When Family Became a Place I Couldn’t Return To novel Chapter 248

Jude leaned in and told Nelly that her mother had once been the casino bosses’ favorite dealer. She wasn’t just pretty, but smart and quick-witted, with a charm that made everyone want to be around her. At the tables, she was something special, with both the skill and the instincts that set her apart.

Pretty soon, the bosses decided she was wasted as just another dealer. They started having her run the high-stakes tables, the ones reserved for VIPs and big-name clients. She never let them down. In just a few years, she brought in a fortune for the casino. People said that, if the underground city could pile up as much wealth as a small country, Judy was one of the people who made that possible.

But when Jude got to that part of the story, he went quiet.

Nelly edged closer. “What happened after that? Why did my mother leave?”

She already had a nagging feeling she knew part of the answer. It probably had something to do with Christopher. In a place like the underground city, people didn’t just come and go unless there was a reason. She remembered Gregory saying the Watson family had a history with this place, some kind of feud. That was why, even when he suspected Ben was hiding here, he didn’t dare send anyone in to look.

Was that old grudge also about Christopher?

Before Jude could answer, the car stopped. They’d reached the medical building deep underground.

Their conversation ended there. Jude led Nelly down to the third basement level and into a quiet medical room. Through the glass window, she spotted Brody lying on a hospital bed. Someone else was in there, his back to them.

Whoever it was wore a faded white lab coat, surgical cap, and gloves, moving carefully around Brody’s bed. Once he finished changing Brody’s IV, he stepped out of the sterile room and into the hallway.

Nelly’s breath caught. The man had a mask over his face, just a pair of tired but sharp eyes visible above it.

He was the bartender from the bar. The one who’d brought her and Brody here himself.

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