The Gift and the Ghoul

Everyone Zoe met, she would tell them, “I had someone read her fortune. Maisie’s future is cursed. She’s sickly. Stay away from her.”

I clenched my teeth and propped myself up despite being weak and feverish. I went to see the fortune teller who had read my fortune in my previous life.

After hearing the full story, he told me that there was definitely something I had not noticed yet, and I needed to go back and search carefully.

I had no choice, so I dug through every gift Zoe had ever given me, but I found nothing.

Just when I was about to give up, I shook a pillow, and a tiny paper figure floated out. Its face was drawn to resemble Lucas, and his birth details were written on the back!

The fortune teller exclaimed, “That’s it! The lock and the paper figure work together, and since you've touched the lock, the effect on you is stronger. Luckily, you found it early.”

I broke out in a cold sweat.

That same day, I slipped the paper figure under Miles’ pillow and instructed my parents to watch him while he slept.

The next day, my fever gradually subsided.

This time, I was determined to see how Zoe could enjoy her fortune as she did in my previous life.

…

Soon enough, Miles caught a fever, which scared my parents. They wanted to take him to the hospital, but I stopped them. I promised them that this fever would pass and they would have a normal son soon.

My parents hesitated for a moment, still in disbelief.

After all, Miles had been mentally disabled for almost 20 years!

To keep Zoe from suspecting anything, I pretended to still be sick and texted her: [Can you bring me lunch?]

She did not even bother pretending. [Don’t you have hands? Am I your mom or something?]

Me: [I thought we were best friends. Why are you treating me like this just because I’m sick?]

Zoe: [Best friend, my ass! I’ve hated you for ages! Consider us done!]

Me: [What did I ever do to you?]

The last message failed to send.

She blocked me.

I took a screenshot of the conversation and posted it to my social media.

[My best friend won’t even bring me lunch when I’m sick, and she blocked me. I can't help but feel hurt!]

Comments flooded in immediately:

[Wow, she’s really like this behind the scenes. No wonder…]

[This woman’s such a drama queen. Two-faced! Who would want to be friends with her?]

On the bright side, I also got a lot of supportive messages from kind strangers.

An hour later, there was a loud knock at the door.

Zoe opened it, clearly annoyed, and tossed the packaged lunch onto my desk.

“There, happy now? You’re such a drama queen. I swear, delete that post or I’ll rip your mouth apart!”

She had exerted too much strength when tossing it. The oats spilled all over my desk and dripped onto the floor.

I took a photo of the mess and posted it:

[My so-called best friend deliberately spilled my lunch all over my desk and even threatened to rip my mouth if I said anything else. What do I do? Can I even still be friends with her?]

A bunch of comments called her a gangster and even gave her the nickname ‘Mouth-Slasher'.

In no time, she was famous, and people talked about her with sarcasm.

My phone would not stop buzzing. Zoe was furious. She called me nonstop, trying to get in touch. However, I declined expressionlessly and blocked her.

I secretly went to the hospital to check on Lucas. Sure enough, Zoe was there, clutching her phone in frustration.

“Look at her! She’s ruining my reputation! That horrible woman! I hate her!”

Lucas tried to calm her, “It’s okay, honey. The fortune teller said the fate swap is in progress. Just wait for a few more days. I’ve got her fate. We’ll never run out of money.

“I’ll take you shopping for houses, cars, planes, and yachts! Will you still care about something this small then?”

Zoe was mesmerized by his promises and held her breath. “Honey, promise me you’ll love me forever.”

“Of course.”

I secretly let out a cold laugh. Unfortunately, their wishes were doomed from the start. Nothing came without a price in this world.

After all, every gift that fate promised would come with a hidden cost.