Chapter 2

The hall was full of glittering guests, every one of them dripping in gold and designer clothes.

The Sinclair family's relatives and business partners were holding champagne, celebrating that my father-in-law Richard's company was about to go public.

And celebrating the family moving into this fifty-million-dollar luxury mansion.

The moment I pushed the door open, the laughter died.

I was soaked through, black sludge dripping off the hem of my dress.

In my arms, a filthy bundle.

I looked like a ghost who'd wandered into a high-society party.

Beberly frowned, disgust flickering in her eyes.

"Juliette, what the hell is wrong with you? Do you know what day this is? You show up looking like that just to ruin everything for me?"

Kairo strode over quickly.

He was wearing a tailored suit today, his hair styled to perfection.

He reached out to pull me close, but the second he touched my sludge-covered sleeve, he flinched back without thinking.

"Juliette, stop making a scene."

He lowered his voice. "Mom just thinks it's bad luck to keep memorial photos in a new house. Go upstairs and clean up first, before you embarrass us in front of everyone."

I looked at him.

This was the man I'd loved for three years.

Before we got married, he'd held my hand and said, "From now on, my family is your family. My parents are your parents."

But now, my parents' portraits were thrown in the trash.

And all he felt was that I'd embarrassed him.

"I'm making a scene?"

My voice wasn't loud, but in the silent hall it was crystal clear.

"Beverly threw my parents' memorial portraits in the trash, and you call that bad luck?"

A wave of whispers swept through the hall.

His sister, Tracy, let out a scornful laugh.

She held up her phone, mid-livestream, and shoved the camera right into my face.

"So your whole family's dead, and you just had to drag two photos of corpses into our new house."

"A perfectly nice housewarming party, and you've turned it into a funeral."

"Everyone online is watching. Let's let them judge—who brings this kind of bad luck into their new family?"