Chapter 2

The moment I opened my eyes, I saw my one-year-old daughter pointing at her grandpa and saying, "Die."

At first, no one reacted. Grandpa was still affectionately teasing her: "What is my sweet little Lily saying? Call me Grandpa, and Grandpa will give you candy!"

But Lily's small face remained cold, and she repeated, "Die."

A wave of fear and anger surged through me. I quickly clapped my hand over her mouth.

"Don't say that word! How can you wish for Grandpa to die?"

Lily struggled, muffled by my hand, and began to wail, her face turning red from holding her breath.

My father-in-law, Arthur, quickly intervened, "She's just learning to talk, Sarah. Why are you getting so upset?"

I pressed my lips together, my body trembling uncontrollably.

"She's cursing you!"

Arthur paused, then laughed.

"What are you talking about? She's so young, how could she possibly know what 'die' means?"

I didn't know how to explain, so I could only tell Arthur to be careful when he went out these days.

Especially to watch out for cars on the road.

Arthur said he understood, but he didn't take it seriously at all.

I repeated the warning to my husband, David, who also laughed at me, saying I was overreacting.

He looked at Lily tenderly, saying our daughter was anything but a jinx.

He even tried to comfort me: "Sarah, are you having postpartum anxiety? Maybe you should take a break, and let my parents take care of Lily for a while?"

A sudden chill ran through me. I immediately shook my head.

No, absolutely not. What if Lily cursed someone else when I wasn't around?

But a sliver of hope remained in my mind—what if the previous incidents were just accidents?

I hadn't let Arthur leave the house for days, and I'd even put away all the toy cars.

I was terrified of a repeat of what happened to David in my previous memory.

After a few days at home, Arthur got bored. "I'm just going for a walk in the garden downstairs, don't you worry about it!"

I warned him repeatedly not to go anywhere near cars.

But Arthur still had an accident.