Chapter 273

Staring at Alexander Lytton across the table, Celeste Harper felt like she was reliving a nightmare, like history just kept playing out on a loop. In her mind, she cursed him ten thousand times over. Bad luck incarnate. Why, of all days, did she have to bump into Alexander Lytton—the human jinx? Back when she was still Isabella Goodwin, she met him for the first time at his little brother Caleb Summers’ third birthday party. Isabella and Caleb were kindergarten classmates, and she’d helped her mom make a Totoro-themed fondant cake for the occasion. Toward the end of the party, she was excited to show it to Caleb, but grade schooler Alexander stood on the side, totally deadpan, and said, "In movies, something like this usually turns out to be a bomb." Who would even take a first grader seriously? But the moment the box was opened, Caleb stared in shock for a second, then immediately burst into tears. Isabella froze on the spot, and within seconds, every kid at the party joined in, bawli