Chapter 6

"Mom, Dad, stop hugging for now. Madison—no, Ms. Locke says that Mom isn't out of the woods yet," Jordan said. Vincent panicked when he heard that. Josephine had just woken up, so she had no idea what had happened. He quickly explained everything to her, and she smiled gently at Madison. "Thank you, Maddie." Madison couldn't resist gentle beauties like her and smiled faintly in response. "Isn't my wife already awake, Maddie? Is something else wrong?" Vincent asked. Madison approached Josephine and took the talisman on her chest away. The cinnabar had completely faded, and the talisman turned to dust. "W-What happened to the talisman?" Jordan stammered in astonishment. He'd seen the golden light the talisman had emitted earlier. Why was it now rendered to dust? "Soul-loss disorder is actually very common in ordinary people. Most people's souls return to their bodies quite quickly, though," Madison explained. "Mrs. Salle's soul was unable to return to her body because this room was filled with death energy. It's been stopping her soul from returning." "Stopping her soul?" Madison nodded. "Precisely. If not for Mrs. Salle having a lucky charm on her to protect her, her soul would've long since become a stray one." A lucky charm? Josephine thought about it and pulled out an emerald pendant that was hung around her neck. "Could this be it? My grandmother gave it to me and told me an expert of the mystic arts had blessed it." She looked down at it. "Oh, no! Why is it cracked?" "Because it's helped shield you from calamity." Madison glanced at the emerald pendant. "It's almost running out of spiritual energy, though." Almost as if wanting to prove her right, the emerald pendant broke into two halves. Josephine and Vincent stared at it while Jordan shot Madison a look. She put her hands behind her back. "I had nothing to do with it breaking." She wasn't a word spirit that could make things happen just by saying the words aloud. She continued, "The death energy surrounding Mrs. Salle has nothing to do with her own fortune. She has a broad forehead and bright eyes, so she should be someone who frequently does good deeds. "Generally speaking, she should live a long, healthy life. The cause for the death energy is none other than yourself, Mr. Salle." "Me?" Vincent pointed at himself. Then, he shook his head. "I haven't done anything. Besides, my horoscope is a perfect match for my wife's, and we get along well." Madison smiled faintly. "You're not wrong about that. You and Mrs. Salle are destined to be together, and you should've grown old together and had a happy family." The emphasis here was on "should have". Josephine could tell Madison didn't want to be too blunt. She said, "You can be frank with us, Maddie. I can accept whatever you're going to say." She glanced at Vincent. The latter wanted nothing more than to get on his knees and swear his innocence and loyalty. Before he could do so, Madison said, "Mr. Salle's love horoscope has been strangely active for many years. This means he's been involved with a toxic admirer for close to 30 years." Jordan and Josephine both turned to look at Vincent. He cried, "I've done nothing of the sort, honey! I swear! I… Maddie, you can't just say these things! This concerns my loyalty and faithfulness to my wife!" "It's what I've gathered from your physiognomy and the traces on Mrs. Salle's body," Madison said seriously. "The reason for her poor health is because you've had an admirer's curse placed on you, Mr. Salle. "The admirer's curse doesn't affect the one who carries the curse—instead, it goes after the carrier's partner and the children they share. In the olden days, people used admirer's curses to surreptitiously murder someone's wife and children." It had been especially popular among the royal family of the olden days. As soon as the words were out of Madison's mouth, Vincent shot to his feet. "You can't doubt my love for you, honey! You know how much I love you! You're my first love, and I fell for you since I was a teen. "I chased after you for so long—you kept rejecting me because you said I was too young for you when I was only two years younger! Think about how long I pursued you! If you suspect me, I…" He looked so aggrieved that he was about to cry. Madison and Jordan stared at him, rendered speechless. The latter was about to fly into a rage, but he now felt awkward. He wasn't interested in listening to his parents' love story, thank you. So, he cleared his throat and said, "Is there a possibility that you've gotten this wrong, Ms. Locke?" He looked at her expectantly, but she shook her head firmly. "It's impossible. Mrs. Salle isn't the only one who's affected by this—you, as her son, will also fall prey to the curse's effects. You should've been quite unlucky since you were a child and had bad luck in love." Jordan became agitated when he heard that. "You're right!" Since childhood, he'd always been the unluckiest person in his friend group. He was the type that birds would shit on when flying above him, and he always lost when it came to playing rock-paper-scissors. There was no doubt about it. More importantly, despite being one of Riverview's infamous trust fund babies, the women he liked or liked him back all ended up being of bad character. This revelation made Jordan see Madison in a new light. He asked anxiously, "Is there any way to uplift this admirer's curse, Ms. Locke?" Vincent and Josephine turned to look at her, too. She thought about it and said, "There is, but we need to find the person who's cast the curse on Mr. Salle." "Yes! We have to find this person. We'll start searching now!" Jordan clapped his hands. Vincent had been through many storms in life and had now regained his composure. If he wanted to prove his innocence, he had to find whoever had placed the curse on him. Otherwise, he would have no way of washing himself of any doubt. "Can you tell me whether this person would have any special characteristics, Maddie?" They couldn't just search the world without any rhyme or reason. Madison said, "Based on how the curse is cast, the mastermind can't be too far from you. Otherwise, the curse wouldn't have affected Mrs. Salle so badly. You just need to narrow it down to some people and show me their photos. I'll be able to determine who it is by looking at them." Vincent said, "Alright, then. I'll try to list these people as soon as possible. When the time comes, I'll have to trouble you to find out who it is." "Okay." "Jordan, take Maddie home. I have something to talk to your mother about." Jordan looked at Josephine, feeling worried. He only left the hospital room when she nodded at him. In the end, he took Madison with him. They'd just stepped out of the room and had yet to shut the door when they heard Vincent whine, "Josie, did you suspect me earlier? You know you're the one I love the most in this world! I can't believe you believed her words and doubted my feelings for you. Josie…" Jordan immediately slammed the door shut and rubbed his arms, feeling the goosebumps that had risen on them.