Mr. Wong didn’t open the baby’s room door right away. He stood there, eyes closed, like he was listening to something only he could hear. Then he murmured, “The spirit is strong… and furious. It’s not ready to leave. It wants to see this family torn apart before it moves on.”
Emily’s breath hitched. “Can you help us?”
“I can,” Wong said slowly, “but it will come at a cost.”
Sean leaned against the hallway wall, arms crossed. “How much are we talking about? A couple hundred for your time?”
Wong turned his head, and for the first time that afternoon, looked Sean straight in the eye. “One hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
Sean almost laughed. “You’re serious?”
“You think this is a game? If I attempt to banish it, I will be risking my own life force. This isn’t some parlor trick—it’s a battle. The spirit’s anger is not ordinary. It’s the anger of a child who died unjustly.”
Emily’s face crumpled. “Sean… please.”
Sean exhaled through his nose. “Let me think about it.”
“You don’t have time to think,” Wong snapped. “The spirit now knows you’re aware of it. That makes it dangerous. The longer you wait, the more it will want to hurt you.”
“We’ll take that risk,” Sean said, keeping his voice calm.
But Emily wouldn’t let it go. The moment Wong left, she turned on him in the living room, her voice tight and trembling. “You’re really going to risk my life over money?”
“I’m not risking your life. I’m protecting our bank account from—”
“From what? From someone actually helping me?” She snatched up her phone and stormed down the hall.
An hour later, Sean’s own phone buzzed. It was his mother-in-law.
“Sean, I just got off the phone with Emily. What the hell is wrong with you?” Her voice came sharp and fast, each word like a slap. “That girl has been through hell. She’s barely hanging on. And you can’t even spend money to save her?”
“It’s a scam, Mary.”
“A scam? The man turned the light on in that room from the hallway! How do you explain that? Science?”
Sean pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll think about it.”
“Think faster.” She hung up.
That night, Emily barely spoke to him. She sat on the couch scrolling her phone, lips pressed in a hard line. Every now and then she’d glance at him, but when he looked back, her eyes darted away.
Sean watched her out of the corner of his eye. She was too invested in Wong, too quick to defend him. And that light trick? It could’ve been done with a remote switch, a smart bulb, a dozen different ways.
But Sean didn’t argue. Not yet. He needed more than suspicion.
He leaned back, forcing his voice into something warm. “Okay. I’ll get the money.”
Emily’s head whipped toward him. “You will?”
“Yeah. But I need a couple of days to pull it together. Cash. You know how banks are with large withdrawals.”
She crossed the room and hugged him tight, burying her face against his chest. “Thank you. You don’t know what this means to me.”
Sean smiled faintly over her shoulder, his eyes cold.
Two days. That was all he needed.
