Accursed Words

The words from my mouth were cursed. Anything I said came true. When I was eight, a child trafficker broke my right leg. I stared at him and said, "You made me limp, so I'll make you limp too." A second later, steel pipes from an overturned truck went through both his legs. When I was twelve, a staff member at the orphanage stole my winter coat. I said to her, "You stole my warmth, so I'll give you the cold. You won't live past tonight. Ice will be your coffin." That night, she passed out drunk in a walk-in freezer and froze to death. Then the wealthy Shaw family found me and brought me home. However, I knew I was a monster, so I kept my mouth shut and acted like I was mute. But I had only been home for three months when their adopted daughter Yara Shaw rushed over and grabbed my hand during my older brother John Shaw's birthday party. Then she threw herself backward and crashed into a thorny rosebush, screaming. My mom came running when she heard the scream. When she saw the bloody scratches covering Yara's arm, she slapped me across the face. "Yara has a severe bleeding disorder! I don't care how jealous you are, you shouldn't try to kill her." Dad walked over right behind her, his eyes red as he pointed at me. "We've tried so hard to make it up to you, and this is how you repay us? Kneel and beg for forgiveness! You can get up once you understand how wrong you were!" I gritted my teeth. Fine. If they wanted me to speak that badly, I would give them what they wanted. I looked straight at Yara and opened my mouth, those accursed words clear… Chapter 1 I was on my knees on the tiled floor. A sharp cramp twisted in my stomach. I had not eaten all day. Then, as my vision went black, I collapsed into a puddle. A black umbrella stopped over my head. John held Yara in his arms and looked down at me. He then raised his leather shoe and nudged my shoulder. John said, "Why are you so stubborn? If you admit your mistake, our parents will bring you back inside immediately! Why do you have to break everyone's heart?" I clenched my fists in the muddy water, my nails digging into the cracks between the tiles and said nothing. When I first came home, Mom was worried I would not get used to the bed, so she sat beside me all night and read to me. Dad rented out an entire theme park and said he wanted to make up for the childhood I had missed. John beat up a rich kid so badly he ended up in the hospital because he had mocked my accent. To hold on to this fragile family bond, I kept my mouth shut. Even when they misunderstood me. Even when they punished me by making me kneel. Yara leaned against John and tugged at his sleeve. "John, forget it. Renee suffered so much in the past. Maybe she's just afraid I'll steal your love from her." John tightened his grip on the umbrella handle, pain filled his eyes. "Does suffering give her the right to hurt others? Something in her is rotting now. If we don't set her straight, who knows what kind of problems she'll cause in the future!" When Yara saw that I would not speak, she crouched down. She spoke in a voice only the two of us could hear. "So what if you're their biological daughter? To them, you're not worth one strand of my hair." Then she suddenly stood and clutched her chest. "John... My chest hurts... I can't breathe..." John's expression changed. He threw the umbrella aside and picked Yara up with his arms. "Yara! Your heart can't handle all this stress to begin with! I'll take you to the hospital right now!" He turned and glared at me, speaking through his gritted teeth. "If anything happens to her because of that shove, I'll never forgive you." A car engine roared in the night, then faded into the rain. I remained on my knees in the mud and let the storm fall on my back. Chapter 2 I knelt all night, and the rain had finally stopped by early morning. The front doors opened. Mom and Dad walked out, their eyes red. John followed behind them, carefully helping Yara next to him. Mom hurried forward and threw a medical report into the puddle in front of me, her eyes red. "The doctor said Yara suffered a shock so seriously that it triggered an arrhythmia! Her life was in danger, and you almost killed her, but you still won't even apologize." Dad leaned on his cane with both hands, his voice cold. "What a waste of our love… How could we have brought back someone as cold-blooded as you?" I looked down at the medical report soaking in the muddy water. Yara leaned against John and said in a weak voice, "Dad, Mom, forget it. Renee suffered so much out there. She only wanted to take everything back. I understand..." She broke free from John and walked over, then she crouched down and reached out as if she wanted to help me up. She chuckled softly in a voice only the two of us could hear and from an angle my parents could not see. "Renee, I spent fifty thousand dollars on that medical report. There's nothing wrong with my heart at all, but if I so much as furrow my brow, they'll want to tear you apart. Then she let go and deliberately staggered back two steps, clutching her chest as she coughed. "It hurts... Renee, don't push me..." John's eyes went red with rage. He rushed over and grabbed my collar, then yanked me out of the muddy water. "Do you even have a conscience? Yara is already this sick and you still want to hurt her." As he dragged me around, the moonstone pendant around my neck slipped out. It was the pendant that Mom had gone to a famous monastery to have blessed when I first came home, saying it would keep me safe. John glanced at Yara, who was clutching her chest and trembling, then yanked the necklace holding the pendant from my neck. A burning pain flared around my neck, and he had the pendant in his hand. "Mom had this blessing to keep someone safe. A vicious person like you doesn't deserve to wear it." He turned and carefully tucked the pendant into Yara's hand. "Yara, don't be afraid. It will keep you safe." I watched Yara hold the pendant in her palm and give me a smug smile. I then looked down and pried John's fingers from my collar. My cracked lips slowly parted. "You pretend to have heart