On the day of my birthday, my best friend, Bella Johnson, gifted me a polaroid camera. I took that to the zoo.

I took some photos of the animals in the zoo.

In my past life, I took the polaroid camera she had gifted me and happily took photos for my whole family.

Unexpectedly, after a week, my mother got into a car accident and passed away.

My father suffered from a stroke, which left half his body paralyzed even after treatment at the hospital.

The company that I was managing ran into problems and almost went bankrupt.

In merely a month, my hair had gone gray. There were wrinkles and red marks on my face. I gained a lot of weight due to the stress.

My boyfriend felt that I was jinxed. He claimed that it was my bad luck that had caused my family to fall apart. He broke up with me.

I was ranting to Bella when I accidentally discovered that she had suddenly become a millionaire. Her parents, who were hospitalized, suddenly became healthy again. It was as if they had not been sick to begin with.

I almost lost my mind when I found out about that. On my way to the hospital, I was run over by a car and died.

After I died, I found out that everything had happened because of the polaroid camera that Bella had gifted me. She had already been having an affair with my boyfriend for a long time.

When I opened my eyes again, I was transported back to the day Bella gifted me the polaroid camera.

“Happy birthday, Eleanor! Look at what I bought for you!”

Before I finished making my wish, I saw Bella Johnson take out a pink polaroid camera.

When the familiar camera appeared before me, I was certain that I had returned to the past!

In the previous timeline, I accepted the camera happily. I did not expect to hit rock bottom because of it.

Bella looked a little awkward when I did not react.

She sounded as if she was walking on eggshells when she said, “Eleanor, don’t you like it?”

Oliver Taylor quickly took the camera from Bella’s hands.

“You’re Eleanor’s best friend! How’s it possible for her not to like a gift from you?”

After that, he nudged my arm with his shoulder. “Right?”

I looked at the cheating couple before me and sneered. I picked up the camera.

“Bella, of course, I like it. I love whatever you buy for me! It’s just that…”

I paused on purpose. Both of them looked nervous. They were afraid that I would reject the gift.

“Your parents are hospitalized. I know that you’re short on money right now.

“You should return this.”

I pushed the camera in Bella’s direction. She stepped away from it like it was the plague.

“Eleanor, you’ve helped me so much! The least I can do is give you a nice gift. You should take it!”

She then immediately took out a stack of polaroid films and looked at me sheepishly.

“Look, I bought these for you too! You can use it.”

Oliver said in agreement, “Bella chose this for you. It’s even your favorite color, pink!

“Come on, just take it.”

I nodded and picked up the camera. I aimed it at Oliver.

“Alright! Let me take a photo of you to see how it is.”

Oliver was terrified. He immediately covered his face and yelled at me, “Don’t! Eleanor, Bella bought that for you. The first photo you take should be of yourself.”

Bella tugged on my sleeve. She pretended to be offended as she stared at me.

“This is my gift for you. Why are you taking a photo of him?

“The first photo must be a family photo with you and your parents in it. Otherwise, I’ll be offended!”

I snorted and put the camera away after seeing their innocent act.

“Alright, I’ll take a photo and send it to you.”

It had happened exactly that way in my past life. I listened to them and took a photo of my parents after I reached home.

I took many selfies excitedly and sent them to Bella.

A week later, my mother had gotten into a car accident on her way to grocery shopping.

The driver looked exhausted. He was detained by the police.

But my mother had suffered multiple injuries and lost too much blood as she lay on the ground. Before the ambulance could arrive, she had died.

I was still in pain from losing my mother when something happened to my father, too.

Out of nowhere, he suffered a stroke. Fortunately, I discovered it in time and managed to take him to the hospital.

Even though he survived, he had to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Half of his body was paralyzed.

Just when life was throwing me curveballs, I received a phone call from my company on the same night.

I was told that a project agreement had some issues. Not only were we going to face a huge loss, but we also had to bear tens of millions of dollars in compensation.

The news was devastating. My head was spinning. I immediately announced that the company had filed for bankruptcy.

I did not manage to sleep that night.

In just a night, my hair had turned gray.

A lot of wrinkles appeared on my face. It was as if I had aged ten years overnight.

The next few days, my body swelled up like a balloon. Not only that, but a lot of scars appeared on my face and my body.

At the same time, Oliver called me.

I immediately burst into tears when I heard his familiar voice.

I cried and told him about what had happened to me recently. However, he interrupted me impatiently.

“Eleanor, why are you telling me all this?”

He sneered and said, “Your mother died. Your father is as good as dead. Your company has filed for bankruptcy!

“Have you ever considered that maybe this is your own fault?

“Maybe you’re a jinx! You’ve cursed them!”

I could not speak at all through my sobs.

However, Oliver continued, “Look at you now!

“I can’t even stand your disgusting face. Let’s break up.

“You bring bad luck to your own family! I’m afraid that I might end up dead if I continue to date you.”

After that, he hung up and blocked my number and accounts.

I felt a little helpless. I intuitively felt that something was wrong, however, I did not know what it actually was.

It was not until I video-called Bella that something dawned on me.

Her face, usually covered in pimple scars, appeared smooth.

