Chapter 4

I decisively rejected the call and replied to him on SnapChat.

“Honey, company just scheduled an unexpected business trip for me. I’ll be gone for a few days.”

Worried he'd notice something was off, I added another line: “Love you, remember to miss me and baby, and wish Zara success on her debut~”

After that, I bought a flight ticket to a country known for its mysticism. I had to find out where Zara had really learned her magic.

After some investigation, I learned that she hadn't been studying in the UK for the past six months at all.

Instead, she had gone to a country in Southeast Asia, a land steeped in ancient, forbidden magic…

I caught a connecting flight. The moment I landed, I saw an old woman faint.

The old woman was shabbily dressed, clutching a worn-out bag in her hand.

I gave her some water and fanned her. She finally woke up.

Just as I was about to leave, the old woman grabbed my hand.

“Don't go, young lady. We're destined to meet, and I can help you.”

Before I could answer, she abruptly snapped the chain of the small gold charm pendant around my neck.

“Hey! What are you—” I frowned, about to scold her.

But I saw her twist open the gold charm.

This gold charm was a wedding anniversary gift from Noah this year. I had no idea this decorative locket could even open.

The old woman pulled out a small piece of paper from inside. It was clearly a hex paper.

She tsk-tsked, shaking her head. “My dear, someone put a hex on you.”

…

That afternoon, I felt disoriented. Even on the flight home, I hadn't fully recovered.

The old woman's words kept echoing in my mind.

*A hex…*

If Zara put a hex on me, then why was the gold charm from Noah?

Could he have known all along about Zara using this hex to transfer the harm to me?

Like I was possessed, I found myself heading home, only to find Noah and Zara panting softly, entwined in the bathroom.

Zara was even wearing the designer shirt I had bought Noah for our wedding anniversary.

Seeing me return, they were clearly startled.

Noah quickly straightened his clothes and came out, hugging me and trying to explain.

“Mia, Zara got hurt during her performance today. I was just helping her with her wound.”

I glanced at Zara; there was a nearly healed scratch on her collarbone.

Suddenly, Noah's grip tightened on my wrist. He glared at me, demanding,

“Mia! Where's the gold charm I gave you? How could you take it off?! No wonder Zara got hurt!”

His grip was so tight it hurt, and tears welled up in my eyes.

Realizing his outburst, he quickly let go and spoke gently, coaxing me.

“Honey, that's not what I meant. I meant this gold necklace is a symbol of our love, you can't just take it off.”

At this moment, I finally believed that he must have known about the hex paper hidden inside the charm.

I pulled the broken chain and pendant from my bag, my face expressionless.

“The chain broke. I can't wear it.”

The next second, Zara directly took off the gold chain from her own neck and handed it to me.

“Mia, that's such a shame. Then use my chain, darling. After all, it's your wedding anniversary gift from Noah. Noah would surely be upset if you didn't wear it.”

Without waiting for my agreement, Zara picked up the gold charm, went to the side, and threaded it onto her gold chain. In the reflection of the mirror, I saw her whispering something to Noah.

They opened the gold charm to confirm the hex paper was still inside, then pretended nothing was amiss.

“Come on, honey. See how generous Zara is? She just gave you her gold chain. It's hard to find a best friend like that.”

Watching Noah put the almost identical gold chain around my neck, it was hard not to suspect he had bought two chains from the start—one for me, one for Zara.

Too disgusted to say more, I walked straight into the bedroom.

Carefully, I picked up the long strand of hair on the bed that didn't belong to me.