Chapter 3

On the day I was discharged, Julian had an emergency business trip.

He said there was an incident at the Vance Group's South Bay logistics park, but promised he'd be back by evening to pick me up.

Before leaving, he sent over a master keycard.

"Our new house is still being renovated, so go to my penthouse at South Bay first. This card opens every door owned by the Vance Group."

I took the card.

He looked at my bandaged arm, whispering, "I've warned Lila. She won't show her face again."

But barely thirty minutes after Julian left, I received a text from Lila.

It was just a single photo.

In the photo was the silver dog-tag pendant engraved with 0716, lying next to a yellowed, faded thank-you letter.

Her text read: I've decided to leave everything related to Julian behind. Maeve, I'm already on my way to the airport. I left his things in a locker at the South Bay logistics park. Please pass them to Julian for me. Once you have this, I will never return.

I showed the message to Tess.

Tess was a personal security assistant my father had placed by my side. She only cared about two things: making sure I ate, and checking my body for new injuries.

She read the text and shook her head immediately.

"I'll go grab it."

"No, she specifically asked for me."

"Then it's 100% a trap," Tess said firmly.

I stared at the silver tag in the photo.

"That thank-you letter... I've seen it before."

When I was fifteen, I spent two months in the hospital.

Because I couldn't feel pain, my family was always terrified I'd have internal bleeding without knowing. They made me do full-body checkups every year.

During that specific stay, the bone marrow registry contacted my family.

My profile was a perfect match for a boy dying of leukemia.

My father was completely against it, fearing the procedure would harm me.

But Caleb, our family mystic, told him: The Karmic Shield protects those of pure goodwill. Doing a good deed will only strengthen her blessing.

So, I snuck out and signed the consent forms myself.

After the donation was complete, the hospital staff handed me an anonymous thank-you note from the recipient.

At the very end of the letter, a line was written in messy, shaky handwriting:

Once I survive this, I promise I will find you.

The handwriting in Lila's photo was an exact match to that letter.

Tess's face shifted in realization.

"Wait... the person you saved back then was Julian?"

"I don't know," I murmured.

"Then you definitely can't go!"

I grabbed my coat. "You're coming with me."

Before Caleb passed away, he had warned me: The shield can block malice, but it cannot stop you from walking into a trap of your own free will.

I was never a gambler.

But that letter was connected to a ten-year-old life debt.

And it held the answer to why Lila dared to act so untouchable.

I had to see it with my own eyes.

The South Bay logistics park was newly built, and the massive area was eerily empty.

When Tess drove up to the gate, a security guard stopped her.

"Only Maeve Sterling is registered in the system today. No other visitors allowed."

I showed him the master keycard Julian gave me.

The security gates slid open immediately.

Tess strapped a smart thermal band onto my wrist.

"I'll wait right here at the gate. If you aren't out in five minutes, I'm calling the cops and busting in."

I nodded.

Lila was standing right by the entrance of a massive warehouse.

She hadn't gone to the airport.

Both of her hands were still wrapped in thick gauze, but the silver tag was gone from her neck.

"I knew you'd come, Maeve."

I looked past her into the dark warehouse. "Where is it?"

"Inside."

She pointed to a heavy, industrial steel door.

"My hands are useless right now, so you'll have to grab the box yourself."

Behind that door was a massive, commercial-grade walk-in freezer.

At the very end of the metal shelves sat a small cardboard box.

I stood at the threshold, refusing to take another step.

"Bring the box out to me."

Lila smirked. "What's the matter, Maeve? Are you scared of me?"

"I just don't like dealing with pests."

"There are security cameras everywhere, and you have your little voodoo curse anyway. What could I possibly do to you?"

She lifted her heavily bandaged hands.

"I've already learned my lesson, haven't I?"

I looked up at the security camera in the corner.

The red recording light was flashing.

The heavy freezer door was propped wide open.

I swiped the master keycard, walked into the freezing vault, and approached the cardboard box.

I opened it. Inside, there was nothing but an old, cheap wool scarf.

Thud.

A heavy, echoing bang resonated behind me.

The steel freezer door had slammed shut.

Through the small double-paned glass viewing window, Lila was waving at me with a sweet smile.

I walked over and mashed the emergency exit button.

Nothing happened.

"Did you cut the power?" I asked through the glass.

She grinned, holding up a thick black power plug.

"Maeve, your little curse only triggers when someone touches you with malicious intent."

"But I didn't touch you at all."

A blast of freezing, icy air began to pour from the ceiling vents.

The temperature display on the wall began to plummet.

14 degrees...

-0.4 degrees...

-18.4 degrees...

Lila pulled out her phone, pointing the camera right at me through the glass.

"You used Julian's master keycard to walk into his family's freezer of your own accord."

"By the time they find your frozen body, the footage will show you breaking in to steal. As for why the door shut? A tragic equipment malfunction. That's all."

I touched my arm.

I couldn't feel the biting cold.

My healing burn didn't ache either.

But I could see the tips of my fingers turning a ghostly, bloodless white.

"Lila, you're trying to freeze me to death."

She pressed her face closer to the glass, her eyes filled with maniacal glee.

"I wonder if your precious curse can save you from hypothermia?"