Chapter 1Ever since I was born, my family decided everything by rolling dice.
Roll a 6—lobster dinner, queen-size bed.
Roll a 1—moldy leftovers, sleep in the closet.
For eighteen years, my sister Celeste always rolled 6s, and I only ever got 1s.
Whenever I questioned it, Mom and Dad just snapped.
"We're totally FAIR!"
"Everyone says your sister's a blessing, and you're a curse!"
"We're poor because of YOU. Be grateful we even feed you."
Then on my 18th birthday—for the first time ever—I rolled a 6.
Finally!
But Dad kicked me in the face.
"A cursed bitch like YOU doesn't deserve a 6! You must've cheated!"
They beat the shit out of me and dumped me in the basement.
Half-conscious, I overheard them laughing:
"Jesus, she grabbed Celeste's loaded dice by mistake. Thank god she didn't notice."
That's when it hit me.
Eighteen years of "bad luck." ALL FAKE.
My own parents rigged everything—for their precious daughter.
FUCK IT.
I pulled up that text in my spam folder.
[Alaska underground casino—hiring now—$$$$]
They wanted a cursed daughter?
Fine.
I'll crawl somewhere even darker and learn how to eat monsters alive.
...
After days on the road, I finally crossed the border.
A van dropped me at this flashy casino.
People at the tables looked insane, throwing chips like it was Monopoly money.
Some guy led me through the place to a shitty dorm room. Fifteen people packed into one tiny space.
I didn't care.
At least here I could lie flat. Back home, I had to curl up in that closet.
Four other girls my age came with me.
They were losing it. Crying nonstop.
"This isn't what you said! I want to go home!"
Next second—SMACK.
This huge guy grabbed her hair and slapped her face until it swelled like a balloon.
The boss screamed at us.
"You think you're princesses? You're whores!"
"Keep crying and I'll get twenty guys to fuck you raw!"
Another girl sobbed so hard she couldn't breathe.
The boss nodded. Two guys dragged her out.
Screams came from outside.
All the new girls were shaking. The older workers just stared at us with pity.
Me? Nothing.
A few slaps—that's punishment?
At home, I forgot to wash one bowl. Dad made me roll dice.
Higher number, lighter beating.
I rolled a 1.
He knocked out two of my teeth that night.
The boss smiled, satisfied.
"Your job—make gamblers lose money."
"Dress slutty. Talk sweet. Spread your legs if you have to."
"They lose, you eat!"
Dead silence. I even could hear the girl next to me gulp.
I raised my hand.
"So what's the reward for good performance? Lobster dinner?"
Chapter 2
Everyone stared at me like I was crazy.
The girl next to me squeezed her eyes shut, as if I were already dead.
The boss spat on the floor and walked over, grinning.
"You scam a million? I'll take you to a fancy hotel. All-you-can-eat seafood."
"Ten million? I'll get you a car, a house, and some hot boys to play with."
"A hundred million? This whole casino is yours."
Then he grabbed my hair. Hard.
"But if you scam NOTHING, I'll kill you!"
I swallowed my fear. Kept my voice steady.
"Does this casino have an online platform?"
"What?" He clearly didn't expect that.
I kept going.
"Working the floor is risky and low profit."
"Anyone who finds this place is smart. Why not expand online? Build some gambling sites to pull in more people."
"Start small. Give them little wins to hook them."
"Once they bet bigger, we pull the rug. Just tweak some backend numbers and take everything."
"If you need it, I can help build the software and websites."
He looked me up and down, then burst out laughing.
"Holy shit! Didn't expect to find talent here!"
"Get her to the cafeteria. Good food. Single room. High-end computer. Don't let me down!"
Just like that, everyone watched with envy as I ate hot food. Got my own room with a private bathroom.
Lying on that hard wooden bed, I felt warm for the first time in forever.
What looked like hell to everyone else felt like heaven to me.
I couldn't remember the last time I ate a hot meal.
Or just slept in a bed where I could stretch out.
Here, I didn't need luck.
I was grateful for those computer classes in high school.
Combined with stuff I found online, I built a decent platform pretty fast.
Meanwhile, the girls who came with me got forced into skimpy outfits.
Tits and thighs out, walking between tables, using their bodies to lure gamblers in.
Either get them to bet more, or distract them so the dealers could cheat.
One new girl screwed up, got caught switching cards right in front of a gambler.
She never came back.
I didn't ask. But the boss saw my curiosity.
"Want to know where she went?"
I shrugged.
He took me to a small room.
Men kept going in and out.
Every guy who left was pulling up his pants, looking satisfied.
That girl's fate was obvious.
The boss asked me.
"Aren't you scared you'll end up like that someday?"
I shook my head like it didn't matter.
"She's got all the bad luck. Lucky me, I'm not."
Chapter 3
The website and app were done fast.
I started pulling people in through spam texts and sketchy porn sites.
Soon enough, someone took the bait.
My first big score.
The boss was so happy he threw me a massive seafood feast.
I ate like a starving animal.
Then one of the girls who'd been here two years asked me something.
"Vera, don't you want to run?"
I looked at her, confused.
"Run? Why would I run?"
She choked on her words and stammered for a long moment.
"If you get caught, the law won't let you off either."
I shrugged.
"Getting punished by the law beats getting punished by my parents."
"At home, they controlled my fate. Here, I control other people's fate."
"I want them to win, they win. I want them to lose, they lose."
She opened her mouth. Then left without another word.
Next day, I saw her beaten half to death.
Turns out she believed some gambler's lies. Thought he'd take her away from here.
Instead, he ratted her out to the boss. Got himself some travel money and disappeared.
I looked at her and shook my head.
No help for it. Her luck ran out.
A few days later, my platform was finally up and running.
Right then, my parents posted in the family group chat.
"Our daughter is such a blessing!"
"She won ten grand on a scratch-off! Tonight we're treating everyone to dinner—just the three of us!"
A relative noticed something off.
"Hey, where's Vera?"
"Who knows where that slut's been for the past two weeks. Probably in some guy's bed. If she brings back a decent bride price, at least she'll be useful for once." Dad wrote.
"Good riddance. Ever since that curse left, our luck's been amazing! Our precious Celeste is a true blessing. I bet she could win five million at a casino!" Mom added.
Seeing how excited they were, I couldn't help but smile.
If they think their precious daughter is so blessed, let's test that theory.
First, I hacked one of her friend's accounts. Sent my gambling site link in her voice.
"Girl, I just rolled dice on this site twice. Turned $200 into $20,000!"
Attached a photoshopped screenshot of my wallet.
Instantly, she sent back several voice messages.
"How'd you do it?"
"Is this for real?"
"It's not a scam, right?"
I sent her $200 directly.
"We're friends, would I scam you?"
"Here's $200 to play with. If you lose, it's on me. If you win, keep playing."
Less than five minutes later, I got a notification—Celeste Ashford just registered.
Through the backend, I rigged the dice to show 6.
Changed her balance to $400. Let her withdraw it successfully.
Soon she deposited the $400 back in. This time I changed it to $1,200.
Next second, excited voice messages popped up.
"Holy shit! This actually works!"
"Everyone says I'm blessed. I'm gonna win millions!"
Seeing that message, I knew.
She took the bait.
