After Learning I Have a Lucky Fate, My Fiancé Struck It Rich

My father was a diviner known far and wide.

In the tenth year after the Simmons family took me back,

he decided to read the marriage fates of me and the false heiress through his divination.

On the day the Henson family came to arrange the match,

my father worked out that the false heiress was born under a cursed fate.

She would drag down the Henson family's fortunes.

And I carried a lucky star in my chart, a rare fortune-bringing fate that prospered a household.

After the wedding, Everard Henson and I kept a careful, courteous distance.

Until the day my twin sons were born.

An amniotic fluid embolism left me needing emergency resuscitation.

Yet Everard signed his own name on the form to abandon it.

"I don't believe in fate, but you had to try and fool me with some worthless chart."

"Aren't you supposed to have a lucky life? Let's see how you survive with no doctor to save you."

A cruel smile curled at his mouth.

He reached over and tore the transfusion needle out of my hand.

"You didn't just steal Dora's identity as the true heiress. You drove her to jump to her death on the night of our wedding."

"When you're dead, I want you to go down there and apologize to her in person!"

Outside the room came my parents' bitter, grieving voices.

"We were wrong. We should never have brought Annette Simmons back."

"And we should never have let her marry into the Henson family."

"Dora never told us she and Everard had already pledged themselves to each other."

Only then did I learn that if the Henson elders hadn't pressured Everard,

he never would have married me at all.

Under the hatred in all of their eyes,

I drew my last breath.

When I opened my eyes again,

I was back on the day my father cast the fate reading.

This time I spoke first.

"No need to read it. I'm the one born under a cursed fate. Let my sister marry into the family instead."

Eudora Simmons smiled at me, sure of her win.

"Sis, at least you know your place."

"The truth is, Everard and I pledged ourselves to each other long ago. This whole thing is just a formality."

"Your fate really is bad. You wandered off the year you were born, and now you'll never get the chance to marry into the Henson family either."

In my last life, once she learned she was the one born under a cursed fate,

Eudora fainted on the spot.

Everard questioned my father's result.

But my father said his readings had never once been wrong.

Everyone who came for the engagement was a person of standing in the Henson family.

They would never allow a jinx to marry into their house.

And so, no surprise, the one engaged to Everard became me.

Now,

Everard had already come striding into the courtyard with the betrothal gifts.

Eudora rushed up to him, smiling,

and hooked her arms around his neck.

"Everard, before my father even cast the reading, my sister already stepped aside."

"Whose fate is better couldn't be clearer, could it."

Everard was pleased, of course.

But behind him stood several respected Henson elders.

A white-haired old man stepped forward.

"Mr. Simmons, I think it's safer to actually cast the reading."

"How can we settle this on a few words alone?"

My father looked at the two young women standing before him. One was the adopted daughter he'd raised since she was small.

The other was the daughter of his own blood, lost outside for years.

Both were flesh he couldn't cut away.

He sighed and started to bring out the things he needed for the divination.

I hurried forward and caught his hand to stop him.

"No need to read it, Dad. Dora's right. If I could lose even myself, what kind of good fate could I have?"

"Besides, Dora and Everard have been together a long time. You wouldn't tear apart a pair like that, would you?"

Everard tried to talk his family around too.

"Don't worry. Dora and I have been together all this time. She'll only bring me more and more good fortune."

"If anything really does go wrong later, I'll carry it myself. I won't blame any of you."

In the end, the marriage between Eudora and Everard was settled.

Remembering the despair of that hospital in my last life, I couldn't stop a shiver of dread.

At least this time, I'd steered clear of it.

Now I only wanted to see how Everard would ever hold down the curse in Eudora's fate.

Eudora looked at the man standing at the very back of the crowd.

Mockery in her eyes.

"Everard, why is your brother even here? He's nothing but an omen of bad luck. He won't rub his misfortune off on me, will he?"

