Chapter 290

A sharp, crisp sound echoed through the room. “Ah!” The girl stared in shock as the mirror shattered. Her face seemed to break into pieces in the reflection. Panicking, she clutched her ears and spun around, desperately trying to escape.

Odalys’ hand pressed firmly on her shoulder, and her fingers, dusted with magic dust, gently tapped the girl’s forehead. The girl screamed, her eyes squeezed shut as she collapsed unconscious. She fell limp into Odalys’ arms, her body soft and lifeless.

Celeste rushed into the room, moving quickly to embrace her daughter, but her hand hovered in midair, unsure whether to touch her for fear of making things worse. Odalys calmly observed her uncertainty and reassured her. “She just fainted. It’s nothing serious.”

“What’s going on with her? We put the talisman under her pillow, and she was fine, back to normal. But suddenly, she snapped again,” Harvey said, his voice filled with frustration and pain. They had briefly thought she was improving and had even felt some relief. But now, just half an hour later, it was as if the talisman had lost its effect.

“Let’s move her to the bed,” Odalys said. Harvey quickly picked his daughter up and laid her gently on the bed. Odalys sensed something familiar in the air of the bedroom. She frowned slightly and asked, “Has she come into contact with anything before all this happened?” “Like a cherished item?” she added.

Celeste stood lost in thought for a moment. “Yes, about a month ago, she suddenly got an invitation to a celebrity’s wrap party. She’d been obsessed with celebrities for a while and even wanted to become one herself, spending a lot of money on it,” Celeste explained, a hint of concern in her voice. “One day, she was invited to attend the wrap party, where she could meet the celebrity up close. I let her go, of course.”

“When she came back, she seemed fine, even brought back a signed photo from the celebrity,” Celeste continued. She quickly turned and began rummaging through a drawer. At the vanity table, she opened the drawer and pulled out a signed photo, handing it to Odalys.

Odalys looked at the photo. The woman smiling radiantly was none other than Sophia. “Sophia?” Odalys asked, surprised. So this was the star the girl had been obsessed with. It made sense now why Odalys had recognized the familiar scent in the room. It was Sophia’s.

“Is this comb part of it?” Odalys asked, holding up the girl’s hairbrush. Celeste nodded quickly. “It should be, and there’s also a bracelet. I heard it was part of a gift from the wrap party.”

“Ms. Stone, do you think something’s wrong with these items?” Celeste asked, her voice tinged with suspicion. If everything was fine, Odalys wouldn’t have asked about it. Harvey, having laid his daughter down on the bed, quickly joined them.

“This comb is made from negative wood,” Odalys said, her tone grave. “Negative wood trees grow near lakes or places with heavy negative energy. Most combs are made from positive wood. No one uses negative wood. And the ink on the signature in this photo is off.”

Odalys bent down and examined the photo, murmuring quietly. “Using this comb on her hair and keeping the photo in the room would have caused her to experience disturbing hallucinations.”

“And on top of that, she probably drank some alcohol at the party. The alcohol disoriented her, and then they must have whispered things in her ear that piqued her interest,” she added, her voice low and serious. “People are most easily misled when their interest is piqued and their minds are vulnerable. Holding this negative wood comb and using it on her hair caused her to lose focus and left her spirit adrift,” Odalys explained.

Her words were clear and to the point. When Celeste heard it was Sophia’s doing, she trembled with anger. “Sophia? The young lady from the Bennett Group? Why would she do this to my daughter!” Celeste exclaimed, nearly jumping up in her fury.

After setting the items down, Odalys spoke calmly. “She wants her fans to be obsessed with her, to make them sacrifice for her. Every celebrity wants fame. They all crave it. But to maintain their popularity, they need to spend money. Using these items to cast spells makes the fans go wild for them. Over time, these fans can’t think of anyone but the celebrity, and they may end up bankrupting themselves just to support her.”

Odalys’ explanation left Harvey in stunned silence. He suddenly remembered something and whispered, “No wonder after she came back from the wrap party, she kept pushing me to get Sophia as the spokesperson for the company.”

“She also insisted I spend money to provide resources for Sophia. I thought she was just being unreasonable, so I didn’t pay much attention. Looks like that’s when it all started,” Harvey said, a hint of guilt in his voice. He realized he hadn’t been paying enough attention to his daughter’s mental and physical health, and now this had happened. As a father, he felt responsible.

“Right now, her spirit has left her body, which is why she’s in this dazed state. We just need to find her spirit and bring it back,” Odalys said.

Celeste, though shaken and nervous, was more filled with anxiety than anything else. “How do we find it?” she asked quietly, afraid of speaking too loudly and upsetting Odalys. She had completely lost her sense of direction and control over the situation.

“At midnight, I’ll perform a ritual. You’ll need to use your blood to summon her spirit, and I’ll figure out how to return the missing part of her soul,” Odalys instructed.

Harvey and Celeste nodded in agreement, desperate for any solution.

“Have you heard of Oliver?” Odalys suddenly asked. At the mention of Oliver, both of them grew serious.

“He’s the most famous energy field master in Crownridge. We’ve invited him before to check the energy field, but when he arrived at our doorstep, he didn’t come in. He just left,” Harvey said.

Odalys listened, her expression thoughtful. She walked to the center of the villa, scanning the surroundings. “Ms. Stone, what does this have to do with Oliver?” Harvey quickly followed, his concern clear. This was about the family’s energy field, which was no small matter. It had to be taken seriously.

“You invited him to check your energy field? Actually, your family’s energy field is in perfect balance. If someone wanted to disturb it, they’d have to pay a price. Oliver didn’t come in because he was protecting himself. If he had, he would have lost three years of his life, or something even worse,” Odalys explained.

After hearing this, Harvey furrowed his brow. “So, what you’re saying is, Oliver had ulterior motives when he came, and when he saw the energy field, he backed off because he was afraid of the consequences?” Harvey asked.

Odalys nodded. “The alcohol your daughter drank probably had something called a ‘Love Spell’ in it,” she said. “Have you ever seen that variety show? The one we broadcasted from the mountain village?” Odalys asked. Celeste nodded quickly.

“In that show, Sophia once buried a talisman and mixed it into water for Finian to drink. It caused him to run a high fever, become disoriented, and eventually even cut his ropes,” Odalys recalled.