Emily Carter, the Jinx?
1328 Words
In the book’s story, after Emily died, not a single person shed a tear for her.
Everyone said she was melodramatic, ungrateful, and narrow-minded.
They hurriedly held a perfunctory funeral, and after that, no one ever thought of her again—not even to burn paper offerings for her during memorial festivals.
Meanwhile, the fake daughter, Olivia Carter, continued living her life as the adored center of everyone’s world, eventually marrying the heir to the most powerful family in the capital and living happily ever after.
When Emily first heard this story from the system, she almost cried.
How tragic—too tragic. Even though it wasn’t “her,” the Emily in the story was so pitiful it was almost unbearable.
It was pure human tragedy!
Until today, she had never believed that the Emily in that story was really her.
First of all, she had been doted on by her parents since birth, and her other family members treated her very well too. She was spoiled to the point of “ask for the stars, they wouldn’t give you the moon,” never having suffered a single day in her life.
Just that fact alone made it completely unlike the system’s story.
Not to mention—in the book’s version, her life at junior high in town was a nightmare.
Her classmates constantly bullied her, ordering her to buy things without giving her any money. When she couldn’t afford what they demanded, they would beat her.
They wouldn’t let her study, tearing up her homework and textbooks.
But in reality, her junior high days were perfectly pleasant.
At first, some classmates didn’t like her much, but after making her cry a few times, they realized they were in the wrong and never upset her again.
So, the story and her real life had nothing in common. How could she possibly believe it?
But she hadn’t expected that in just one day, the Carter family from the capital would show up to take her away—her adoptive parents even admitted she’d been switched at birth.
It was such a huge change that Emily couldn’t process it right away.
Even as the car drove out of the village, she still hadn’t recovered from the shock.
What she didn’t know was that the moment she left, every villager—young and old—brought out their stashed fireworks and liquor, celebrating like it was New Year’s.
"Thank the heavens, that jinx is finally gone! We’re free at last!"
"Finally! The heavens have opened their eyes!"
"She’d better never come back! I don’t want to see her face ever again!"
The villagers weren’t the only ones delighted—the Carters (her adoptive family) were grinning from ear to ear.
"A million! A whole million dollars! That wretched girl was worth something after all!" said Grandma Louise Carter, her sharp, mean-looking face creased in joy as she stroked the check like it was a treasure, looking twenty years younger.
"Mom, let me touch it! I’ve never touched a check in my life!" said Susan Carter, a plain-faced middle-aged woman, eyeing the large check greedily.
"Touch my foot! What if you damage it? Who’s paying for that?" Grandma Louise slapped her daughter-in-law’s hand away.
"Please, just one touch! I promise I won’t damage it!"
Even her honest, slow-speaking husband, George Carter, wanted to touch it. But the check was in the old lady’s hands, and he didn’t dare snatch it—what if he ruined it?
"No! No one’s touching it!" Grandma Louise stuffed the check into the hidden pocket of her trousers, pressing it close to her body so no one could get at it.
"Mom, I was the one who brought Emily back. If it weren’t for me, we wouldn’t even have this million-dollar check! You could at least let me hold it for a second," Susan argued.
"Oh, you’ve got some nerve saying that! If you hadn’t brought that jinx back in the first place, would I have had to spend all these years living under the shadow of a little wretch?"
Talking about Emily seemed to fire Grandma Louise up.
That Emily—damn it—was a jinx.
Because of her, the family had known no peace for years.
If they hadn’t bent over backwards to keep her appeased, they might have all been dead by now.
Thinking of the jinx’s abilities, Louise’s eyes flashed with deep fear and dread.
Hearing her mother-in-law bring it up, Susan’s arrogance instantly deflated.
"I didn’t know she was a jinx! If I’d known, I would never have dared to bring her home!"
She wasn’t suicidal—why would she deliberately bring trouble into the family?
She had thought that after raising her, she could at least use her to get a fat bride price for her own son. She hadn’t expected to be raising a ticking time bomb instead.
"Hmph!" Grandma Louise snorted in disdain, making it clear she wasn’t forgiving her.
Susan dropped the topic of touching the check, afraid the old lady would start listing all her past mistakes again. Instead, she changed the subject.
"From the look of it, the Carter family in the capital doesn’t seem to value that jinx much either. Her real parents didn’t even show their faces. I wonder if they’ll end up dumping her back on us?"
The more she thought about it, the more worried she became.
"No way. She’s their biological daughter—why would they send her back?" George said quickly.
As far as he was concerned, now that she was out the door, they would never, ever take her back again.
"She’s still a jinx. So what if she’s their biological child? If you ask me, I actually did them a favor back then—otherwise, that jinx would’ve been ruining their lives in the capital all these years." Susan pouted, starting to feel like she’d been shortchanged.
"You dare say that again—" Louise started, but before she could finish, they all heard the sound of something cracking.
"Did you hear that?" George was the first to notice something was wrong.
A moment later, Susan heard it too.
"It sounds like… something breaking."
"No, it’s an earthquake!" Grandma Louise’s face went pale as she bolted for the door.
George and Susan reacted just as fast, scrambling to run outside—
—but it was already too late.
With a thunderous crash, the Carter house collapsed.
"Help! Somebody help! George’s house has collapsed!"
"Come quick, save them!"
Buried under the rubble, the Carter family struggled helplessly, waiting for rescue.
"Emily! You cursed jinx! Even after leaving, you won’t leave us alone!" they roared in despair.
But Emily couldn’t hear them anymore.
---
In the car back to the capital
Emily sat in the corner, wiping at her tears.
Dad, Mom, and Grandma… hadn’t even looked sad to see her go.
They hadn’t tried to stop her at all.
They must not love me anymore…
The moment they found out she wasn’t their real daughter, their attitudes changed completely.
How could they do this to me?
She missed them so much.
Emily was heartbroken, certain her family had abandoned her. She cried and cried, her sobs filling the car.
"Are you done yet?!" Ryan Carter finally snapped. This country girl cried too much.
She’d been at it for minutes now—enough was enough.
And she looked awful when she cried, her face streaked with tears and snot, not an ounce of elegance.
Sure enough, someone raised in the countryside had no sense of refinement.
“Hic—” Emily hiccupped mid-sob, instantly silencing herself.
"All done. Thanks for your concern, Third Brother," she said, grabbing a handkerchief from the side and blowing her nose loudly.
Ryan’s face twisted in disgust—
Wait! That handkerchief looked familiar!
Wasn’t that the one Olivia had given him?
"Y-you—you—! Who said you could use that handkerchief?!"
- Writer