Everard tousled Eudora's hair with easy affection.

"My father arranged it. He's just here to make up the numbers."

Eudora's eyes suddenly darted to one side.

"Well, it's all marriage either way. Why not have my sister marry your brother?"

"Two cursed fates together. Who knows, maybe two negatives make a positive."

The suggestion won the near-unanimous approval of everyone there.

But one Henson elder raised a doubt.

"Like we said, Annette is born under a cursed fate. Whether she marries Everard or Steve, isn't it the same?"

Everard turned and shot him a sour look.

"When have you ever seen my father treat Steve Henson like a real son?"

"No room for him at home, no seat for him at the company. Apart from the Henson name, what about him tells you he belongs to this family?"

"Even if he and Annette marry, it can't touch us. So set your minds completely at ease."

Steve was reserved by nature and stayed clear of the family's power struggles.

That earned him plenty of the Hensons' scorn.

Even after I married Everard in my last life,

I'd barely exchanged more than a few words with him. But he never showed me any hostility.

He raised his eyes, a flicker of surprise in them.

I went to him instead, and gave him a smile.

"Today is a double blessing for both the Hensons and the Simmonses."

"Why not set both weddings on the same day."

Against all reason, Steve said yes.

Even the Henson elders behind him looked faintly surprised.

Everard broke the silence with an amused little smile and clapped Steve on the shoulder.

"Brother, you actually want what I've thrown away?"

"It's fine. Haven't you spent all these years using what I discarded?"

Steve stepped to the side, and Everard's hand landed on empty air with nothing to catch it.

He pulled it back, awkward now, and turned his eyes to me.

"You two can marry, but not on the same day."

Eudora nodded along.

"Sister, your fate is already unlucky. If the ceremonies are on the same day and you drag down the Hensons' fortune, what then?"

"I don't think you could carry the blame for that, could you?"

Steve suddenly stepped forward, putting himself between me and Eudora.

His voice was firm and even.

"We won't compete. We'll hold ours the day after yours."

I let out a quiet breath.

Steve really wasn't the dull man everyone made him out to be.

At the very least, he spoke up for me.

On Eudora's wedding day, the whole family showed up.

And left me standing alone outside the hotel.

Everard, in a custom-tailored suit, let his distaste for me flicker through his eyes.

"Vivi, you and I are practically friends, so I know part of you regrets not marrying me."

"But you can't blame anyone else. If you hadn't wandered off as a child, you'd have been the one who grew up beside me."

"After all, today is my wedding with Dora. It really wouldn't be right for you to go in."

"Your father said so himself. You were born under a cursed fate. What if you carry that bad luck into the ceremony?"

I gave a cold little laugh. Everard really was in love with himself.

In my last life, if not for that one fortune-telling reading, I would never have married him.

So high on himself, looking down on everyone.

A man like that wasn't fit to be family to me.

And remembering what he'd done to me in that other life only made me despise him more.

"That isn't regret. It's the luckiest escape of my life."

"Everard, not every woman is dreaming of marrying you. Do you really think you're that impressive? That extraordinary?"

"Dora might think highly of you, but I'm not blind."

He was so furious the button on his chest nearly popped loose.

His face twisted into something ugly.

"Can't have me, so now you want to insult me, is that it?"

"Annette, you're nothing but a castoff the Simmons family threw away. What gives you the right to strut around like this?"

"If your father cared about you at all, he wouldn't have agreed to marry you off to that spineless brother of mine."

Just then Steve stepped out of the car.

Everard glanced over and sneered.

"Well, speak of the devil."

He tugged his suit jacket straight.

He strode over to Steve.

"Brother, sorry about this. Blood or not, today that door isn't opening for you."

"If you know what's good for you, take Annette and get lost."

Everard's arrogance didn't provoke Steve at all.

Instead he walked over and gently took my hand.

"Sorry. I'm bringing my fiance to the hotel to go through the wedding steps."

