Chapter 2Blessing of Fortune

My father roared with laughter, ordering the butler to have a solid gold security pendant made for me. “We can’t neglect my little lucky star! From now on, the best of everything is for Mia!”

My brothers and Julia stared, their eyes wide with shock.

My third brother cried out, “Dad, how can you be so biased towards Mia? Julia is our sister!”

Julia’s eyes reddened on cue, and she lowered her head, a picture of silent, stoic suffering.

My father immediately put me down and cleared his throat. “Now, now. I’ve treated Julia like my own daughter for years. How could I be biased?”

He quickly added, “Didn’t Julia have her eye on that twenty-million-dollar necklace the other day? I’ll have it delivered to the house today.”

Julia’s tears vanished. She ran over to him, beaming. “Oh, Daddy, you’re the best! I was so worried that after Mia was born, you wouldn’t care about me anymore.”

He stroked her hair lovingly. “Silly girl. You’ll always be Mommy and Daddy’s little princess.”

She turned and shot me a triumphant smirk.

I didn’t understand why Julia was so hostile towards a one-year-old, but it was clear she was determined to crush me from the start.

My father often asked for my “lucky” input on his decisions, but I didn’t always oblige. Whenever they tried to make me use my luck for Julia’s benefit, I would burst into tears. And for the following month, bad luck would plague the entire family.

My parents’ business would suffer. My eldest brother would be sabotaged by a competitor. My second brother would swear he saw a ghost in the hospital morgue. My third brother would think he’d been discovered by a talent scout, only to be scammed out of all his money.

After this happened a few times, they noticed the pattern but couldn’t figure out the cause. I was not yet two, barely able to string a sentence together, so I just pretended not to understand them.

Julia’s expression grew uglier by the day. Now, anyone would connect the family’s misfortune directly to her.

The breaking point came when another of my father’s business decisions failed catastrophically, nearly bankrupting the company.

Julia collapsed into tears, covering her face. “It’s me! The bad luck only affects me! It’s because Mia doesn’t like me.”

“I should just leave,” she sobbed. “I can’t drag Mom, Dad, and my brothers down with me.”

They all rushed to her side, their faces etched with panic.

“Julia, it’s not your fault! You’re our daughter! This will always be your home!”

“That’s right! If anyone’s to blame, it’s Mia! She’s stealing our good luck, that’s why everything has been going wrong!”

At my second brother’s words, my mother’s gaze turned to me, full of resentment. “I wish Julia were my biological daughter. She’s so sweet and obedient, not like this little monster who’s been causing trouble since she was two.”

My father made a decision. He was calling the mystic back.

“He said Mia would bring us good fortune! I want to ask him why she’s been doing nothing but cursing us!”

When the mystic arrived, he observed me for a long time.

I pointed a chubby finger at Julia and managed one, babyish word: “Dark… dark…”

My eldest brother’s face darkened. “Julia is fair and beautiful. Mia is already spouting nonsense. No wonder she’s been cursing us.”

The others looked displeased, their hearts aching at the sight of Julia’s wounded expression.

But the mystic stroked his beard and spoke.

“This has nothing to do with Miss Mia. The source of the recent misfortune… is Miss Julia.”