Chapter 4: Forgotten Birthdays and Family Tension

During the meal, Derek was attentive to my sister in every way. I teased, “I’m the odd one out here, ruining your romantic mood.”

My sister blushed. “Taylor will come of age soon. Mom and Dad will surely find you a good match.”

Come of age? I glanced at her. Didn’t I just come of age last month? And she’d even given me a coming-of-age gift. It was like she’d forgotten my birthday, and the sting was sharper than I wanted to admit.

Sensing my gaze, Derek’s expression tightened for a moment before he covered it up, smiling at my sister.

“Look at you—just last month you prepared a coming-of-age gift for Taylor, and you’ve already forgotten.”

My sister tapped her head, embarrassed.

“Ugh, my memory is getting worse. Taylor, don’t mind it.”

I hid my doubts, putting on a playful act.

“You used to remember everything, but now you’re forgetting even my coming-of-age. Have we grown distant?”

She hurriedly apologized. “I was wrong, Taylor.”

Derek changed the subject at just the right moment.

“What sort of guy does Taylor like? I’ll keep an eye out for you.”

I smiled, half-joking, half-serious.

“There are only the two of us sisters in the family. Now that you’re happily married, I guess I’ll have to bring a husband into the Bennett family to keep the line going.”

My sister’s expression flickered strangely, but she didn’t seem to care much. Derek, on the other hand, stiffened noticeably. That reaction was worth noting. He quickly met my gaze and forced a broad smile.

“Your parents will make arrangements; I’m worrying for nothing. Taylor, try this apple cider. It’s sweet—you’ll like it.”

He poured the cider himself, the ice cubes clinking gently in the glass—another little Southern touch. The glass sweated in my hand, sticky cold. I took a cautious sip, scanning the table for any sign of unease.

“Thank you, Derek.”

Soon after, a housekeeper hurried in and whispered something to Derek. He stood up at once, anxious.

“Max and Tessa have fallen and hurt themselves—I need to go check on them.”

Watching him leave in such a hurry, I frowned.

“Sis, who are Max and Tessa?”

A bold suspicion formed in my heart. Could these be Derek’s children?

“They’re the kids of my mother-in-law’s distant niece.”

Mother-in-law’s distant niece? My heart tensed. Was this one of those tales of cousins growing up together?

“Sis, does that cousin have her eyes on your husband?”

She shook her head. She said she’d suspected the same at first, but later found out the cousin had been widowed young, with only the old Mrs. Morgan as a relative. She’d brought her two kids to seek refuge. But after arriving at the Morgan house, she fell ill and has been bedridden ever since. Even if she wanted to go after Derek, she couldn’t. The two kids, though, were well cared for.

I nodded thoughtfully.

“Derek seems very concerned about them.”

My sister frowned slightly.

“It’s my fault for not being able to have kids. Mrs. Morgan said that if I truly can’t have any, we might adopt Max and Tessa.”

Just as I thought. I studied my sister’s worried face, but her fate seemed hidden, as if shrouded in mist. I couldn’t see her fortune clearly—a very strange thing. Once you enter the mystical path, you face the Five Hardships and Three Losses—every Bennett family successor is fated to have no share in worldly riches or status. But we cultivate virtue and pray for the Bennett family, bestowing the merit we earn upon our kin. That’s why the direct line of the Bennett family always lives in peace and prosperity.

My sister has always been kind and generous, her blessings abundant and her life smooth. But now, those blessings seemed like flowers in the fog—real and unreal, shadow and illusion.

As I watched her, I remembered the stories Grandma used to tell—how every gift comes with a price, and how some debts aren’t paid in cash, but in the shadows you leave behind. My gut twisted with worry, but I forced myself to smile for her sake.

*Footnote: Five Hardships and Three Losses refers to the traditional belief that practitioners of certain mystical arts will lack in three aspects (wealth, family, or health) and suffer five kinds of hardship as a karmic price for their abilities.