Chapter 4

As if she hadn't heard me, she took a step forward and reached out toward my face.

"It's you! My brother showed me your picture, and he said you're going to be my husband and have a son with me!"

She clamped down on my wrist so hard that I sucked in a sharp breath of pain.

A chill of terror ran through me.

"Get away from me!"

Just then her phone rang.

She let go of me and answered it.

"Hey, brother, I saw him. The husband you got for me is so handsome."

She giggled.

"Thank you, brother. You're so good to me."

I yelled into the phone.

"Liam Pruitt! What are you trying to pull? Do you have any idea this is illegal?"

Liam's voice drifted lazily from the other end.

"Illegal how? My sister has mental problems, so the law can't touch her. As for you, just enjoy yourself."

Maureen's voice came through the phone.

"I think I heard Zachary's voice."

She took the phone.

"Zachary, what are you doing?"

I grabbed at it like a lifeline.

"Maureen! Help me! Liam tricked me into coming to the gallery so his sister could assault me!"

The line went silent for a second, then her cold voice came through.

"Zachary, what game are you playing now?"

"You're a man, and someone's assaulting you? You think I'd believe that?"

It was like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over me.

"It's true! Help me! Or call the police for me—"

She let out a sneer.

"You had Liam's gallery smashed, and now you want to trick me into saving you? Don't even think about it."

The call ended.

Liam's sister already had her hands around my throat, and I could barely breathe.

My hand fumbled around behind me and closed on a vase.

Without thinking, I swung the vase up and smashed it over her head.

She stumbled a couple of steps and dropped to the floor.

I yanked the door open, and fresh air rushed in.

I don't know how long I ran, but somehow I ended up back at that mansion.

I rushed into the room, locked the door, and collapsed onto the bed.

I curled up under the blankets, trembling all over.

Suddenly the door was kicked open.

Liam stood in the doorway, with Mr. and Mrs. Roman behind him.

Paulette glared at me impatiently.

"Get out! I heard you wrecked Liam's gallery!"

"Liam made us a lot of money, and you dare treat him like this!"

Peter cursed at me too.

"You jinx! You got your own parents killed, and now you want to ruin other people!"

Paulette grabbed a broom and swung it at me.

"Get out! Get out! We won't keep a jinx like you in this house!"

I stood there in the room, a sour ache in my chest.

Ten years living here, and in the end all it got me was the word "jinx."

The servants dragged the clothes out of the wardrobe, rolled up the quilts, and threw everything out into the yard.

I took nothing and left the Roman family.

Standing at the edge of the road, looking at the house I'd lived in for ten years, it felt like looking at a place I'd never seen before.

A voice suddenly sounded in my head.

"Current progress 100%. Host, do you wish to leave this world?"

I nodded eagerly.

"I do."

A flash of white light stung my eyes, and I shut them for a moment.

When I opened them again, I was already standing on a street in another city.

Half a month later, Mr. and Mrs. Roman came back from their trip abroad.

The moment Peter stepped off the plane and turned on his phone, hundreds of missed calls popped up.

On the other end of the line, his assistant's voice was cracking with panic.

"Mr. Roman! Something's happened! The company's been shut down! Liam's projects were all scams, and every cent of the company's money is gone! The banks and the creditors are all camped at our door!"

"We're finished!!!"