn’t risk being exposed, so they pretended everything was fine and let it play out. They thought there was no way they’d lose money. But in the end... Ghost won. If I am right, the staff would be forced to pay him the money that he won."

"Fair and square?" Rick’s voice cracked slightly. His eyes widened, disbelief building with every word. If Ghost wasn’t cheating... if he actually had the ability to see through the stones—

He turned toward Alen, searching for any sign of doubt.

His uncle gave a single slow nod. No expression. No hesitation.

That was all Rick needed.

His chest rose and fell as his anger gave way to something else. If Ghost really could do it—if he could identify gems like that—then letting him walk away was no longer an option.

They had to protect it. Use it. Quietly.

Rick knew. He knew Alen was thinking the same thing.

A tool like that? In the wrong hands, it could break the entire market.

Alen looked down at his glass, then set it aside.

"Then it must be luck," Alen said.

But both of them knew it wasn’t.

They had seen it. Ghost could guess the gem without even touching it!

"Must be," Duke answered. "I’ll expect payment by tomorrow," Duke added, rising from his seat.

Alen gave a curt nod. "It’ll be handled. Give your grandfather my regards."

Without another word, Duke left the room. The soft click of the door closing was the only sound left behind.

"What happened tonight must be kept quiet," Alen said.

Rick blinked. "What do you mean?"

Alen turned to face him, slowly. He looked at his nephew the way a man might look at a cracked artifact—something valuable but frustrating. "Ghost schemed his way into our line of sight."

Rick squinted. "What? I already know that! He was trying to get our attention because he wanted to—" He paused. The thought trailed off and twisted.

Ghost wasn’t a scammer.

His wins were real. His readings were accurate. He hadn’t lied, hadn’t cheated.

The realization hit him all at once.

"Don’t tell me—"

"Yes," Alen cut in. "Ghost used your presence. Not to scam you, but to force the situation. He doesn’t have backing, no official support, no clan connections. He couldn’t risk offending the wrong person. So instead, he drew you in. With you watching, the staff had no choice but to go by the book. The moment they realized they couldn’t manipulate the carts anymore, they panicked. And Ghost... Ghost used whatever ability he had and turned the odds in his favor."

Rick’s mouth opened slightly. His thoughts spiraled.

He had thought he saw through Ghost.

He thought he had it all figured out. He thought it was some elaborate scam, a setup, a con.

But instead, he had been the one who was played. He had been used.

His own presence had given Ghost the shield he needed.

Rick’s expression soured, jaw tightening as his gaze dropped to the floor.

"I..." he started, but the words didn’t come.

His pride had twisted the whole thing. And now, the truth felt like a slap.

He clenched his fists slowly. He couldn’t even tell if he was angry at Ghost—or at himself.

"Either way..." Alen said as he turned his attention towards Rick. "You must not offend him again."

"Do you mean to say— "

"Yes, he must be one of them."