773 Chapter 772
Erin cut straight to the point. âLion knows about the 10 oâclock car crash prediction. He knows I asked about it, so he knows you must be aware too. And given your usual stubbornness, youâd obviously try to stop him from leaving. Thatâs why⊠Mollie made sure Ellie would be at the door at exactly 10. Because after 10, Ryan would be gone!â
Keira scoffed. âIf what youâre saying is true, and Lion knew Iâd block him from leaving by 10, why not have Ellie leave the house at 9:30 instead?â
Erin gave her a direct look. âSimple. The South familyâs prediction was that heâd have a car crash at 10 a.m., right?â
Keira didnât quite follow. âWhat are you getting at?â
Erin grinned. âThe South family predicted heâd crash at 10, so thereâs no way it could happen at 9:59, and definitely not at 10:01. If Ellie showed up at 9:59, something else wouldâve happened to prevent it. Get it now?â
Keira paused, stunned. âSo, what youâre saying is, if the South family predicted youâd die at dawn, even the Grim Reaper wouldnât show up before then?â
Erin rolled her eyes. âYeah, thatâs the gist of it. But why does it have to be me dying?â
Keira raised an eyebrow. âIâm just making a point.â
âWell, still. Use Lion as an example instead.â
Keira sighed but kept silent.
Erin shot back, âDonât you know about prophecy avoidance? You canât just throw words around like that!â
Keira couldnât help but chuckle. âYouâre superstitious for someone your age.â
âItâs not superstition,â Erin said seriously, looking her in the eye. âYou shouldnât underestimate things like this. Think about itâhavenât you ever noticed that the more you fear something, the more likely it is to happen? Thereâs probably a psychology book about that. But have you ever considered that maybe itâs not just psychology? Maybe itâs some kind of prophecy or curse. Words are powerful! People joke online all the time about bad stuff happening to them, and guess what? It often does. We need to watch what we say.â
Keira saw how serious she was and nodded. After all, the weirdness surrounding the South family had been giving her the creeps. âYeah, I get it.â
Erin finally let it go. âAlright then. So now you see why it had to be at 10, right? Thatâs exactly the time she needed to kill him. If it wasnât 10, Ryan wouldnât die.â
Keira frowned. âHave you done something like this before?â
Erin scratched her nose. âWell, there was this serial killer once. I wanted to take him out, so I asked the South family for a prediction. They said heâd die by drowning on a certain day. I didnât believe it, so I tried several times to kill him beforehand. Every time, something went wrong. Once, I even had him thrown into a lake. The guy couldnât even swim, yet he didnât drown.
âIn the end, I gave up. But when the predicted day came, he went on a cruise and, sure enough, accidentally fell into the ocean and drowned. I investigated everything, but there was no foul play. The South familyâs prediction was spot on.
âSo, for Ryan, the prophecy protects him until 10. Thatâs why Lion wouldnât make a move before then. And once 10 passes, Ryan will be gone, so thereâs no need to bother. If I were Mollie and I wanted him dead, Iâd pick 10 too.â
Keira nodded, finally understanding.
Erin glanced at Ryan. âAnyway, stop obsessing over this prophecy stuff. Itâs not something you can handle right now. Weâre busting our butts trying to keep him alive while also securing a deal with the Gills! Focus on whatâs important!â
Keira rolled her eyes. âI know.â
Erin raised her eyebrows. âDo you really? You saved Ryanâs life yesterday! Nowâs the perfect time to push for that deal. He wonât say no!â
Keira shook her head. âNo way.â
âWhy not?â
âMy mentor taught me never to ask for a favor in return for saving someone.â
Erin blinked. âAre you serious right now? Youâre so damn stubborn! If you canât even be a little flexible, how do you plan on saving your mom? Let me tell youâbeing a goody-two-shoes wonât get you anywhere! Sometimes, you have to make demands when the momentâs right!â
Keira just smiled calmly. âI didnât save Ryan for a favor. I just wanted to test the South familyâs prediction.â
âYouâre impossible! How can you be so dense! Iâ!â
Erin was fuming. âWhat century are you even living in? People like you still exist?â
Keira smirked.
Erin paused. âWhat?â
Keiraâs eyes flicked over to Ryan and Lewis, who were walking away. Theyâd clearly overheard the entire conversation.
Keira patted Erin on the shoulder. âLetâs head back. The dealâs going through.â
âWhat?â