The wind had eased into a gentle snowfall by the time Arielle stepped out of the bookstore with Noah. The wallet rested safely in her bag, heavier than it looked—because it wasn’t just money.
It was proof.
Proof that something had shifted.
Proof that her curse… her bad luck… wasn’t strangling her anymore.
She clutched her coat tighter as they walked. “I still can’t believe it. Returning this wallet might be the first good thing that’s happened to me all December.”
“Good things have a way of multiplying,” Noah murmured beside her.
She shot him a sideways look. “Are you always this mysterious?”
He didn’t answer—just smiled lightly, like he knew something she didn’t.
They reached Snowflake Café, the place she’d been fired from that very morning. The lights glowed warmly inside. The be
