The Lucky Charm That Never Blessed Me のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 9

That pot of herbal dregs was something I'd brewed for Luke over a thousand times.Now, he'd cooked up the exact same batch and placed it before me as an apology.It was as if he were casually projecting the habits of catering to another woman directly onto me.He hadn't even bothered to figure out whose stomach actually needed tending to.I picked up the clay pot, but my hands froze over the trash can.Muscle memory made me instinctively want to grab a spoon to skim the dregs floating on the surface.In seven years, I had served him over a thousand bowls of soup. The motion was carved into my very bones.I paused and stared at my hand suspended in midair, feeling the sheer absurdity of it all.The entire pot of soup, liquid and dregs, went straight down the drain. The rushing water spun the herbs into a whirlpool until they vanished.After getting ready, I took a cab to Luke's photography studio.After pushing open the breakroom door, I found Luke reclined on the couch, clutc

"Let's go," I said.I pulled our birth certificates from under the coffee table. "To City Hall."I had only been testing Luke, but to my surprise, he actually followed me there.The lobby was buzzing with noise.We sat down on the iron waiting chairs with two numbers ahead of ours.Luke sat beside me. His back was rigid as if awaiting a verdict.In five short minutes, he checked his phone 17 times. Even with the screen dark, his thumb mindlessly stroked the edge of the frame over and over again.I counted.On the 18th time, the screen lit up.A notification popped up on his lock screen. "The lights are broken again. It's so dark. I'm scared to be alone."It was accompanied by a pitch-black photo where nothing was visible except a faint glow filtering through the curtains.As if burned, Luke instantly flipped the phone face-down on his lap.Then, to cover it up, he reached out and grabbed my hand. His palm was slick with cold sweat, and his voice was unnaturally tender. "Ann

The message was riddled with a couple of typos.I didn't yell at Luke, nor did I call security. I just stared at that line of text for a long time before finally sending a reply. "The rain in Doveridge is nothing compared to that typhoon night in 2019. That rain was freezing."The moment my message was sent, the figure down below froze solid.Through the roar of the downpour and the blurred glass, I saw him lower his head to look at his phone. His shoulders trembled violently.It was as if Luke had finally decoded the meaning behind those numbers. I had spent three full hours standing in the rain that year.His knees buckled, and he sank straight into the mud puddle.Rain lashed against his back, but he didn't dodge, nor did he send a second message.I held my mug, the steam making my eyes sting just a little.I didn't open the door. I simply reached out, grabbed the heavy blackout curtains, and pulled them shut in front of him, blocking out the rain and the man outside complet

Pointing to the wall, I said in the exact tone I'd use to ask for directions, "The photos in this booth feature my portrait without my consent. Please take them down."The staff member blinked in surprise.The last trace of light in Luke's face faded. "Anna, I—""I am not yours, so I shouldn't be up on your wall," I said.I didn't call him by his name.For seven years, I had called his name countless times, and even the "get out" I screamed during our worst fights still carried the warmth of his name.However, now, to me, he was reduced to nothing more than "this booth".His mouth hung open, but no sound came out of his throat.His hand instinctively pressed against his shirt pocket. Through the thin fabric, the outline of a small, round object was pressed hard against his chest.I walked right past that wall lined with my back, heading straight for the exit.Behind me came the soft clatter of photos being unhooked one by one. Their aluminum frames hit the floor.I didn't lo