Chapter 4
Caleb didn’t come home until after 10 PM.
The moment he walked in, his eyes darted to the cross, and his face immediately darkened. “Didn’t Marissa remind you to light the candles every morning and evening?” he snapped.
Without waiting for a reply, he grabbed a match, lit three white candles, and placed them in front of the cross.
His movements were reverent, almost theatrical, as if he believed the ritual could make up for my supposed neglect.
“I forgot,” I said evenly, my tone calm.
“I’ve been busy running the company and taking care of Ivy. There’s only so much I can do. If you’re that concerned, you can handle it yourself.”
“The company is fine with me managing it,” Caleb replied with a disapproving frown.
“Ivy’s still a baby–you should focus more on her.”
I shrugged, letting the comment roll off me, but inside, I was seething.
The company?
Managed by him?
In my past life, I had made that mistake.
I handed over the reins, trusting him to take care of what my parents had left me while I focused on raising Ivy.
Back then, I believed I had married a man I could rely on, someone who would protect our family.
But instead, Caleb betrayed me.
He didn’t just take over the company, he and Marissa took everything–my home, my wealth, my life.
Not this time.
For days, Caleb had been pestering me about the candles, clearly frustrated that I hadn’t been the one to light them.
I knew why he was so insistent.
Lighting those candles wasn’t just symbolic.
The act itself drained a tiny fragment of the person’s vitality.
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Chapter 4
The real target, of course, was Ivy.
But because she was connected to me by blood, the cross was feeding on me too.
Caleb knew this, which was why he kept pressuring me to participate in the ritual.
When I finally suggested throwing the cross out, claiming I didn’t believe in such superstitions, Caleb panicked.
His apologies came quick and desperate.
He promised to handle the candles himself if it meant I wouldn’t get rid of it.
But Caleb had no idea that the name inscribed inside the cross had already been replaced.
Every day, I watched him deteriorate.
The effects were subtle at first–a little weight loss, a little fatigue.
But as the weeks passed, the changes became impossible to ignore.
His face grew gaunt, his cheeks hollow.
He looked like a shadow of himself, but he carried on as if nothing were wrong.
Even as his body wasted away, he continued his affairs, sneaking off with one woman after another.
His indulgence only sped up his decline.
I made sure to have every interaction documented–every indiscretion, every meeting.
The evidence was piling up, and soon, it would be more than enough to destroy him.
Two months later, whispers began to circulate in the office.
Employees murmured about his sunken eyes and skeletal frame, calling him a walking corpse.
Then Marissa returned, her belly swollen and heavy, accompanied by her clueless husband, Ethan.
When Marissa saw Caleb, her eyes widened in shock.
“Caleb, what happened to you?” she gasped, her voice trembling.
Her gaze darted to me, filled with thinly veiled accusation.
“Lydia, how could you let this happen to your husband?”
I gave her a cool, measured smile,
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Chapter 4
“Don’t blame me. I’ve been taking good care of him. He eats well and rests when he needs to.” “The only thing I’ve asked of him is to keep up with the candles in front of the cross. How was I supposed to know he’d end up like this?”
“What?” Marissa’s voice rose several octaves, panic evident in her tone.
“You’ve been letting him light the candles? Why didn’t you do it yourself? You’re Ivy’s mother!”
I raised an eyebrow, feigning confusion.
“What are you implying? Caleb is Ivy’s father. Why shouldn’t he handle it? Unless…”
I paused, letting the tension hang in the air.
“you’re saying there’s something wrong with the cross.”
Marissa froze, her face turning pale.
“No! That’s not what I meant,” she stammered, her voice shaking.
“The cross is fine. I just thought… with everything Caleb is managing, he might forget. That’s all.”
“Oh, I see,” I said, my tone deliberately light.
“I thought you were suggesting the cross might be dangerous. But if it’s perfectly fine, why don’t you light the candles today?”
Marissa’s face drained of all color.
Before she could respond, Caleb stepped in.
“Marissa’s a guest! How could you ask her to do that?”
He grabbed three candles, lit them hurriedly, and placed them in front of the cross.
As the candles burned, Caleb’s body swayed.
His face went even paler, and he suddenly crumpled to the floor with a heavy thud.
At the same time, Marissa clutched her belly, her face twisting in pain.
Sweat poured down her forehead as she gasped, “My stomach… it hurts so much!”
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Chapter 5
