Chapter 2

That night, Lila actually showed up.

She was sitting in a wheelchair, both of her hands completely mummified in heavy gauze.

Julian pushed her wheelchair into the room, his face written with impatience.

"Lila has something to say to you."

Lila's eyes were red and swollen. Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Maeve... I'm sorry."

"I... I was just too in love with Julian. Seeing you two get engaged... I just lost control of my emotions."

She peeked at my bandaged arm.

"I've already received my punishment. Can you please forgive me?"

Before I could even speak, Julian cut in to finish her thought.

"She won't touch you again, Maeve. This matter ends tonight."

I looked at Lila. "Did you grab the kettle yourself?"

"Yes..."

"Before you threw it, did you know the water was freshly boiled?"

Her lips trembled.

Julian gripped the handles of the wheelchair tightly. "That's enough, Maeve."

"I'm asking her, Julian."

Lila bit her lower lip and nodded. "Yes... I knew."

Two of our family lawyers were standing right outside the door.

Just as my mother was about to wave them in to serve the papers, Julian stepped right up to my bed, blocking them.

"Maeve, are you seriously going to send her to prison?"

"She almost ruined my arm."

"She saved my life!" Julian's voice dropped to a desperate, harsh whisper. "When I was sixteen, I was dying. Lila was the one who donated her bone marrow to save me. I swore to her that I would protect her for the rest of my life."

I noticed a silver dog-tag pendant hanging around Lila's neck.

The silver tag jingled softly against her chest as she breathed.

Engraved on it was a four-digit number: 0716.

I stared at it for a few seconds.

Those numbers looked incredibly familiar.

When I was fifteen and hospitalized, I had received an identical tag.

But after my family moved houses, I couldn't find where I had misplaced it.

Sensing my intense gaze, Lila quickly tucked the pendant back into her collar.

"Maeve, this is just... a personal keepsake."

Julian stepped directly in front of her, blocking my view.

"Have you stared enough?"

With that, he reached out to snatch the settlement agreement sitting on my nightstand.

I pressed my hand firmly onto the papers.

"Don't touch my things."

Julian grabbed my wrist, his grip tightening with force.

"Your father is still negotiating the West Side project. Do you really think he'd agree to ruin a billion-dollar deal over a minor burn?"

In that exact split second, his malicious intent flared up.

Snap.

Julian's index finger instantly popped out of its socket, dislocating backward.

He froze in shock, his face contorting.

Lila shrieked, her face turning pale.

I looked at his unnaturally bent finger and warned him softly.

"Julian, you just tried to hurt me."

"I was just trying to grab a piece of paper!" he roared, clutching his hand.

"The Karmic Shield felt your malice. It knew you wanted to use force to coerce me."

Julian violently yanked his hand back, terror flashing in his eyes.

"What do you mean, Karmic Shield?"

My mother looked down at him with utter disgust.

"You're welcome to try hurting her again."

He didn't dare move.

From that day on, Julian finally began to believe in the curse that governed my body.

He immediately had Lila moved out of the Vance estate, and he fired every single staff member who had witnessed the incident at the engagement party.

Every single day, he came to the hospital. But he always stood exactly six feet away from me.

Sometimes he brought flowers; sometimes he brought gourmet soup.

But he never touched me again.

I thought he had finally learned to fear the consequences.

Three days later, he told me that Lila was being sent abroad.

"Once she's gone, we can start over, Maeve."

I looked at him. "Are you really willing to let her go?"

He fell silent for a moment.

"I owe her my life. I will repay that debt with money. But our marriage... our marriage will only be about the two of us."

His eyes were incredibly sincere when he said that.

My mother happened to be out of the room.

I stared out the window at the falling white blossoms. The heavy, locked door in my heart cracked open just a tiny bit.