Chapter 155

Bagot hung up the call from Mae’s agent and let out an exasperated sigh, his face etched with lines of worry.

The fact that Mae had secreted away a found Ruby Bracelet would typically be a big deal in the entertainment industry.

After all, behind the glitz and glamour, the entertainment industry was a masquerade ball where everyone knew the dance.

But to the fans and the ever—watchful public, Mae’s little indiscretion might as well have been a scandal of epic proportions.

This could've been just another blip on the radar, but what really baked Bagot’s noodle was Mae’s obstinance. She had screwed up, sure, but instead of owning it, she had the nerve to play the blame game.

And now, asking for help to clean up the mess, Bagot couldn't bring himself to even broach the subject.

Ruffling his hair in frustration, Bagot decided to bypass Winnie and went straight to Mervin and Gentry.

“This Ruby Bracelet debacle is stopping the show dead in its tracks. Master Mervin, Gentry, you guys got any tricks up your sleeve to deal with this trinket?”

Mae, upon hearing Bagot speak, instinctively thought of Winnie as the fixer, but remembering the blunt brush—off she'd just received, she turned her hopeful gaze to Mervin and Gentry.

Even if it cost her a few years off her life, she wasn’t ready to let her youth be stolen away. She was terrified of growing old before her time.

Gentry, faced with Mae’s pleading eyes, wanted to swoop in and save the day, but he knew his limitations and had to admit, with a heavy heart, “Mae, I’d love to help, but when it comes to borrowing life, or in this case, borrowing your looks, from the ether, that’s not really my wheelhouse, sorry.”

He sounded genuine, and Mae didn’t push further, instead turning to Mervin.

Mervin, with a solemn expression, confessed, “Ordinary methods of borrowing life are within my grasp, but this, filling lost belongings with ashes to borrow looks? That's new to me, and | can’t quite wrap my head around it.”

After all, borrowing life, fortune, or looks was meant for the living.

Especially for those on death’s door, who seek to exchange someone else's life force for a chance to continue their own.

Typically, possessions would be bound with hair or nails.

12:42 —

But ashes suggested the lender was no longer among the living.

This wasn’t just about borrowing life. It was something else entirely.

Mae was banking on Mervin as her second hope, but hearing him admit his confusion sent her into a panic.

“What do you mean you can't figure it out? Wasn’t it your talisman that burned that thing to at crisp yesterday? Just whip up a more potent charm, will you?”

Mae’s suggestion reeked of layman’s simplicity.

Drawing powerful charms wasn’t as easy as she imagined, and besides, yesterday's Exorcism. Charm worked because Winnie channeled her own spiritual energy into it.

At that time. Mae’s bond with the bracelet was weak, making it easy to break.

But now, Mae had already lost five years of her youth, and with the Ruby Bracelet back on her wrist, it indicated that the force behind the bracelet had claimed her.

Mervin was unsure whether the force was human or spectral.

Ignoring Mae’s outburst, he turned to Winnie, “Ms. Bryant, you have a deeper understanding of these matters. Can you shed some light?”

Winnie had no intention of getting involved again. If Mae had asked, she would’ve ignored her, but since Mervin had inquired, she obliged.

“Ever heard of a ritual called ‘possession by proxy“?”

Mervin’s eyes narrowed at her hint, “You mean to say...”

“The living borrow another's life to extend their own lifespan, while the dead seize possession of living bodies. It’s akin to reincarnation through another’s body, but rather than overt possession which is easily detected, they subtly supplant the host’s appearance.

You see, a person’s features can often tell you about their past, future, and kin. Faces are like a map of fate.

The spirit begins by consuming the host’s appearance. Once everyone adjusts to the idea that they're ‘changing. the spirit gradually alters their looks, then their habits, speech, preferences. and so on.

Until the host is entirely transformed, that’s when the possession is complete.”

The room fell silent, everyone hanging on Winnie’s words.

The live broadcast chat was stunned into silence until after she finished her explanation, then it erupted into a frenzy of comments.

“This sounds terrifying. Do such dark arts really exist?”

“Winnie knows so much, and it doesn’t seem made up at all.”

12:47 “You try making that up. Can you?”

“This sounds like some of those rebirth novels, where characters get makeovers from a system, and they’re essentially becoming someone else.”

“Is anyone else reminded of that actress? | swear | watched her face change over time. Fans said she had work done, she even admitted it, but it's like her personality changed too.”

“| know who you're talking about. There were jokes she was possessed. Now I’m genuinely spooked.”

“Is anyone digging deeper into this? Is this story ripe for the picking?”

“Ask Winnie.”

Viewers speculated wildly about the implications of Winnie's explanation.

Meanwhile, Mae’s fans were in a frenzy.

Some of the fans were still scoffing at Winnie, accusing her of spouting nonsense just to scare people, while others had begun to take her words to heart. They were bombarding the chat with messages, pleading for mercy.

“Come on, Mae, don’t be stubborn. Apologize to Master and ask her to help you with that cursed bracelet.”

“I'm freaking out here. Does her agent even know what’s going on? Mae’s about to get possessed or something, shouldn't the agency step in?”

“Mae, please, just listen to reason. Better safe than sorry, right?”

“We're sorry, Winnie. We shouldn't have bashed you earlier, please, we’re begging you to save our Mae.”

Anxious fans worried that Winnie wouldn’t see their pleas, flooded into Winnie’s own livestream, showering her with gifts to get her attention.

Some even rushed to Twitter, liking, following, and commenting, all in a bid to get Winnie to lend Mae a hand.

The buzz grew quiet but swift, as Winnie’s name once again climbed stealthily to the top of the trending searches.