Chapter 1

"Mine! This cat is mine!" Mina Corvelle shrieked, her voice cracking with excitement.

Suddenly, the blind old fortune-teller sitting at her roadside stall started muttering mysteriously, "Young lady, the cat you're holding in your arms is a once-in-a-century dark fortune cat. Once it chooses its master, the owner will gain immense riches, but—"

Mina cut her off impatiently, her face brimming with unrestrained fervor. "Ma'am, what do I need to do to make it recognize me as its master?"

The fortune-teller hesitated a little before answering. "Just let it lick a drop of your blood."

Mina hurriedly thrust her scratched hand in front of the black cat. Once the cat licked it, a faint black mist shot out from its body before swiftly vanishing into the center of Mina's forehead.

"Done! It's done! It recognized me as its master!" Mina yelled, dancing around in excitement. She hugged and kissed the cat.

She turned to glare at me sideways, her lips curling into a mocking smile. "Elora Aldridge, I'm going to get rich! As for you, you can spend the rest of your life clinging to that measly salary of yours!"

With that, she hugged the cat and disappeared into the night without looking back.

I stood in the same spot, rubbing my aching foot that Mina had stepped on. A chilling calm settled over me.

In my past life, after I adopted that cat, it would always scratch me, both deliberately or accidentally. Then, it would immediately scamper over and lick my bleeding wounds, acting all affectionate and guilty.

Back then, I had only thought that the cat was just being playful or naughty, but now, I realized it was feeding on my blood with every lick.

Little did Mina know—that black cat didn't just attract riches, it attracted disaster too. Every gift from the cat came with a hidden price tag.

Come to think of it, I was actually quite grateful to Mina in my past life for setting that fire and setting me free. Since she wanted this good luck so badly, I hoped she got exactly what she wished for.

The next morning, Mina bragged excitedly at the company.

"My house is part of a redevelopment buyout! I'll be compensated with eight apartments and 30 million dollars in cash!"

The surrounding coworkers all froze for a moment before crowding around to congratulate her.

"Wow! Mina, you're about to become super rich! Congratulations!"

"No kidding! Don't forget to look out for us from now on!"

An older colleague whispered a reminder. "Keep it down. Don't let the boss hear. Better not flaunt it in front of him."

Mina shrugged her off and scoffed disdainfully. "What's there to be scared of? I'm going to be the wife of the golden boy of Lakeshire soon. Even he will be bowing at my feet! Why should I be afraid of the boss of this little company?"

Her bravado silenced the coworkers who had been fawning over her. Everyone exchanged skeptical looks, thinking Mina had let her wealthy fantasies go to her head and was now spouting nonsense.

Right then, the boss walked into the office with a serious expression. He demanded that our department produce a concept design by the next day.

"The client this time is Mercer Group. Whoever's proposal gets selected will not only receive a million-dollar bonus, but will also be promoted to department director immediately."

In an instant, the entire design department erupted. The prize was enormous, and everyone rolled up their sleeves, eager to give it a go.

Only Mina's expression was full of disdain.

"It's just a design bid. Look at you lot, acting like you've never seen something like this before."

A colleague couldn't help but retort, "Mina, this is a Mercer Group project! If you win this, you'll be set for the rest of your life!"

"As if the rest of my life depends on this," Mina remarked, deliberately raising her voice in my direction.

"Some people spend their whole lives chasing such a small dream, but not me though. I'm born lucky. Immense riches will come knocking on their own."