My family has a secret, a curse: our condemnations come true. To protect everyone, I chose silence, living as a janitor, assumed to be mute. My wife, Nicole, a ruthless pharmaceutical heiress, married me only because her superstitious grandfather believed a "silent man" would protect their fortune. I accepted my humiliating role for my devout mother, who just wanted to see me settled. Then, my mother, trying to help a pregnant Nicole, baked her a pecan pie-a seemingly innocent act. But Matthew, a family protégé now Nicole' s lover, intercepted the pie, knowing he had a deadly nut allergy. I tried to warn him, but my silent throat failed me as he took a bite, then collapsed in agonizing anaphylaxis. Nicole screamed, pointing a trembling, accusatory finger at my mother, who stood frozen with terror. The next day, Nicole ordered my frail mother taken to a state nursing home with a dark reputation, dismissing my desperate plea as an accident. When I confronted Nicole at Matthew' s hospital bedside, she scoffed, revealed my life was a charade based on a fortune teller's whim, and had her bodyguards brutally beat me. As I lay broken, years of silence shattered, and a raw condemnation tore from my throat: "May you lose what you love most and live a life of bitter loneliness." This curse, a power I had tried to bury, was now loose, and it was only the beginning of their downfall.
My family has a secret, a curse: our condemnations come true.
To protect everyone, I chose silence, living as a janitor, assumed to be mute.
My wife, Nicole, a ruthless pharmaceutical heiress, married me only because her superstitious grandfather believed a "silent man" would protect their fortune.
I accepted my humiliating role for my devout mother, who just wanted to see me settled.
Then, my mother, trying to help a pregnant Nicole, baked her a pecan pie-a seemingly innocent act.
But Matthew, a family protégé now Nicole' s lover, intercepted the pie, knowing he had a deadly nut allergy.
I tried to warn him, but my silent throat failed me as he took a bite, then collapsed in agonizing anaphylaxis.
Nicole screamed, pointing a trembling, accusatory finger at my mother, who stood frozen with terror.
The next day, Nicole ordered my frail mother taken to a state nursing home with a dark reputation, dismissing my desperate plea as an accident.
When I confronted Nicole at Matthew' s hospital bedside, she scoffed, revealed my life was a charade based on a fortune teller's whim, and had her bodyguards brutally beat me.
As I lay broken, years of silence shattered, and a raw condemnation tore from my throat: "May you lose what you love most and live a life of bitter loneliness."
This curse, a power I had tried to bury, was now loose, and it was only the beginning of their downfall.
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