America 1919

But soon, as other voices in the gambling hall claimed their money was gone too.

That made everyone else start checking their pockets, wondering if from a bystander they had become a victim.

Fortunately, no one else had lost any money, which was a relief to everyone.

Seeing this, Isaiah immediately sprang into action. He was ready to kick Dwight and another person out. Screaming about lost money in his own casino was tantamount to saying his place was unsafe, wasn\'t it?

But just as Isaiah was about to act, an angry voice erupted from the crowd.

"Fuck, who\'s got the guts to steal my money?"

People looked towards the source of the voice, and even the boss, Isaiah himself, gasped. The man who spoke was A.J. Cook, the gang leader of the Panthers in the southern district.

Isaiah couldn\'t understand why such a big shot would come to gamble at his place today.

This was not the time to think about that, though. Isaiah quickly jogged over, pushing his way past Dennis who was in front of him, and came to AJ, flustered.

"AJ, rest assured, my place is safe. It must have been someone blind who did this. I\'ll find them for you right now!"

Slap!

AJ slapped Isaiah hard across the face, then spoke fiercely, "Of course, find them right now! I just wanted to have a little fun, and I run into this mess."

Dennis, who had just managed to stand up straight, felt a surge of schadenfreude seeing Isaiah get hit—that\'s what you get for not lending me money!

Then, looking at AJ, his expression was equally smug—serves you right for having your money stolen!

Isaiah\'s gaze swept the room and landed on Dwight. "You, come here!"

With a population of forty to fifty thousand regular residents in Atlantic City, plus the influx of tourists from Philadelphia and New York, the city often hosted over one hundred thousand people. Even though Dwight was a well-known pickpocket, Isaiah didn\'t recognize him.

With a worried and angry face, Dwight came over, "I just got my wages, 50 US dollars. I hadn\'t even exchanged it for chips yet when I lost it!"

"Are you sure you lost it here at our place?"

Isaiah was still trying to shirk responsibility.

"Of course!" Dwight shouted, "I checked just before I came in. It was just now, when I was about to exchange for chips..."

At this point, Dwight suddenly turned his gaze to Dennis, who was enjoying the drama.

"It was him, it was him! I just bumped into him, and then my money was gone. He must have stolen it!"

Dennis was flabbergasted, not expecting the situation to fall on him. But when he saw the eyes of everyone in the casino on him, what scared him the most was AJ\'s murderous look.

"I... I didn\'t!" Dennis flailed his arms, shouting, "How could it be me? If it were, why would I ask Isaiah here for money?"

Isaiah looked doubtful, thinking that made sense. If it really had been Dennis, he wouldn\'t have asked to borrow money.

And Isaiah knew Dennis well—he was a compulsive gambler at the table, but he did not have the nerve for this kind of deed. Saying he would go home and hit his wife, though, that was true.

More importantly, Isaiah did not believe Dennis had the skill for such a theft.

"Still trying to argue your way out!" Dwight angrily walked up to Dennis. The height difference made Dwight jump up high to slap Dennis across the face.

Dennis was stunned by the slap.

At that moment, Dwight turned back to Isaiah and said, "I bet you didn\'t lend him the money just now!"

Isaiah realized that indeed, he hadn\'t lent Dennis the money a second time. Could this kid really be so bold?

"Is that true?" AJ glowered at Isaiah.

"Yes, yes!" Isaiah quickly replied. Now wasn\'t the time to consider these things. The most important thing was not to upset AJ, or his tavern wouldn\'t be able to stay open!

"A search will reveal the truth, won\'t it?"

Dwight was still hopping with every word he spoke.

Before Dennis could react, AJ\'s men had moved in, subdued him, and began searching him.

One minute later.

Dennis looked at the 150 US dollars in the hands of AJ\'s men, his face pale and body trembling, "It wasn\'t me, I swear!"

Slap!

Dwight slapped him again, hopping with fury, then said viciously, "If it wasn\'t you, did AJ or I stuff our money into your pocket?"

AJ snarled as he stepped forward, "You\'ve got guts, kid. No one in Atlantic City has ever dared to steal my money before. You\'re the first!"

"It really wasn\'t me!"

Dennis felt like crying but had no explanation.

"Hmph, take him away!"

After finishing his words, AJ turned around to leave, and his two subordinates had already taken Dennis into custody.

"Boss AJ, Boss AJ!" Dwight, with a sneaky look, scurried up to AJ and gesturing towards his subordinates, said, "My money?"

