Toddler's Telepathy Tango Chapter 1

In my past life, I ruined my family. My billionaire parents, bankrupt and broken, threw themselves from the roof of their skyscraper. My CEO brother was framed and jailed. My sister took her own life.

Reborn, all they wanted was revenge.

My brother's eyes were dark with malice. “This time,” he vowed, “we’ll make her wish she were never born.”

The next second, he heard my innermost thoughts.

[My brother is so handsome, like a prince from a fairy tale! I have a fruit candy in my pocket. I want to give it to him. I wonder if he'd like it?]

My brother froze. My sister offered a smile that was pure ice.

“Little monsters are always good at pretending. Once we get her home, the truth will come out.”

But I just gazed at my sister with pure adoration, clapping my tiny hands.

[When sister dances, her skirt flies up like a fairy’s wings! I love it!]

The family stared at my three-year-old self, a heavy silence falling over them.

[Wait, was she really this cute as a child?]

[How are we supposed to get revenge on… this?]

…

When the fabulously wealthy Vance family came to the orphanage, their eyes were all fixed on me, sharp and unyielding.

I shrank back, my small hands twisting the hem of my worn-out dress.

[Are these my long-lost family? They’re all so beautiful. I’m so happy!]

[But… why do they look so angry? Is it because I don’t look like them?]

My father gave me a single, cold glance.

“Take her.”

The orphanage director, Mama Ellen, beamed, her rough hand pulling me from the bench with a sense of urgency.

“Nora, darling, quickly now! Go with your mommy and daddy! Your good life is just beginning!”

I stumbled forward, dazed and confused. My mother flinched back half a step, as if I were carrying some deadly plague. My brother’s brow furrowed even deeper, the disgust in his eyes practically spilling over.

Only my sister, Monica, extended a hand to me, her lips curved into a perfect, practiced smile.

“Come now, little sister. Let’s go home.”

Home?

Hesitantly, I reached out with my own grimy little hand.

[Am I finally going to have a home of my own? Sister’s hand is so white and clean. My hand is so dirty… will I get her dirty?]

[But I’m so, so happy!]

The very instant my fingertips were about to brush against hers…

CRACK!

The dim, yellow bulb overhead exploded without warning! A shower of fine glass rained down.

“Ah!” my sister shrieked, snatching her hand back, her face draining of color.

My father reacted instantly, pulling my mother and sister behind him as his sharp gaze locked onto me like a weapon. My brother, Liam, stepped forward, physically shielding them from me.

“Hah! After all that nonsense you were just thinking, I almost believed you’d changed. But you’re the same as you were in our last life—a curse that exists only to harm us!”

I stared at him, bewildered, my hands clutching my dress.

“Brother,” I whispered, “I… I didn’t say anything.”

All four of them looked at me, their faces a mask of stunned disbelief.

“It’s my fault! That old light should have been replaced ages ago,” Mama Ellen explained frantically, pulling me close to check for injuries. “Nora, are you hurt?”

A shard of glass had nicked my ankle. It stung. But I just stood there, frozen, staring at their guarded, hostile expressions. It felt like a piece of that glass had lodged itself in my chest, a dull, aching pain.

[The light broke?] I thought, my mind a blank. [Was it because I reached for my sister?]

[I’ve always been unlucky. Are they going to hate me because of this?]