Chapter 2

I floated right beside Mom after her surgery was over. The anesthesia hadn't even completely cleared from her system when she started pounding on her abdomen, shrieking, "It's all this jinx's fault! He's killed my daughter once again! Why couldn't he have been the one to die?"

Sensing Mom's hostility, Juliette thrashed wildly.

Mom, however, only hammered her stomach harder. "You sure are stubborn. I should've aborted you as well!"

I was beside myself with anxiety, terrified that something terrible was about to happen to Juliette. So, I lunged in front of Mom and cried out, "Juliette's the one left in your womb, Mom! I'm the one who died. Please, calm down!"

Unfortunately, she couldn't hear me. Her eyes were filled with grief over losing her daughter.

The nurse on duty, worried that the situation would turn fatal, hurriedly summoned the doctor.

The doctor solemnly explained, "An expectant mother must keep her emotions in check. If you don't calm down, you're going to lose your baby!"

"That'd be for the best! I wish this jinx would die right now!" Mom snarled. "My daughter's dead. Why should I stay in the hospital? Since this little brat's so resilient, let's see just how much he can take!"

Mom jumped off the bed, as if afraid the fetus inside her wouldn't be injured.

Just then, a nurse came by to check on Mom.

Mom collapsed on the floor again. "My poor girl, you haven't even developed into a human being yet, you haven't even had the chance to see this world, and you were already killed by your heartless brother!"

Crimson blood soaked right through her clothing, but she didn't seem to care in the slightest. I remembered vividly how Mom used to faint at the mere sight of blood. Even if a piece of pork she brought home from the market had even a single speck of blood on it, she would shriek in horror for ages.

Dad, too, clenched his jaw and glared at Mom's belly, as if the life growing inside it were his mortal enemy. The doctor sighed. "Giving birth to a son or a daughter is all the same. If you refuse to cooperate with the hospital's treatment, you're not only going to miscarry, but you're also going to completely destroy your own body."

"At worst, I'll just die! My lucky charm has already been jinxed to death; he might as well jinx his own mother to death, too! Then, I'll be able to go to the afterlife and be with my daughter." With that, she went completely rigid and fell backward onto the floor.

However, even when she lost consciousness, her arms remained locked tightly around the lump of flesh. I greedily basked in the warmth of Mom's embrace, even though I knew it wasn't meant for me.

The doctor rushed Mom into the emergency room, stating that they needed to stabilize the pregnancy. Dad cursed loudly by the window, "Do you want to see me go bankrupt that badly, you little bastard? You already killed my lucky charm, and now you want to harm my wife too?"

Although the doctor hastily called security to haul him away, I was still shrouded in immense grief. My heart ached for Mom, who was suffering inside the emergency room. Simultaneously, I felt deeply aggrieved for myself.

For seven long years, I had been forced to masquerade as their daughter simply because of my gender. And yet, after everything... No one genuinely loved me.

Grandpa, Marcus Vance, called to ask about the situation. Dad hesitated and stammered for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. "Forget it. Worst-case scenario, we'll just adopt a baby girl when the time comes and claim she was born part of a set of twins."

He paused, seemingly considering the words from the other end of the line, before pinching the bridge of his nose. "I know. I'll make sure everything is handled properly. I won't let a whisper of this leak out.

"The fortune teller only said my daughter would bring us fortune; he never specified she had to be biologically mine. It's all that little bastard's fault for being a jinx. If he hadn't tanked my company's revenue, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

After wrapping up the call, he stared blankly at my remains. After what felt like an eternity, tears trickled down his face. "I'm so sorry, Juliette. I failed to protect our family's little lucky charm. I hope you can be reborn as our adopted daughter. I'll definitely make it up to you!"

Leaning against the wall, I felt a suffocating tightness in my chest. As it turned out, all Mom and Dad wanted was good fortune. Even if the child wasn't biologically theirs, she would still be valued more than I ever was.