"You've misunderstood."

The tips of Everard's ears flushed red at once.

His whole body went rigid where he stood.

Eudora came running out on her heels, gathering up the hem of her gown, calling out.

"Everard, the ceremony's about to start. What are you dawdling for?"

"Stay away from Annette. It'd be bad if her cursed fate rubbed off on you."

Once we'd walked into the hall on the hotel's third floor, I stopped and looked up at Steve.

"Why did you agree to the marriage?"

"When you knew perfectly well Everard was setting you up on purpose?"

He lowered his eyes, and his gaze turned suddenly hot.

"Vivi, do you want to know why?"

I nodded, completely serious.

But he moved away from in front of me.

"I'll tell you after the wedding."

The night of Everard Henson's wedding.

My father knocked on my door in the middle of the night.

In the dim light I couldn't quite make out his face.

I could only hear the edge of anxiety in his voice.

"Vivi, why did you stop me from doing a reading? Do you know something?"

I braced myself against the doorframe.

I thought of the last life, of my parents' bitterness before I died.

Even though I was the one born to them.

Even at that final moment, the one still on their minds was Eudora, the adopted daughter.

They regretted ever bringing me home.

I regretted coming back to this family even more.

In the Simmons family, not one person was willing to acknowledge who I was.

In their eyes, Eudora was the true firstborn daughter of the Simmons line.

As if my appearance had stolen everything that should have been hers.

My nose stung, and I pulled in a hard breath.

"I don't know anything. I just don't want to marry Everard Henson."

In the dark, a sigh.

"I just did a reading of your fates."

"Dora, she doesn't have that kind of fortune..."

The streetlight outside the window was faint, but it lit the first-floor hall in a wash of gold.

The life we had now depended on the business dealings with the Hensons.

If I told him the truth about Eudora's fate now.

The Hensons would probably turn on us and pull every cent of our family's investment.

I reached out and caught my father's sleeve.

"You're only a fortune-teller. You can't change fate."

"At a moment like this, if you say the truth out loud, you can imagine how it ends for Eudora and for this family."

The next day, Eudora brought Everard back for the first visit home.

The same false smile hung on Eudora's face.

"Sis, from now on, wherever I am, could you just stay out of the way? You know what kind of fate you carry, and you still want to live under the same roof as me. Isn't that a little much?"

I said nothing and lifted my cup for a sip.

Everard smiled and smoothed it over.

"Come now, today's the day Vivi married that unlucky brother of mine. How could we not come home?"

"We could hardly pick up the bride off the side of the road."

Just as the two of them finished their little back-and-forth, the phone on Everard's lap rang at the worst possible moment.

I set my cup down, settling in to watch.

A cursed fate was no empty saying.

On the other end, the voice came fast and tight.

"Young Mr. Henson, this is bad. The project you invested in the other day has lost everything, and you're actually in the hole to other companies for hundreds of millions."

Before that was even sorted out, the line clicked over to another call coming in.

"Young Mr. Henson, come back quick, Mr. Henson collapsed at the pool, a heart attack, he's not going to make it."

Everard's face changed completely. He couldn't get a single word out.

His palm trembled as he listened to the voice on the phone.

I thought that would be where it ended.

I never expected Mrs. Henson's phone to call next.

But the one who spoke wasn't Mrs. Henson.

"Young Mr. Henson, the missus had a car accident on the way to the salon. The car's burned to nothing but scrap."

That last call shattered what was already left of Everard's breaking heart.

He turned to go, and didn't even know where to head first.

Until Eudora calmly caught hold of him.

"Everard, I understand now. It has to be because of Annette."

"Wherever she shows up, something bad is bound to happen."

The two of them turned together, facing straight at me.

I got to my feet and looked toward the makeup artist rolling her case in through the far door.

"Why does it have to be me? Why can't it be you?"

I pulled my gaze back and let it rest on Eudora's spiteful face.

