Chapter 4

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of my phone buzzing incessantly. It was a notification from TikTok.

King K had a new video.

He looked ecstatic, almost manic. "Okay, listen up, this is next level! Forget the NFL, the real money is in international soccer this week! I' ve got the script!"

He then listed, one by one, every single one of my obscure soccer bets. The red card. The goalkeeper goal. The Japanese league upset.

Every single one.

Except for the bad bet. The trap. He didn' t mention that one.

He knew. Or rather, my uncle knew which one was the fake.

My phone rang. It was Uncle Leo. His voice was no longer soft and concerned. It was sharp, laced with fury.

"What the hell, Maya? International soccer? Since when do you follow that? Why didn' t you tell me about these golden tips?"

The pretense was gone. All of it.

"You' re holding out on me," he hissed. "After everything I' ve done for you."

In the background, I heard another voice. A younger, arrogant voice.

"Tell her to send the money, Leo. She owes us."

It was King K. Kevin.

The connection was undeniable. My uncle wasn' t just leaking my picks. He was living with the guy. They were a team.

My social media feeds exploded. Marco and the crew were all over it, posting in local sports forums and group chats.

"The Oracle is a fraud!"

"She' s just copying King K' s picks and passing them off as her own!"

"She tried to get us to bet on that QB while King K was making real money on soccer! She' s finished!"

Then, a screenshot appeared in my messages. It was from a private group chat, posted by my Uncle Leo.

"She' s a selfish brat. If she won' t share, she' s no use to any of us. An accident can be arranged."

An accident.

Just like the one that happened to me in the alley in my other life.

It was never about a series of bad picks. It was planned. All of it. They were going to ruin me, take my money, and then get rid of me.

My blood turned to ice. But my mind was a razor.

I cashed out my winning soccer bets. It was a fortune. More money than I had ever seen in my life.

Then, I did something crazy. I took every single dollar and placed it on a single, high-risk bet.

A bet that the heavily favored, "unbeatable" NFL team playing on Sunday night would lose.

Specifically, I bet that they would lose after their star quarterback suffered a season-ending injury in the first quarter.

An event that, in my previous life, I remembered with perfect, horrifying clarity.