She covered her mouth shyly. “Eleanor, what did you do to yourself?

“Look at me! A woman has to know how to take care of herself.”

As she spoke, I noticed someone walking behind her.

It was her parents who were supposed to be bedridden at the hospital. I stared at them as I asked anxiously, “Have your parents been discharged from the hospital?”

Bella looked furious. She said indignantly, “Eleanor, what’s that supposed to mean?

“Are you hoping for them to die in the hospital instead?

“Why are you so cruel? It’s no wonder your mother’s dead and your father’s paralyzed! Serves you right!”

Her harsh words stung me. Before I could react, she hung up.

I felt frozen. I felt stiff and awkward as I put my phone away.

I crossed the road in a daze and got hit by a car.

The two of them quickly announced their engagement after my death. Bella even flaunted her wealth on social media.

“Eleanor? Let’s pay and go!

“Aren’t you done yet?”

I heard Oliver’s voice. It was only then that I realized I was still stuffing food into my mouth.

Both of them stared at me in confusion. “If you’re still hungry, maybe we can order more for you.”

I smiled awkwardly and wiped my mouth. “That’s alright. I’m full.”

After we paid for the meal, Bella wanted to go home. Oliver looked at me hesitantly.

“How about I drop you off at your company first before dropping your best friend home?”

He deliberately emphasized that Bella was my best friend. He knew that I would definitely let him drop Bella home first.

I nodded. “You should head home after you drop Bella home.

“I’m going to the office to handle a few things. I already called the driver while we were eating.”

When he heard that, Oliver grabbed my hand reluctantly. He leaned in to give me a peck. “Alright. I was hoping we could have dinner together tonight.”

He looked reluctant to leave me, but the flicker of triumph in his eyes did not escape me.

“Let’s go on a date in a few days when I’m finally free.”

Just then, my ride arrived, and I got into the car.

“Bella, I’m heading out.

“Oliver’ll drop you home. Don’t worry.”

The moment the car window rolled shut, Bella grabbed Oliver’s hand intimately.

The driver passed me an unopened box of a polaroid camera. “Ms. Smith, I got the thing you wanted.”

I looked at the two identical polaroid cameras and smiled.

“Let’s go to the zoo.”

I wanted to walk around and use the camera Bella had given me.

After I reached the zoo, I headed straight to the monkey enclosure.

I excitedly took a few photos.

Then, I saw a bear and some boars.

I took some photos of them too.

Just when I was about to leave, Bella sent me a text.

[Eleanor, did you use the camera yet? Did you take any photos?]

[I did. The camera is quite good!]

She immediately sent me a voice recording.

“It’s great that you like it! You can take your parents’ photos with it too!”

At the end of the voice recording, I could hear a man’s heavy breathing.

It seemed like the two of them were getting impatient. I held the three polaroid photos in my hand.

The animals in them looked so lively, it was as if they might leap out at any second.

“Time to head back to the office.”

Even though I had returned to the past, I was traumatized by what had happened to me in my previous life.

First, I arranged a full-body check-up for my parents and hired a maid.

My mother was a little unhappy. “Why are you spending all this money?

“You don’t think I can handle it?”

“No, I just want you to be healthy, Mom.”

After I took care of my parents, I immediately checked through the project agreements to look for any potential issues.

I did not sleep for a whole night.

I made sure that none of the agreements had any issues.

The hospital also updated me on my parents’ health. They were very healthy for their age.

I felt relieved when I saw the two health reports.

Finally, I could get a good night’s sleep.

However, when I woke up, I saw a few dozen missed calls.

Some were from Bella, and others were from Oliver.

They had also sent me a lot of text messages.

Bella said that her father’s condition had worsened, and he was in the operating room. She needed money urgently.

Oliver texted to tell me that Bella was looking for me, and he hoped that I could return her calls quickly.

I took my time to return Bella’s calls. When the call connected, I heard Bella’s voice on the other end.

She sounded like she had been crying. “Eleanor, where are you?

“I haven’t been able to reach you! I’m so scared!”

I said, “I just woke up. What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

She took a deep breath. “Can you come to the hospital?

“I really need you!”

In the past, I would have dropped everything and gone to her.

However, things were no longer the same. I smiled. “Alright, I’ll come right away after I finish my work.”

I only finished working late at night.

When I rushed to the hospital, her father’s surgery was already over.

She saw me and said mockingly, “What a hardworking CEO!”

I rushed over and hugged her as I said apologetically, “There was an agreement that has an issue at the office.

“That’s why I couldn’t get away. I’m so sorry.”

Her eyes lit up for a moment, and her voice sounded hopeful. “Really?”

She must have realized that she sounded weird because she composed herself and rephrased her words.

“How’s it now?

“Did you manage to solve it?”

I shook my head helplessly. “Not yet.

“Anyway, how’s your father?”

Bella frowned. “The doctor said it’s nothing too serious. But he needs to be hospitalized to be observed.

“I think my parents will be discharged very soon.”

Her gaze flitted at me, with a hint of something like contempt.

I sighed and said, “That’s good.”

But deep down, I knew things were not going the way she wanted.