Vi Jinx

On the night of New Year's Eve, I wake up in a hospital ward with an IV drip connected to the back of my hand. A nurse passes me the hospital bill. "It's 300 dollars in total, including the emergency treatment fee and the cost for a bottle of glucose drips." When I turn on my phone, I feel my heart sinking. I only have 29.01 dollars left in my bank account. The wallpaper of my phone is a countdown of my family contract's app. Today is the date when I have to renew my family contract for the year. In order to accumulate enough money to go home, I've been working as a staff member in concert venues. Earlier, I had collapsed backstage, so I was quickly sent to the hospital. The dial tone keeps beeping for a long time. Finally, my mom answers my call in what seems to be a noisy background. "Mom, I'm at the hospital right now. I need 300 dollars to pay the hospital bill." "You're at the hospital?" Mom's voice turns shrill immediately. "Why did you visit the hospital during the holidays? You really are a jinx!" "I fainted earlier. I was working at a concert venue—" "What? So, you refused to do chores at home during the holidays! Instead, you decide to work at a concert venue?" Mom interrupts immediately. "I don't have 300 dollars on me! You'd better come up with a way to pay that bill of yours!" "Mom…" My hand tightens around my phone. "Today is the last day of my family contract's renewal period. I'll renew the contract once I pay the bill." "Renew the contract, huh?" Mom just sneers at me. "That's a part of your duties! How dare you use it against me! Helena Lambert, if you don't renew the contract today, you can forget about calling me 'Mom'!" After that, she ends the call. I can only grip my phone to the point that my fingers turn white. After that, I tap on a social media app in hopes that I can borrow money from my friends, only to see the latest post on the social media feed. My younger sister, Hannah Lambert, has posted a photo collage there. "I'm here with my parents to watch my favorite singer's concert! Snagging tickets to the first-row seats is definitely worth it!" The background of those photos is the same concert venue where I work part-time at. It's the most expensive venue in town. Apparently, tickets cost 2,900 dollars each.

In h⁠er first life, Vivian Scott w⁠as n⁠othing mo‌re than a shad‌ow‌, loyal‌, obedient, and eas⁠ily discarde⁠d. Betray⁠ed by her h⁠usband and her best friend,‍ s‌he was murdered for her inh⁠e⁠ritan​ce. But death i‌sn’t the end⁠. Whe‌n Vivian wakes up two years in t‌he past, s‌he⁠ refu​ses to be the same woman again.‍ This time, she knows every l‍ie, e​very be‌traya​l, and exactly ho​w her enemie‌s wi‍ll strike.‌ To win, she n⁠eeds‌ po​wer. Darlington! the⁠ city’s colde​st and most feared billio⁠naire, needs a wi​f⁠e to secure h⁠i​s empire. Vivi‌a‍n nee​ds a wea⁠pon to execute h​er revenge. Their d‌eal is simple:⁠ one year o⁠f marriage, no emoti​ons, absolute l‍oyalty. But as their fa⁠ke r​e​lationship begins‌ to blur int‌o some​th‌ing dan‌gerously real, secrets unravel, and the past refuses to stay buri‌ed. B‍ec​ause Vi‍via‌n isn’t just rewrit‍i⁠n‍g her fa‍te… Someone else is watching. S‍omeone who k​new she would di‍e. Someone who wanted her to come b⁠a⁠ck. And this time, th⁠e trap m‌ay be d‍eadlie⁠r th‍an‍ the one that kille‌d her.

The day before our wedding, my fiancé invites our family onto a cruise ship. He says he wants to test the authenticity of my feelings for him. He shoves my mother off the ship when the waves are at their choppiest. Then, he jumps into the water, too. I'm caught between a rock and a hard place. I panic, not knowing what to do. My mother had already choked on a lot of water, but she pushed me away weakly. She cried, "Save Adrian first! He can't swim!" However, after I drag Adrian Lawson onto land and go back for my mother, I find that she's already stopped breathing. Adrian watches me cry, his expression frosty. "Drop the act. Your mother was a swimmer when she was younger—how can she be dead? I can't believe you didn't save me first. "Vi is right—you don't love me enough. Our wedding is postponed. It'll happen only after you've reflected on your mistakes and I've received an apology from you and your mother." After that, he leaves while holding Vivian Sinclair's hand. He doesn't know that my mother can no longer swim after a major illness a few years back. He's shoved her to her death.