Dates Ended in Death, Mom Ended up Famous

After I was kicked out of the house, I was very upset and went back to my university. I applied to stay on campus for the holidays and didn't return home for the next six months.

Mom never once reached out to me during that time. It was as if she'd blocked me for good. It seemed she'd hidden her Instagram stories from me as well.

After graduating from university, I started an internship at a company. Lawrence Smith, one of my peers from university, started pursuing me as well.

He didn't care about my past and wanted to be with me no matter what.

A year later, we held our engagement party.

I didn't manage to sleep properly during the days leading up to the event. I consoled myself repeatedly, reminding myself that everything should be fine now that Mom and I were far apart.

It felt like a great weight had been lifted from my chest when I saw the party go smoothly.

But toward the end of it, Lawrence covered my eyes in a secretive manner and told me he had a surprise for me.

An uneasy feeling began growing in my chest.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Mom standing right in front of me.

Lawrence poked my nose and said, "I know you've been missing your mother all this while. A wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime event, after all, so I figured I'd invite her without informing you."

Even as fear rose within me, I studied Mom's face. She seemed to have aged considerably in the past two years. There were so many wrinkles on her face as well.

As I looked at the woman who'd raised me since I was young, I couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.

"Mom," I choked out.

But Mom took out a food container without so much as looking at me, then told Lawrence to eat the food inside.

Lawrence and I shared a glance.

When he refused the food, I sighed in relief. I then moved to take the food container away.

I said, "Stop it, Mom. It's my engagement party tonight, so can you just please—"

But before I could finish speaking, Mom quickly shoved the food down Lawrence's throat, as though she'd been seized by something.

The moment Lawrence swallowed the food, a look of terror appeared on his face.

He then ran toward the floor-to-ceiling windows, smashing into the glass and jumping from the 18th floor of the hotel we were in.

Just like that, my fiance died right in front of me.

Chaos erupted at the scene. Lawrence's parents grabbed Mom's neck, demanding she pay for Lawrence's death with her life.

"Why did you do this to Lawrence? He's never done anything to you!"

"I'm going to make you pay today if it's the last thing I do!"

When Mom passed out after being choked too hard, they turned to look at me.

"I already knew that anyone who dates you eventually ends up suffering a terrible fate! You're nothing but a jinx!"

"Now you have to finish the food your mother made!"

Numb with despair, I took the food container and ate the food before they forced me to do it.

All I wanted now was an answer.

Yet after 15 minutes, I still didn't show any unusual symptoms.

The police finally arrived to take Mom and me back to the station.

"You two, again. What on Earth did your mother put in that food? Could it be some kind of curse?"

The police were incredibly confused and even set up a special investigation team for our case. They even contacted some Nungaar tribespeople to examine the food.

"Nothing's wrong with the food. It wasn't hexed in any way either. You've been overthinking things."

The results were once again a disappointment.

A well-respected senior police officer risked his own life to consume the food. All the other officers in the station held onto him, fearing another sudden death.

But like me, the police officer showed no symptoms and remained fine.

Under these circumstances, the police had no choice but to release Mom yet again.

Lawrence's family despised me for what happened.

"Please don't ever get into another relationship and hurt someone else, or we'll make sure you never step foot in Harrington ever again."

After that, I had no choice but to return home with Mom.