Chapter 1

I was born with a gift for reading fortunes—luck and disaster—before they come, and because of that I've turned down more opportunities than I can count.

But in the eyes of my sister, who has to win at everything, that just made me a fake saint.

When a teacher picked me to be class president, I said no, and Candice Fox's hand shot up before anyone else could move.

That same day the class fund went missing, and she was the one left holding the blame.

Our mother only got one spot in an elite prep program. I wouldn't go, so she sneered and swore she'd study her way to the top and grind me under her heel.

The next day the classroom was surrounded by police. The lecturer standing up front was nothing but a con man.

By the time we got to college, every time a boy confessed to me, she made it her mission to turn him into her boyfriend.

Because if it was something she'd snatched away from me, then in her eyes it had to be the best.

She got cheated on, got played for money, and nearly caught a disease out of it.

I meant well when I told her this wasn't good for her.

She just gave a cold little laugh. "You're a fake saint, that's all. Deep down you're jealous enough to die, aren't you?"

"You won't fight for anything yourself, so you can just eat my leftovers!"

At our graduation ceremony, our advisor introduced a job opening at a startup.

And our mother had set a reward: whoever landed a job first would get a house bought in their name.

Candice signed the application form without a second thought, then turned to mock me. "An opportunity this good and you won't even grab it. You planning to lie around rotting for the rest of your life?"

But just now, when I did the reading, the great opportunity coming out of her mouth was actually an omen of catastrophe.

...

"Aileen Fox, do you really want to live off Mom forever? Come to this company with me, right now!"

She yanked out a fresh application form and slapped it down in front of me.

Her voice was startlingly loud, and everyone around us turned to look at me like something was wrong with me.

That only made her more excited, and she started venting to the parents and classmates nearby.

"You have no idea how much of a fake saint my little sister is! A perfectly good opportunity right in front of her, and she still won't look for a job!"

I raised my hand and reckoned it on my fingers, running the reading one more time.

The worst possible hexagram. Catastrophe.

It meant going to this company wouldn't just cost her a layer of skin. At worst, it could cost her life.

Out of plain human decency, I still tugged at her sleeve and lowered my voice.

"Maybe we shouldn't go. I just don't think this company is right."

She shoved me hard, knocked me to the floor, and rolled her eyes at me with a cold laugh.

"Aileen Fox, you're the one playing the fake saint and turning down every opportunity that lands in your lap. Why do you have to drag me down with you?"

"This is the kind of world where you fight and you grab! When it's an opportunity, you hold onto it!"

"You're going today whether you like it or not! Is it wrong for me to look out for you like this?"

Fighting and grabbing for things isn't wrong.

But my sister could never stand to watch me refuse. She always had to drag me into it too.

She became class president, then ordered me to be her deputy, and when money went missing, I was the one who had to pay it back.

She went to the elite training program and made me wait outside for her class to end, and I ended up hauled off by the police right along with her.

Worse still, when the boyfriend she'd fought so hard to win started showing signs of a contagious infection, she bundled herself up head to toe and registered at the campus clinic under my name.

For three years now, people have pointed and whispered at me, and my reputation is in ruins.

I'd read every one of those bad omens, but there was no stopping Candice from charging headfirst into the pit.

This company has the heaviest ill fortune I've read to this day. If she wants to throw her life away, I'm not going with her.

I rubbed my bruised, swollen arm and flatly refused to fill out the form. "I'm not going!"

She still wanted to force me, but the person in charge walked over and clapped her on the shoulder.

"Our company has plenty of room to move up and great benefits, but the bar is high too. It's not really suited to someone like your sister!"

At that, Candice let out a cold snort.

She stopped pushing me, but the look in her eyes stayed ugly.

She mouthed the words at me. "Your fake sainthood won't last much longer. Today I'll have you crying your way out to go job hunting!"

Whether I cry is anyone's guess, but she's the one about to run into serious trouble today.

By my reading, because she accepted this company's offer, she was certain to face bloodshed before the day was out.

I pursed my lips and muttered back, "You'd better worry about yourself first!"

Once the graduation ceremony ended, we'd barely gotten home.

Candice immediately complained to our mother. "Our advisor shoved this opportunity right in our faces today, and Aileen absolutely refused to take it!"

The words had barely left her mouth when our mother, who worships elite education and dotes on Candice, swung her hand at me.

I'd felt it coming and twisted away, so the slap landed square on Candice's face, right behind me.

"Aileen Fox!"

Before Candice could even blow up, she cracked into the entryway cabinet and hit the floor hard.

That company hadn't even interviewed her. They let her start the moment she filled out the form. The bad luck was already wrapped around her!

Faced with her fury, I only spread my hands.

"I told you that company would bring you nothing but trouble. You didn't want to believe me."

Candice's mouth curled with contempt. "You're just jealous of me!"

"And Mom said she's taking me to buy a house tomorrow. The deed goes in my name, and the loan goes in yours!"