Chapter 1

As the top-ranked computer science graduate year after year, I only believed in science and hard data.

I never knew how to compromise, hated kissing up to people, and rarely cared about social pleasantries. Everyone called me cold-blooded.

Only my best friend and my boyfriend would smile and brush it off.

"Can't help it. Geniuses are always lonely. As long as we get you, that's all that matters."

Then, out of nowhere, my best friend fell head over heels into tarot readings, blowing through thousands of dollars in a single month.

Having no other choice, I built her a customized tarot website.

She bragged about it for days—until she showed up at my door, face pale, voice shaking with tears.

"I did a reading. You and Julian are cursed. If you stay together, disaster is going to strike."

I frowned, telling her there was zero scientific basis for any of it.

Yet from that day on, Julian had one accident after another.

He twisted his ankle on the way to work. Walking down an open sidewalk, debris dropped out of nowhere and nearly cracked his skull.

He looked at me helplessly.

"Maybe we should take a break? I can't keep risking my life here."

My best friend chimed in right on cue. I looked at the hidden excitement glowing in their eyes, and this time, I didn't say a single word.

They had no idea that every single message they plotted on SnapChat was showing up on my screen in real time.

The cicadas outside were buzzing relentlessly. I sat in front of my monitor, watching an interview with Julian, the CEO of Singularity Tech.

The startup I had built with my own bare hands was now a rising star in the tech industry.

Julian had always been favored by fate; time barely left a mark on him.

In the video, he looked just as charming as the day we met.

The only difference was that his faded shirts had been replaced by bespoke designer suits, though his demeanor had grown distinctly polished and corporate.

Back in the early days, he promised he would handle the charm and PR, while I would change the world.

I bought it.

Just like I genuinely believed he would love me for the rest of his life.

Until a few days ago, when Serena sat across from me, her face pale and heavy with gloom.

"Stella, I watched the stars last night and pulled another card for you. It came up reversed.

It means your relationship is doomed to shatter—and it's going to bring total disaster with it."

My fingers froze over the keyboard. I looked up at her.

Serena was someone I considered family. Emotional, romantic, dramatic.

I could never understand her obsession with tarot.

Just like she could never fathom why staring at lines of code kept me energized for twenty-four hours straight.

"Serena, we've talked about this.

There is no logic behind it. It's just probability and cognitive bias."

I tried using science to bring her down to earth.

She stomped her foot in frustration.

"Can love be explained by science?

I'm doing this for your own good! Your energy naturally clashes with Julian's!"

I sighed, sending over the link to the website I had spent three days building for her.

"Stop wasting your money. I made this for you.

Every card meaning and combination on the market is logged into the database. Have fun with it at home."

I thought that would put an end to it.

The very next day, a barista at the café beneath our office slipped and spilled scalding coffee down my arm.

When Julian called, his voice was thick with panic and distress.

"Stella, are you okay? I'm coming down right now!"

I swallowed the pain, muttered that I was fine, and headed back up to my office.

Serena knelt beside me, carefully applying burn cream, her eyes rimmed with red.

"Julian, I warned her... The Tower card... Stella just won't listen."

Julian pulled me tightly into his arms.

"It's my fault. I didn't protect her."

He looked up into my eyes.

"Stella, from now on, I'm sticking to your side wherever you go."

I nodded.

Yet for the first time in my life, a cold, strange intuition crept into my chest.

Over the next few days, it only got worse.

Walking through the tech park, a flowerpot dropped from a third-floor balcony and slammed into my shoulder.

The pain left me paralyzed on the pavement for minutes.

Driving out to meet a client, a reckless scooter smashed into my driver-side door in the parking garage.

Even at home, a heavy bookshelf in the living room collapsed in the dead of night, pinning my leg and leaving a massive bruise.

Julian's reaction shifted from initial worry to deep, heavy silence.

Before long, he started subtly keeping his distance from me.