A Reborn Bride Pearl Emerging from Dust by Sally Garcia

She'd always misunderstood Gideon. For the longest time, Yvette assumed he came from money. Who would've thought Silas was the one pulling the strings in that family? Now Gideon wasn't even considered an heir. So where was all that supposed wealth, anyway?

Three million dollars. It was enough to make anyone's head spin.

"Gideon, come on, that's enough!"

Yvette couldn't help herself. She waited for a moment when Fleur was distracted and slipped over to Gideon's side. She couldn't watch this train wreck anymore. One more hand and they'd have to start borrowing money just to stay afloat.

She'd thought marrying Gideon meant a life of luxury, brunches at fancy bistros, shopping sprees, weekends at the lake house. Instead, she got a front-row seat to stress and overdraft fees. Her dreams of being a lady of leisure? Total fantasy. She was barely holding it together as it was.

Gideon frowned, jaw tight. He wanted to win it back, he really did. But luck just wasn't on his side tonight.

Verity grinned, her voice syrupy-sweet. "Hey, cuz, you don't have to keep playing. But you're not going to welch on your debts, are you?"

Dahlia glanced at Gideon, brow raised. "You do have the cash, right? We agreed, remember?"

Calliope didn't say anything, but she watched him too, cool and silent.

Yvette's face flushed. She blurted out, "Guys, it's just a little friendly game, right? We're family, who's counting dollars?"

Verity snorted. "Oh, come on. Don't tell me you're tapped out, Gideon! Didn't we all say we'd play big tonight? If you're broke, you should've said so before. You can't just take the winnings when you're up and then back out when you lose. That's not how grown-ups play. Honestly, nobody likes a sore loser."

"You have no idea

Verity, he said, "I never said I wouldn't pay up.

took out his phone and started

lit up when her phone pinged. "That's more like it! We should

"See?

just nodded, a little

the group dispersed, they drifted into the

pie and oranges

and

game

her, and she raised her eyebrows, thoughtful.

Gideon noticed right back.

so many people around, it wasn't the time for a face-to-face

are you still thinking about me? I can tell, you

warn him, but somehow he'd completely misread her

real? Did he honestly think the world revolved

had to

a moment, she texted