Aria's POV
I ripped the photo from Maya's hands.
"You're lying. My mother would never—"
"Look at the signature!" Maya pointed. "That's her handwriting. I found this in my grandmother's safe after she died last year."
I stared at the contract. The signature was definitely my mother's. I'd seen it a thousand times on school permission slips and birthday cards.
But this... this was impossible.
"Why would my mother sign this?" My voice shook. "What did she get in return?"
Maya pulled out another paper. A medical record. "Your sister Luna was born with a heart defect. The doctors said she'd die before her first birthday. Your mother was desperate."
"So she made a deal?"
"With my grandmother. Who was a..." Maya hesitated. "A witch. A real one. She promised to save Luna's life in exchange for your future and the future of one other person. Someone connected to you by fate."
Damien leaned forward, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. "Me."
"Yes. You and Aria were always meant to meet. Meant to fall in love. Meant to change each other's lives." Maya's voice was quiet. "But my grandmother twisted that connection. She cursed you both. Made you die on the same day in different timelines. Trapped you in loops and rebirths. All to feed off your pain and suffering."
I couldn't breathe. My mother sold me. Sold my entire life. Just to save Luna.
"Where is she?" Damien's voice was ice. "Your grandmother. Where is she now?"
"Dead. She died last year. But the curse didn't end with her death. It transferred to..." Maya stopped.
"To who?" I demanded.
"To your mother. Catherine became the curse keeper when my grandmother died. She's the one maintaining it now."
The room spun. My mother. My own mother was keeping us trapped. Keeping us dying over and over.
"Does she know?" I whispered. "Does she know what she's doing?"
"I don't know. Maybe she doesn't remember. The curse can hide itself, make her forget. Or maybe..." Maya looked at me with pity. "Maybe she knows and just doesn't care as long as Luna stays alive."
Damien's phone buzzed. Then mine. Then Maya's. All at once.
Marcus burst into the room. "Sir, you need to see this. It's everywhere."
He turned on the TV.
Every news channel was showing the same thing. Video from the Apex lobby. Victor with the gun. Me standing in front of him. Damien taking the bullet.
But that wasn't the biggest story.
"—Victor Zhang's arrest has uncovered a massive corruption scandal at Apex Entertainment," the news anchor said. "Financial records show he received over two million dollars in bribes over five years to manipulate audition results. Police have identified at least fifty victims whose careers were destroyed—"
Another channel. "—dozens of entertainers are coming forward with allegations against Victor Zhang. Producer claims he demanded sexual favors in exchange for opportunities—"
Another. "—Apex Entertainment CEO Damien Cross, who was shot while protecting contestant Aria Chen, has fired his entire judging panel. Company sources say he's personally reviewing every audition from the past five years—"
My face was on every screen. Damien's face. The shooting. The scandal.
"It's viral," Marcus said. "Fifty million views in three hours. Everyone's talking about the corrupt producer and the CEO who took a bullet for an unknown singer."
"Turn it off," Damien said.
Marcus switched off the TV. But we could all hear phones buzzing in the hallway. Reporters gathering outside. The story was exploding.
"This is good," Maya said suddenly. "The attention. The sympathy. You can use this."
"Use what?" I asked.
"Victor's scandal is distracting everyone from the real problem. The curse. While the world is watching the entertainment drama, we can work on breaking the blood contract." Maya looked between us. "But we need to move fast. Once my grandmother's curse realizes you're trying to escape, it will fight back."
"How do we break it?" Damien asked.
"I don't know yet. But the contract has rules. All curses do. We need to find the loopholes." She pulled out her phone. "I've been researching since I found the contract. There are three ways to break a blood curse: kill the curse keeper, fulfill the original bargain, or find a replacement willing to take your place."
"So we kill my mother?" I said flatly.
"No!" Maya looked horrified. "That's the easiest way but also the worst. If you kill her, the curse transfers to you. You'd become the new curse keeper. Trapped forever."
"What about fulfilling the bargain?" Damien asked.
"Luna was supposed to die at one year old. She's twenty now. The debt is already paid nineteen times over. But the curse is greedy. It wants more."
"Then a replacement," I said. "Someone else takes our place."
Maya nodded slowly. "Yes. But it has to be someone who volunteers willingly. Someone who knows what they're agreeing to. Someone who—"
The hospital room door slammed open.
My mother stood there.
Catherine Chen. Looking exactly like I remembered. Perfectly styled hair. Expensive clothes. Disapproving expression.
But her eyes... her eyes looked wrong. Empty. Like something else was looking through them.
"Aria," she said. Her voice sounded off. Too flat. Too cold. "There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you."
I stood up. "Mom?"
"We need to go home. Now." She walked toward me. "This entertainment nonsense has gone on long enough. You're embarrassing the family."
Same words. Same tone. She'd said this exact thing in my first life after my audition failed.
But this wasn't my mother. Not really.
This was the curse wearing her face.
"I'm not going anywhere with you," I said.
"Yes. You are." Her hand shot out, grabbing my wrist. Her grip was ice cold. Painful. "You belong to me, Aria. You always have. Your future, your life, your death. All mine."
Damien tried to stand up. Maya grabbed a vase like a weapon.
But my mother just smiled. A terrible smile that didn't reach her empty eyes.
"Did you really think you could break my curse?" the thing wearing my mother laughed. "I've been alive for three hundred years. I've consumed thousands of futures. Your grandmother thought she killed me, Maya. But I just moved into a new body."
"You're not my mother," I whispered.
"No. But I live in her now. Wear her like clothes. And as long as I'm in here, she'll keep you trapped. Keep you dying. Forever and ever and ever."
Her nails dug into my skin. Blood dripped onto the floor.
The blood started to glow.
"Time to go home, Aria. Back to the curse. Back to the loop. Back to dying over and over while I feed on your pain."
She yanked me toward the door.
I looked back at Damien. At Maya. At Marcus.
Help me, I mouthed.
Then everything went black.