Chapter 3

He missed a step while going down the stairs, tumbling all the way down. His head landed precisely on a protruding nail.

Arthur died on the spot. When the ambulance arrived, they immediately called the funeral home.

My mother-in-law, Martha, knelt beside Arthur, sobbing uncontrollably: "How could this happen!"

But her usually kind husband was gone forever, unable to hear her cries.

David rushed back from work, his eyes immediately red with tears.

Yet, he calmly contacted relatives and friends, preparing Arthur's funeral.

I held my innocent daughter, overwhelmed by guilt and self-blame.

But Lily remained perfectly innocent, as if nothing had happened.

I pinched her cheek, making her look at me: "Lily, tell Mommy? Why did you say that word?"

"Why did you have to curse Grandpa?"

But my daughter couldn't answer. She cried even harder, distressed by my grip on her face.

David heard her cries and quickly took her from me.

He frowned, glaring at me: "This was just an accident, it has nothing to do with Lily!"

My nose stung. How I wished it had nothing to do with my daughter.

But Arthur was dead!

From then on, I stopped talking to my daughter, and forbade everyone else from speaking to her.

David incomprehensibly asked if I was having a mental breakdown, and Martha held Lily, condemning me.

"Sarah, Arthur's death was just an accident. How can you blame a child?"

Lily played with her plush toy, flashing me an innocent smile.

But I couldn't help but shiver.

I didn't know how to avoid my daughter's curses, so I could only warn my family members again and again.

For these past few years, things had been quiet, and I had almost forgotten about the curse.

Until that day, my daughter watched TV and spoke her second sentence: "The snow by the door is red."

My heart pounded. I immediately rushed downstairs and swept the snow by the door clean.

Now, let's see how that curse can possibly come true!

But David's urgent call came through. His voice was choked with tears: "Get to the neighborhood entrance, my mom had an accident!"

My hands trembled as I locked Lily inside the house.

When I sprinted to the entrance, I found Martha lying on the ground, covered in blood. The bag of salt she'd just bought was scattered across the ground, glinting like fresh snow under the sun...

My daughter's curse had come true again!

Martha had been hit and killed by a car that ran a red light. But I was beyond caring about the driver's apologies.

I couldn't let my daughter curse any more family members.

I clutched the item in my pocket and turned back home.