All Chapters of I Spent Seven Years in Prison for My Fiancée, All Because She Showed Me a Photo: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Tessa Shaw spent three years chasing after me. She brought me breakfast, waited outside my classes, and once stood in the rain for three hours just to see me.My friends all said I was lucky. An heiress like her was willing to swallow her pride and chase after me.I thought so too.The Wards had been in business in this city for generations.My father ran the company. I owned shares, property, and an old family home.During those three years, Tessa never once let me worry about the cost of a meal or a gift.Back then, I truly wanted to marry her. I'd even chosen the house we'd live in after the wedding.My sister, Hazel Ward, and I even argued about Tessa.Hazel was 18. My family had spoiled her from birth.My father liked to act tough, but one sweet word from Hazel could make him give in. My mother would call me if Hazel so much as skipped dinner.I spoiled her too.From the moment Hazel met Tessa, she didn't like her. She said Tessa looked at me as if I were something she was decidin

Chapter 2

I spent seven years behind bars.Sometimes, when the photograph wasn't near me, the fog in my head would thin.I'd wake in the middle of the night, sick over what I'd said about Hazel. I'd told my parents she'd brought it on herself. The memory would leave me bent over my bunk, retching. Then all I had to do was picture Tessa's smile, and pity would seep back into me. Taking the blame for her would feel right again.The two thoughts tore at each other until I could no longer tell which one was mine.My mother came to see me once during my first year.She didn't bother sitting down. She tossed the cremation certificate on the table."You had no right to attend your sister's burial.""Mom."She started crying, but no sound came out."When you had a fever as a boy, Hazel stayed up with you all night. She fell asleep clutching a cup of hot water, her hands red from the heat. She loved you so much. How could you say she had it coming?"I opened my mouth, but I had no answer.The glass door

Chapter 3

I'd known Dr. Ellis Holt for four years.When I first came in with an infected wound, he stayed up half the night treating me. He could be sharp-tongued, but he never cut corners when it came to medicine. If an inmate had no family on the outside, he'd even save an egg for him.After four years, I knew what kind of man he was."What does fate-swapping mean?""It siphons away one family's health, fortune, and even the years of their lives, then feeds all of it to someone else."He pointed at the blurred corner of the page."Some things look like ordinary photographs. But once you look at them, they can twist love into hatred and hatred into love—until you can no longer tell which thoughts belong to you."My mind flashed back to the interview room.I'd loved Hazel for 18 years, yet I'd looked my parents in the eye and said she deserved to die. A chill moved beneath my skin."Did someone use it on me?"He didn't answer. Instead, he reached beneath the medicine cabinet and pulled out a bla

Chapter 4

The wedding was held at the Shaws' old family home.The mahogany doors I'd seen in the photograph had been repainted. Only the scorch mark on the threshold remained. As I stepped over it, I remembered Ellis opening the black grimoire.That was when I finally saw what the blurred shape in the old magazine truly was.A faceless paper effigy had been hidden inside the family portrait. The grimoire called it the Paper Guest.Through the photograph, the Paper Guest hooked itself into love and hatred. The more I loved Tessa, the more completely it could bend me to her will. The more my family hated me, the more resentment it devoured.And the life-transfer ritual did not stop after ruining one person.It slowly siphoned away my family's health, wealth, luck, and years of life, then fed them to the person named in the photograph.That was when I finally understood the truth. Tessa had never pursued me because she loved me.As the eldest son of the Ward family, I was her easiest way into the c

Chapter 5

Tessa lunged for the photo.I raised it out of her reach.She missed, tripped over the train of her wedding dress, and crashed onto the platform.The officiant was right beside her, but even he backed away. No one dared help her up.Her parents were still on their knees. Damian writhed on the floor, clutching his ruined leg as blood soaked into the white carpet.I crouched in front of Tessa."Seven years ago, you told me one look at this photograph was enough to make me obey. Now it's your turn to look."She covered her eyes with both hands."No."I laughed."What's there to be afraid of? I thought you enjoyed using photographs to crawl inside people's minds."She gritted her teeth."Elliot, how much do you know?""Enough to make you and your family pay back what you owe."Gerald crawled toward me and grabbed my pant leg."Elliot, let's talk about this privately. Money, shares, half of everything we own—it's yours."I looked down at him."Half?"He nodded frantically. "All of it, if yo

