Chapter 2 The Final Walnut

"Shane, you're good at everything. However, your heart is too soft since you love bringing pitiful animals back home."

I felt ashamed when I heard her words. So, I suggested that we break up.

However, a dog darted out onto the road out of nowhere when Shane chased after me, causing him to swerve the car and end up rolling down the mountainside.

I was a sobbing mess outside the ER.

The anesthesia hadn't worn off when he was finally wheeled out. Yet, he clung to my hand with all his strength, murmuring my name over and over, "Lena… Don't go… What's the point of me living if you are not here?"

My resolve faltered when I heard him.

His family stopped opposing us as well.

…

Under his meticulous care, I slowly walked out of the shadows of my past.

For the first time, I felt a sense of peace and happiness I had never known. I even felt that maybe this was the life Grandma had hoped for me all along.

I hesitated for a long time before deciding whether to open the final walnut.

…

On our first anniversary, Shane booked the most expensive restaurant in the city and proposed to me.

As I watched him go on one knee, diamond ring in hand, eyes full of love, I felt like I was the happiest woman in the world.

So, I said yes.

When I was giddy with happiness, I finally gathered the courage to crack open the last walnut.

I had imagined countless possibilities—perhaps a blessing, or a message telling me all my trials were over.

However, it was none of those.

Inside was only a slip of paper, the handwriting messy, as if written using one's last breath. 'Shatter every mirror in your house!'

I froze on the spot, confused as to what it was supposed to mean.

Our home was basically a miniature art gallery. Shane loved modern art with mirrored elements. There were at least a dozen mirrors scattered throughout the house, each worth a fortune, bought from auctions around the world.

Yet, I was supposed to smash them?

For the first time, Grandma's instructions felt absurd to me.

Just then, his call came through, his gentle voice flowing from the speaker.

"Lena, are you asleep? I just arrived in another city. There's an urgent art exchange event, and I might need about four days before I can come back.

"I forgot to tell you that I had prepared a gift for you for our anniversary. It's behind the dressing mirror in our bedroom. Go take a look."

My heart was a mess after I hung up.

Grandma's warning and Shane's gentleness crashed violently against each other.

I walked to the giant floor-length dressing mirror. In it, my reflection looked pale, frightened.

These three years, Shane had cared for me so thoroughly that I had grown dependent on him. My last relationship had been full of betrayal and terror.

It was Shane who pulled me out of the dark and gave me a home. So, how could I destroy the thing he cherished most because of a senseless warning?

Soon, messages from him came in again.

'Did you find it? Do you like it?'

'Lena, why aren't you replying?'

'Are you still upset that I had to leave suddenly? I'm sorry, it's my fault. I'll come back as soon as I finish here.'

'Believe me, Lena. No one in this world loves you more than I do.'

Shame consumed me as I continued to read those messages.

'How could I even think of doubting him?' I thought.

Then, I took a deep breath and threw the walnut and the note into the trash. I decided to forget the whole thing.

However, I saw a dark silhouette standing right behind me in the mirror from the corner of my eye as I turned. I whipped around but saw nothing.

Still, that barely-there moment was enough to make me break out in cold sweat.

'Was it just a hallucination?' My heart thumped wildly as I looked at the mirror again.

In it, my reflection had a twisted and eerie grin on its face. Its lips forming three silent words—"Smash. It. Now."

A scream tore out of me as I collapsed to the floor. 'No! This isn't an illusion! Grandma never gets things wrong!'

I scrambled to my feet, grabbed a nearby chair, and hurled it at the dressing mirror with every ounce of strength in my body.

The glass shattered instantly, and its shards scattered across the floor.

Behind the mirror, there was no gift.

It was a one-way mirror.

Behind it was a sealed room no larger than five square meters. Inside, there was a man tied to a chair. His mouth was stuffed with cloth, while his body was covered in blood. He had long stopped breathing.

His eyes were wide open, staring straight in my direction, frozen in pure, unfiltered terror.