— The Grudge of the Seven-Day Curse —
"It was Bella! All of this—Bella forced my hand!"
Luna's scream sliced through the air, sharp with near-hysteria.
The name hung in the silence that followed, so absolute it seemed to steal the breath from the room.
No one had expected to hear it here—the name of a woman already gone.
"You've got it wrong. What does Bella have to do with any of this?"
Jasper's voice was strained, disbelieving.
Luna's head snapped up, eyes red-rimmed. "It was her! Everything I did, she made me do!"
"But Bella is..." Selene began, hesitant.
"That's exactly why I brought out the painting!"
Luna's voice rose sharply, as if something pent-up for too long had finally shattered.
Selene frowned. "What are you saying? Are you blaming her... for dying?"
A low, bitter laugh escaped Luna's lips—a sound like broken glass.
She drew a shaky breath, as though steadying the resentment churning inside her, then spoke slowly:
"Bella and I grew up next door to each other. Our families were close—like one family. I was born seven days after her. Before school, we were inseparable."
Her expression softened, touched by a childhood innocence almost forgotten—
but the tenderness vanished as quickly as it came, swallowed by a deeper shadow.
"Everything changed once we started school. Bella was pretty, smart, top of the class—everyone loved her. And me... I was always in her shadow. Just the sidekick, the background friend."
She bit out each word as if tearing open an old wound.
"When I was sorting through my great-grandfather's belongings, I found records of the 'Seven-Day Curse'—that's when I knew. She'd stolen my fate from me."
My breath caught.
The Seven-Day Curse.
I had heard the name before. Children born within seven days of each other: the elder drains the younger's luck. It's why even twins can walk such different lives.
"I didn't fully believe it back then. But what came after... I had no choice."
Luna's gaze drifted slowly, settling on Kai.
"In college, I fell for a senior. We started seeing each other—nothing serious yet. Then one night, at a party... Bella showed up." Her voice turned icy.
"After that, he talked about her constantly. Soon enough, he broke up with me and went after her."
Luna continued, her words colder by the second. "After graduation, I joined the company where he worked. I thought it was fate giving me a second chance. We reconnected, moved in together... even talked about marriage."
Her hands clenched, knuckles white.
"But then—Bella appeared again. She came as a business partner. He never mentioned breaking up, but he stopped talking about marriage altogether. Later, he quit to start his own business... I knew he was running from me."
Resentment clung to her like a dark haze, almost tangible.
"That's when I finally understood—
as long as Bella existed, I was never meant to win. And it was all because of the curse."
I spoke quietly, finishing her thought. "So once you knew, you decided to get revenge."
---
— The Obsession of Vengeance —
"Yes!"
Luna spat the word out like venom. "But I didn't want her dead—I just wanted my luck back! I searched through every last item my great-grandfather left, but I couldn't find a way to break the curse... So I refused to accept it!"
Her eyes hardened in that moment, like an animal backed into a corner baring its teeth.
"She took everything from me! As long as she was alive, I was just the spare, the shadow, the joke! Even the person I loved... never truly saw me!"
I turned to Kai, my tone calm but edged. "You. You were that senior."
Jasper and Selene stiffened simultaneously, staring at Kai in disbelief.
He kept his head down, silent—
a guilty man with an old wound split open. No defense left.
"Holy hell," Jasper swore. "You're that guy? How did I never see it?"
"Shut up! Don't you dare insult Kai!"
Luna lashed out as if struck.
Jasper's smirk vanished, his voice turning cold and sharp. "And for someone like him... you killed Bella?"
The air seemed to chill.
Luna took a sharp breath. "No! I did think about using dark arts against her. But before I found a way... she died in the accident."
I narrowed my eyes. "Wasn't that exactly what you wanted?"
"What I wanted?"
Luna let out a twisted laugh, brittle as cracking glass.
"She made me suffer for over twenty years... Did you think I'd let her off that easily?"
A fanatical light gleamed in her eyes. "That's why I brought out—the Portrait of Aya the Healer."
"You knew what the painting did?" I asked.
"Of course." Luna lifted her chin. "It was written right on the box. It drains life essence, traps souls forever.
"But it also said: Do not open. Or you may invite evil in."
"And you opened it anyway?!"
Jasper stared at her as if she were mad, his voice thick with fury.
"Of course I opened it!" Luna's voice shook with intensity. "I couldn't touch her while she was alive—so even in death, I'd make sure she never rested!"
---
— The Awakening —
I kept my eyes locked on her, voice heavy. "So on the day of the funeral... you took the painting to the cemetery."
"Yes."
Luna's lips trembled. "I didn't know if it worked... but from that day on, I always felt—a pair of dead eyes watching me from the shadows."
She hugged herself as if shaking off a deep chill.
"I tried sealing the painting back in its box," she went on. "But every time... it would slide out on its own, like it was crawling back into sight. I was terrified, I couldn't sleep. I had to leave it in the open—hoping someone would take it away."
I finished the thought for her. "But you never expected... the one who took it would be your beloved Kai."
Luna was silent for two beats, then nodded, all pretense gone.
"After that, you hired someone to pose as a mystic. You told Kai to pass the painting to Jasper—claiming his strong living energy
could suppress the evil. Correct?"
"Yes."
Her tone was eerily calm, as if admitting a trivial detail.
Jasper exploded. "What did I ever do to you?! Why target me?!"
Luna looked up slowly, her gaze cold. "Because Bella liked you."
She enunciated each word. "In high school, she used to watch you from afar."
Jasper froze as if struck by lightning.
"I thought once you had the painting..." Luna's voice quivered with twisted excitement. "You'd lose yourself like Kai did. I wanted Bella's spirit to watch you spiral into ruin... to make her suffer, even in death."
She took another breath, slowing her words. "But I never expected—you came out completely untouched."
All eyes turned to Jasper.
Shock, disbelief, dawning realization—they flickered across his face. He whispered,
"It wasn't that the painting didn't affect me... It was Bella."
He swallowed.
"So that's it..."
His chest rose and fell rapidly. "Bella's presence made me ignore the painting... Isn't that right, Rhan?"
I nodded slowly. "Bella protected you."
In that moment, something broke in Jasper. He slapped himself twice, his voice raw and trembling:
"I blamed her... Last night, I said... I said I could never love a ghost... I said horrible things..."
He covered his face, hands shaking. "I'm trash."
Selene stared in shock. "You! Rhan told you she wouldn't hurt you!"
Luna, meanwhile, looked as if she'd been struck—her face drained of all color. "What... are you saying? Bella... is really with the painting?"
"Yes!"
Jasper looked up, his eyes clear for the first time. "She's not just with the painting—she's been with me all along! Your plan failed from the start."
He pointed at Luna, voice icy. "You will pay for what you did to Bella."
I turned toward the door and called softly, "Bella... please show yourself."
The room fell into a dead silence.
Then—
The air shivered. A faint, translucent form materialized from beyond the doorway.
Light passed through her, outlining a figure serene, elegant.
—Bella.
A shattered scream tore from Luna's throat. She swayed, on the verge of collapse.
Kai stood frozen, his face ashen.
Luna pointed a trembling finger at the apparition. "You... is it... really you, Bella?"