Chapter 6

The entrance was hidden behind the family chapel.Gerald refused to show us the way.I drew out the photograph. One glimpse of it, and he stopped arguing.Two bodyguards dragged Tessa downstairs by the arms. She cursed at me the whole way. "Elliot, you'll pay for this! Your sister is dead. Why can't you let it go?"I stopped.Then I slowly turned to face her.One look from me made her falter."Say that again."She glanced at Gerald but still lifted her chin defiantly."Am I wrong? Hazel shouldn't have gone out. If she hadn't been on her way to bring you that cake, would she be dead?"I walked straight toward her.Gerald shouted, "Tessa, shut up!"Too late.I slapped her.My palm went numb from the impact.I'd waited seven years to slap her. But Hazel still wasn't coming back, and the slap brought me no satisfaction.Someone behind me gasped. Everyone else simply held their phones higher.Tessa clutched her cheek and stared at me in disbelief."You hit me?""I should've done that seven

Chapter 7

As the paper hand broke apart, gray dust began sifting from the cellar walls.One by one, the faceless paper effigies folded in on themselves.Gerald tried to run, but the guests crowded around the door and blocked his way.Some were already calling the police. Others kept their phones trained on the cellar.Comments flooded the live feed.[Wasn't Elliot Ward the man who killed his sister? How did we get this so wrong?][That case needs to be reopened!]Tessa struggled to her feet and pointed at me. "You think destroying the Paper Guest means you've won? Your parents and Hazel are dead. Even if you drag me to hell, they aren't coming back!"I walked toward her."Who told you my parents were dead?"She froze.Gerald's head snapped up."What do you mean?"I took out my phone and made a video call.The screen lit up, revealing a hospital room.My mother sat on the edge of the bed while my father lay propped up against the pillows.They were both much thinner than they had been seven years

Chapter 8

By the time Tessa was taken away, videos from the wedding and the cellar had gone viral.The seven-year-old case was reopened.Hundreds of cursed photographs were recovered from the Shaw family's cellar.Many belonged to people who had gone missing, gone bankrupt, or died in accidents.Reporters gathered outside the hospital."Mr. Ward, why did you take the blame for Tessa Shaw? Is it true that a ritual effigy stole your family's fortune?"I didn't answer.My mother sat in a wheelchair, holding my hand.Her fingers were so thin I could feel every bone beneath her skin.When I was little, her hand was always warm and firm around mine whenever we crossed the street. Seven years later, that same hand was little more than skin and bone. Only then did it truly sink in. She was still alive."Elliot, the past seven years have been hard on you."I crouched down in front of her."Mom, I'm sorry."She shook her head, and a tear fell onto the back of my hand. My fingers stiffened when I felt its

Chapter 9

It rained on the first day of the trial.Just like it had the night Hazel died.Tessa sat hunched over at the defense table.Her parents were there too.They had already started blaming each other.Gerald claimed the ritual had been passed down through the family and that he'd only followed the rules.Lydia insisted Tessa had been driving and Gerald had been the one behind the fate-swapping ritual. She claimed she'd known nothing about it.Tessa listened to them blame each other, then burst out laughing."What's the point of pretending now? Who said the Wards were the perfect family for the Paper Guest to feed on? Who said that as long as Elliot was in prison, his family's resentment would keep feeding it?"Lydia lunged at her, screaming, "You little brat!"The bailiffs rushed in and dragged them apart.The courtroom erupted into chaos.I sat in the gallery and watched them turn on each other.My father sat to my left.My mother sat to my right.Damian sat in the back row with his head

Chapter 10

Hazel was laid to rest again on a bright, clear day.A new photo was set into her headstone. In it, she wore her school uniform, her eyes crinkling as she smiled.My mother wiped the headstone and said, "Hazel, your brother's home. He hasn't forgotten you."My father placed a slice of cake in front of the headstone."You always wanted to bring Elliot a birthday cake. This time, I brought one for you."I stood beside the grave, holding the family portrait.The Paper Guest had crumbled into black ash. Hazel's shadow was gone from the photograph.Ellis said her resentment had faded, and she was finally free to move on.I didn't believe in any of that.But that night, I dreamed of her.She stood at the end of an alley, holding a cake box. "Elliot, happy birthday."When I woke up, half my pillow was wet.Later, I burned the family portrait.As the flames curled around its edges, something inside the paper gave a faint, shuddering sound.Like a final breath escaping a throat.My family didn'

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