Hearing this,I felt a wave of emotion in my heart. "Grandma, you will get better."
I closed the door worriedly and went to the living room.
Erik was sitting in the living room smoking, and through the swirling smoke, his aged face seemed to carry a hint of weariness. Saskia's eyes were red and swollen, a clear sign that she had been crying.
Erik rarely smoked, only when he was troubled. Clearly, Mira's illness had deeply upset him. Seeing me come out, he immediately put out his cigarette and looked at me with a smile. "There's nothing we can do about your grandma. You must be exhausted from the trip. Go rest for now and we will call you when dinner is ready."
I needed some alone time, so I nodded and turned back to my room. After hesitating for a long time, I called out Howard's name twice; right now, besides him, I couldn't think of anyone else who could help my grandma.
I couldn't tell if he was ignoring me or simply not there. Despite repeatedly calling his name, he never showed up. I frowned and placed a hand over my chest. "Howard, I know you're angry, but I hope you can let it go. I really need you right now, so please come out. As I spoke, my voice choked up, and tears started falling uncontrollably."
"I've never seen anyone like you. If I don't come out, you'll cry." A cold voice with a hint of complaint sounded. Seeing Howard suddenly appear, I immediately smiled. "Howard, you can help my grandma, right?"
He looked at me indifferently, clearly still angry. "Didn't you say you wanted to get rid of me?"
I quickly shook my head. "No, that's not it." I stammered for a long time but couldn't come up with a decent reason.
Howard sighed, took a step towards me, and wiped away my tears. "Alright, stop crying. You want me to help your grandma, right? Leave it to me."
I looked at him excitedly. "Really?"
"You've already cried, how can I refuse?" His tone seemed full of affection.
I felt a warmth in my heart. Although I was sometimes afraid of him, I couldn't deny that he was indeed very kind at times.
He gently touched the area under my eyes and sighed. "Look at you with those dark circles. Go rest. When you wake up, your grandma will be fine."
"Really?" I blinked at him.
Howard led me to the bed, coaxing me to lie down, and then lay down beside me. "I promise."
Although we had already made love, lying in his arms still made me a bit uneasy.
I felt tense all over.
Sensing my tense my over, he patted my back, speaking gently, "Don't worry, I won't do anything to you."
With Howard's assurance, I slept soundly. When I woke up again, it was already evening.
Then Saskia's voice came thtough door, "Karena, are you awake? It's time for dinner."
I quickly got up but didn't see Howard. With Saskia still urging outside, I responded and opened the door, seeing Mira sitting on the living room sofa, watching TV with her legs crossed. When she saw me, she smiled and waved. "Karena, are you up?"
"Grandma, you're okay." Seeing her as vivacious and spirited as usual, I ran over to her excitedly.
"I think your grandma just missed you. As soon as you came back, her illness miraculously vanished." Erik's face now bore a rare smile, replacing the worried expression he had worn all morning.
"Alright, let's eat. Karena just got back and hasn't had a chance to eat. She must be hungry." Saskia said.
We had a joyful meal. After dinner, Mira wanted to go back to her room to rest, and I followed her as Saskia's voice came from outside. "Just getting back, she, like her grandma's little shadow, and is already glued to her."
Mira waved me over and patted the spot next to her. "Come over here and sit down."
I walked over and sat down. Before I could think of what to say, Mira spoke first. "You have something you want to ask me, right?"
I was taken aback and nodded. "A lot of strange things have been happening around me lately." Hesitating about how to explain, I revealed the tattoo on my chest. "Grandma, do you know what this is?"
Mira looked at the tattoo on my chest, her eyes becoming distant. After a long time, she sighed, "It's fate."
Mira's expression clearly held hidden secrets. Remembering what Howard had said, I felt uneasy, asking, "Grandma, what's going on?"
"This all started decades ago, back when your grandpa was still alive." Mira pursed her lips, her voice tinged with helplessness. "When your grandpa was young, he dug a hole to build the old house and dug up some weird old thing. He couldn't make heads or tails of it, thought the design was odd, and just had it tossed.
"We didn't understand those things back then. Later, a series of strange events happened at home. Your grandpa went to ask the seer from our village and found out that we had offended something we shouldn't have, which is why we were unlucky."
I frowned as I listened. "Then why did it come to me?"
"I don't know. At that time, your grandpa asked the seer for help to suppress it. But such things are inevitable; now it seems to have come to you." Mira's expression became serious as she held my hand. "Karena, don't be afraid when you encounter these things. He shouldn't harm you."
Thinking back to my time with Howard, he indeed hadn't done anything to hurt me, though I was still unwilling to be inexplicably entangled with Howard. "Is there a way to remove this tattoo? Or break the contract?"
Since the seer was so powerful, maybe he could help me break the contract. I didn't want to hurt Howard, but I also didn't want to be tied to him for life.
Hearing my words, Mira quickly covered my mouth, nervously saying, "You can't say things like that. Although I feel sorry for you, you're part of this family. He won't harm you, so don't be afraid of him."
Mira's words seemed to suggest I should accept Howard.
"Karma always comes around. If not you, it would be someone else in the future." Mira's voice was filled with guilt and helplessness and she also had no choice.