She was grinding her teeth, both hands hooked around Everard's wrist.

"Everard, look at her. Even now she twists it back on me."

"I've heard that a person born under a cursed fate can only clear the curse by dying."

Everard turned, and there was panic under the confusion in his eyes.

"So how do we fix it?"

Eudora let out a cold laugh.

"Sacrifice Annette. Otherwise the disasters won't stop for the Hensons."

I gripped the teacup again and, without a second's hesitation, threw its contents into Eudora's face.

"You're the one who married Everard. If anyone's carrying a curse, it's you."

"Wake up, Eudora. Everything happening to the Hensons is because of you."

She stood there stunned, tea streaming down her whole face, leaves stuck to her skin.

When it registered, she flung herself at me.

Her fingers twisted into my hair.

"Everard, call in every bodyguard from your car."

"Right here in this courtyard. Build a fire and burn Annette."

"Trust me. The moment Annette dies, the Hensons' troubles will sort themselves out."

Everard's mind had long since come apart.

He couldn't make a single decision.

He could only go along with whatever Eudora wanted.

Mom and Dad had gone to the station early to meet relatives.

And the makeup artist, who'd made it as far as the door, took fright and left too.

In the whole house, it was just the few of us.

The bodyguards were strong.

I couldn't fight them at all.

I could only let them lash me hand and foot in the middle of a pile of firewood.

Eudora raised a torch, her eyes vicious.

"Sister, you were lost in the first place. Why did you have to come back?"

"There can only be one treasured daughter in the Simmons family, and that's me."

"I won't let you steal my place."

I wrenched at my wrists, but the rope was bound too tight.

There wasn't even a sliver of give.

Not far off, Everard suddenly crumpled to the ground and spat up a mouthful of blood.

"Dora, hurry. The curse on Annette has already reached me."

Eudora looked at Everard, curled up in agony.

In the end she couldn't stand it, and chose to go to him first.

"Everard, what's wrong? Are you hurting somewhere?"

"I'll call a doctor for you right now."

Flustered, Eudora tossed the torch aside.

I stared up at the sky, thick with cloud.

Steve's convoy should be almost here.

I just prayed he'd be faster.

Otherwise these two fools really were going to burn me alive.

She put her phone away and lifted the torch again.

"Goodbye, sister. Safe travels."

"One life to buy peace for the whole Henson family. A fair trade."

The instant the torch hit the ground, the firewood around me caught fast.

The flames closed in on every side.

Afraid the fire would spread, Eudora helped Everard back into the main hall.

Maybe it wasn't my time to die.

Raindrops began to fall from the sky.

Then, in a dense rush, the rain came down.

It smothered the roaring firewood.

I let out a breath, but the brief lack of air still dragged me under.

Eudora scowled and slammed a fist into the door frame.

Then she barked at the bodyguards beside her.

"You. Pour gasoline all around the firewood."

"Let's see which is faster, the rain or the gasoline burning."

The gasoline brought the dead flames roaring back to life.

I woke choking on the smoke, and through it, weak as I was, I made out a figure taking shape not far away.

Steve had finally come.

He plunged toward me through the blaze without a thought for the fire.

"Vivi, I'm late."

He pulled me into his arms and stayed where he was, turning to look at the two hiding inside.

"However you treated Vivi today, I'll take it back from you tenfold, a hundredfold."

Everard was growing weaker by the moment.

What had started as coughed-up blood turned into heaves of black clots.

He clutched Eudora's arm.

"Find me medicine. Something to stop the bleeding."

Terrified, Eudora rummaged through the drawer behind her.

And without meaning to, she turned up the document from Dad's reading the night before.

It landed on Everard.

He coughed a few times and pried the document open with a bloodstained finger.

Just as he was about to reach the name at the very bottom, the one matched to him,

Dad, rushing home, suddenly shouted for him to stop.

"Everard, you can't look at that!"