Chapter 10. Luck Shift 1 — Small Miracle
539 Words
Arielle didn’t know whether to run, scream, or demand answers.
Noah stood there like he belonged among the glowing bookshelves, warm light wrapping around him the way the storm wrapped around the city outside.
He took one step toward her.
“Are you alright?” he asked softly.
“No,” she blurted. “I just found a book about my life, a bookstore that probably didn’t exist five minutes ago, and you’re… here.”
Her voice cracked. “Nothing about today is normal.”
Noah’s expression softened, as though he understood more than she wanted him to. “Normal is overrated.”
Before she could respond, the shop’s fireplace flickered—brightening for a second, then dimming, like it sighed. The lights hummed. The air shifted.
Arielle felt a tingling warmth crawl over her skin.
“No,” she whispered. “Not again.”
The same feeling she had when she touched the red envelope.
A glow shimmered above her head, faint but unmistakable—like tiny golden sparks drifting downwards. She lifted her hand instinctively.
One spark landed on her palm.
The moment it touched her skin—
THUMP.
A heavy object fell from a high shelf behind her.
Arielle flinched. Noah reached out and steadied her by the arm—gently, carefully, almost like he was afraid she might break.
“You okay?” he murmured.
She nodded, breath catching in her throat.
They walked toward the fallen object.
It wasn’t a book.
It was a wallet—thick, expensive-looking, embroidered with gold initials.
Arielle blinked. “Is this… magic? Fate? A weird prank?”
Noah stayed silent.
She opened it slowly.
Inside was a stack of crisp bills—more than she had made in months—and a driver’s license.
“Mr. Howard Prince,” she read.
The man on the ID photo looked familiar.
Very familiar.
Her eyes widened. “This is the owner of Snowflake Café. The place that fired me this morning!”
Noah raised an eyebrow. “Interesting coincidence.”
“This is impossible,” she whispered. “He’s rich. He wouldn’t just lose—”
She stopped herself.
Wouldn’t it be the first time her luck ever turned in her favor?
Noah’s voice was calm. “What are you going to do?”
She swallowed. “Return it. I might have been fired, but I’m not a thief.”
“Good choice,” he said quietly.
She glanced at him. “But why would something like this fall at my feet?”
Noah hesitated. “Because today… your luck shifted.”
Arielle’s heart fluttered strangely.
“What do you mean?”
He looked at the glitter that still dusted her palm, glowing faintly.
“That?” Noah said. “That was your first small miracle.”
Arielle stared at her hand.
Warm. Bright.
Alive.
Her throat tightened. “I’m scared.”
“You don’t have to be.” Noah’s voice dropped softly. “This is only the beginning.”
A gust of wind rattled the bookstore window—like the world was rearranging itself again, piece by piece.
And Arielle realized something terrifying:
For the first time in years…
Something good had happened.
And it had started with him.
- Writer