problems every day..." Mom cut me off in a panic. "Enough! You're still trying to slander your sister!" I kept my eyes on Yara and went on. "Aren't you afraid you will really get a real heart attack?" Yara chuckled. "Renee, are you..." However, before she could finish, her smile froze. Her eyes opened wide, as both hands held on the left side of her chest as she dropped to her knees in the muddy water. "Ah!" Her scream of agony tore through the morning as she convulsed, rolling on the ground in pain. This time, she was not pretending. She was really in so much pain she could barely breathe. Mom screamed and rushed over while John swept the unconscious Yara into his arms and ran outside. "Get the car! We're going to the hospital!" Dad pointed at me in fury and roared. "You knew she couldn't handle any more provocation but you still said those things on purpose to provoke her! Lock her in the basement!" Two security guards came over, twisting my hands behind my back and dragged me into the dark basement. Chapter 3 I was locked in the basement for five full days. On the fifth night, the iron basement door was kicked open. John walked in, grabbed my collar and dragged me into the brightly lit hall. The Shaw family was hosting dinner tonight. The hall was filled with the family's older relatives. Yara wore a white dress and sat in a wheelchair, her face pale as she leaned in Mom's arms. John slammed me onto the Persian carpet in front of the older relatives. "You're going to apologize to Yara today in front of everyone! The doctor said Yara had a heart attack! If we had gotten her there one minute later, she would've died. "You knew she had poor health, but you still provoked her on purpose! This is attempted murder!" Mom pointed at me, shaking with anger. "This family gave you everything, but you were so desperate for attention that you tried to kill Yara! If you don't apologize in front of everyone today or you're dead to me!" The relatives around us began pointing and whispering. "She learned all those filthy tricks from outside of the family..." "How awful, trying to kill her own sister like that…" Yara pulled Mom's hand, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Mom, don't blame her. She suffered so much out there. It's normal for her to resent me. I don't blame her..." Her little performance made my stomach turn. I said, "I spent five days in the basement, and none of you bothered to investigate her fake medical report…" John kicked me hard in the shoulder and my whole body slammed into the edge of the coffee table, and my forehead started bleeding. He roared, "How dare you keep spouting nonsense!" Just then, Martha, the housekeeper who had worked a long time for the family who had been pouring tea nearby, said, "Mr. John, Ms. Renee didn't lie!" The entire room fell silent. Martha shook as she pointed at Yara in the wheelchair. "Five days ago, when I was cleaning the guest room, I heard Ms. Yara on the phone. She said she had transferred fifty thousand dollars to a trader in the black market for a fake medical report. She also flushed all the emergency medication for her heart in the drawer down the toilet." Yara's face turned pale for a moment before she covered her face and started sobbing. "Martha, I've always treated you well! How much did Renee pay you to slander me at a time like this?!" John's eyes went red as he walked toward Martha. He grabbed the hot teapot from the table and smashed it against Martha's head. As the glass teapot shattered, scalding tea mixed with blood as it ran down Martha's face. "You ungrateful old hag! How dare you take her side! Security! Beat her up and throw her out of my home!" Chapter 4 I lunged over and shielded Martha with my body. The leather shoes of the two security guards who came over slammed into my back. Meanwhile, Martha clutched her bleeding head and curled up on the floor. I held my body over hers, absorbing multiple kicks on my back until I could feel the pain in my organs. I looked up at my parents and brother, who stood above me like judges. Dad watched the security guards beat me and gave no sign he would stop them. Mom even covered Yara's eyes with concern, worried Yara would be frightened by the sight. Whatever affection they had from being a family was torn apart by their own hands. I had swallowed every insult and lived like I was mute to protect their lives. Yet they were going to beat an innocent woman to death over a fake daughter who lied through their teeth. "Stop hitting Renee... I'll admit it..." Martha cried weakly. John sneered and grabbed my hair, then yanked me up from the floor. "See that? That is the helper you hired! She's just as cheap as you are." Yara sat in the wheelchair and sobbed as she tugged John's pant leg. "John, forget it." She then turned to Dad, her face covered in tears. "Dad, since Renee can't tolerate me, I'll move out tomorrow. I'll transfer all the properties and shares under my name to her. All I want is that she stops causing trouble like this..." Mom pulled Yara into her arms, crying like her heart had been torn out. "You stupid child! How can I ever let you move out?!" Dad slammed his cane down and looked at me, wounded and disappointed. "Renee, we went to so much trouble to bring you home because we want this family to be whole again, not so you can tear it apart. "Since you can't fix that temper of yours, you'll be grounded starting tomorrow. You can come out when you learn to behave and stop bullying Yara." John shoved me aside and carefully shielded Yara in his arms. "This family gave you everything we had, how can you still be this ungrateful? When will you finally stop?" They kept Yara protected in the middle of the room. I forced a smile and swallowed the blood in my throat. There was no point in holding back now. I stared at Yara. My voice was quiet, but it carried through the hall. "Fine. If all of you insist she wasn't pretending, and that she really was sick enough to die… Then may your wish come true." Everyone in the hall froze. John had just opened his mouth to curse me when I looked straight at Yara and said those accursed words…