On my wedding night with Craig Matthews, just as he was reaching to peel off my quilted jacket, rows and rows of text flashed before my eyes.
"Poor Celeste Mason. Tomorrow her husband is going to fake his death and run off with his lover. Not long after, she finds out she's pregnant, and because she's carrying twins her belly grows bigger than a normal pregnant woman's, so her in-laws accuse her of sleeping around."
"She raises both sons alone under a cloud of gossip, working herself sick. In the end neither son cares for her, and she dies alone on the earthen bed at home. No one finds her until the body has already begun to rot."
"She never even knows she's actually the true heiress of a wealthy family. Craig's lover, Susan Finch, steals her permit to return to the city, takes over her identity, and goes off to be recognized by that wealthy family as their daughter!"
"Poor Celeste. In the end she can't even hold on to her own name. The wooden marker on her lonely grave is carved with Susan Finch."
Craig's mouth came closer, and the breath against my skin jolted me awake.
I slapped him straight across the face.
——
Craig was instantly furious. "Are you sick? What did you hit me for!"
"Craig, my period just started. Let's just go to sleep early."
Craig got even angrier. "You couldn't come early, couldn't come late, but you had to come now. Just my rotten luck!"
He flopped over onto the bed and slept with his back to me.
I lay flat on my back, unable to sleep.
I didn't understand what those words that had appeared out of nowhere were, but if they weren't a hallucination, then maybe they were a warning from heaven.
Early the next morning, Craig, who'd been at my side, was gone.
My mother-in-law barged in, shouting. "Look what time it is, and you're still not up! Your husband already went out fishing, and you've got the nerve to sleep in. Get up and make breakfast!"
I'd barely finished getting dressed when I heard someone shouting outside.
"It's bad! Your Craig fell in the water!"
I startled, and the text before my eyes began drifting again.
"Here it comes. Craig pretends to fall into the lake while fishing, and not a trace of his body is ever found. In reality he's already at Susan Finch's place, ready to head into the city with her!"
"The whole reason he married Celeste was to use his status as her husband to tie her down. By the time Celeste finishes dealing with Craig's affairs, she's caught up with her mother-in-law and has no chance to see to going back to the city, which is exactly the opening Susan Finch slips through!"
"Celeste was willing to stay in the countryside for Craig, but all along he was scheming for her permit to return to the city. Even the marriage certificate was forged by him! A woman really can't lose her head over love, and above all she can't marry beneath her!"
I broke into a cold sweat. So everything I'd seen was true!
Once I came back to myself, I quickly pulled out the marriage certificate and looked it over carefully. It really was fake!
The red stamp of the production brigade sat crooked on it, the characters were all wrong. It couldn't have been more of a forgery!
When I'd gotten the certificate, I'd been too caught up in my excitement to notice a thing.
Before I could pull myself out of the shock, a slap suddenly landed on my face.
"You husband-killing jinx, my son just married you and you've already jinxed him to death!"
I clutched my burning cheek, my fury and grievance surging to a peak!
The text was still drifting before my eyes.
"The old crone knows perfectly well her son faked his death, and she still wants to smear Celeste as a jinx!"
"She just wants Celeste weighed down with guilt so she'll stay in this village and wait on her obediently. Who'd have thought Celeste would get pregnant, her belly swelling bigger by the day, and the old crone would turn around and say she was loose, cheating on her son behind his back!"
"Poor Celeste. The crescent jade pendant, the token for reuniting with her family, is stolen by Craig too. That's the very pendant Susan Finch uses to be recognized by her wealthy parents."
I quickly felt at my neck. The jade pendant really was gone!
Lottie Lambert was still jabbing her finger at me, cursing.
"My son marrying you was the worst luck of eight lifetimes, you husband-killing woman! Why wasn't it you who died!"