AJ snorted coldly and said, "How can you prove that any of that money is yours? All that went missing was 150 US dollars!"

"No, no, not mine!" Dwight, acting as if he was angry but did not dare to speak up, lowered his head and dodged away from AJ.

Seeing this, AJ left the place with a look of smug satisfaction on his face!

"Dennis is done for this time. He could have stolen from anyone, but he had to steal from Boss AJ. Everyone in Atlantic City knows that Boss AJ is the most ruthless!"

"Isaiah is getting a huge bargain out of this, with Dennis taken away by Boss AJ, even if he isn\'t dumped into the ocean, he\'s not coming back. Dennis\'s wife will end up with Isaiah this time!"

"If I had known this would happen, I would have lent Dennis the money earlier!"

The instigator behind the whole affair, Dwight, listened to the discussions in the casino about the incident, then left the place with an air of hiding his capabilities and biding his time.

Dennis, of course, would not dare to steal money. In fact, Dwight had arrived at the casino earlier. Although AJ did not recognize Dwight, Dwight knew AJ. So, he targeted AJ.

Using his skills, he first stole the money from AJ, then took advantage of the collision with Dennis to plant both his own and AJ\'s money on him.

Throughout the whole incident, no one in the casino was aware.

Donnie sat in Block Tavern, listening to Dwight recount the casino story, before pulling out 20 US dollars from his pocket and handing it to Dwight.

"Well done, this is for you!"

The 50 US dollars used to frame Dennis was given to Dwight by Donnie, who, of course, did not specify a victim for Dennis to rob.

Dwight gleefully accepted the money and said, "Thank you, Boss Block!"

Donnie nodded slightly, then stood up and said, "Alright, head next door. There\'s a lot of work to be done at Robert\'s place!"

Scott\'s Tavern could operate as soon as it changed hands, but Robert took Donnie\'s advice and had already negotiated with the owner of the neighboring lodging apartment. When business was slow, he would have his girls go over to the adjacent tavern to entertain.

So to better serve... and to elevate the standard of consumption, Robert still wanted to make some changes to Scott\'s Tavern.

"Alrighty!"

Dwight left happily.

"Wait a moment!" Just then, Donnie suddenly thought of something and called Dwight to halt.

Dwight stopped in his tracks, looking at Donnie with bewilderment.

Donnie said nothing, but reached into the pocket of his coat for his wallet. After confirming the amount inside was correct, he waved Dwight away.

"Wait a moment!" This time, John, who had remained in the tavern, also stopped Dwight and then skillfully took out his own wallet.

Dwight: "..."

.

As the business of Block Tavern and the bootlegging operation got better, Donnie also bought a Ford Model T. If it wasn\'t for the convenience of running errands and transporting goods, Donnie wouldn\'t want to buy a car at all—after all, driving a Ford Model T feels like operating a tractor!

Driving the car, Donnie arrived at the First Hospital, where Margaret had already packed her bags.

Seeing no one else in the hospital room, Margaret immediately threw herself into Donnie\'s embrace, giving him her sweet kiss.

"I thought you wouldn\'t come!"

Donnie laughed and said, "How could I not? Today is the big day you\'re discharged from the hospital. No matter what happened, I was going to pick you up!"

Margaret showed a touched expression.

However, when she got into Donnie\'s car, her face conveyed a conflicted look. After all, she still had a husband, Dennis. Thinking about having to face Dennis when she got back, Margaret felt nauseated from the bottom of her heart!

"I... I don\'t want to go back!"

Margaret, sitting in the passenger seat, spoke softly.

Driving the car, Donnie asked, "Is it because of Dennis?"

"Yes!" Margaret nodded again.

Donnie smiled lightly and said, "If it\'s because of him, then you don\'t have to worry. I\'ve already found a good lawyer. Once we see him, you can divorce him!"

"Really?" Margaret\'s face lit up with excitement.

"Of course!" Donnie steered with one hand, and with the other, he took hold of Margaret\'s hand.

The warmth from Donnie\'s large hand reassured Margaret considerably.

When the two drove up to Margaret\'s place, they saw two or three people gathered in front of her home, led by Isaiah!

"What are you doing?" After getting out of the car, Margaret couldn\'t help but tremble at the sight of these people. Though she didn\'t know Dennis and the others, she was all too familiar with such scenes... whenever Dennis owed money, there would be someone knocking at the door demanding payment.

Dennis, seeing Margaret\'s pitiable state, immediately showed a smug look on his face: "Naturally, I\'ve come to take you home!"