The Spirits Knew Who Was Lying Chapter 01

The Spirits Knew Who Was Lying Chapter 01 The Price of Fame
I hear the dead. Their whispers, their pleas, their unfinished business clawing at the edge of the living world. Every day, I set up at the spirit market. I burn what they left behind. I give them peace. Then Lily Shaw came along. A social media darling with a pretty face and a deadly smile. She claimed she could speak to the dead with nothing but a touch. And she did it for free. My reputation crumbled overnight. Families who once trusted me now called me a fraud. A thief. A monster who burned their loved ones’ belongings for money. They hunted me to a rooftop. I fell. I died. Now I’m back. This time? Let her have the spotlight. I’m not competing. I’m just here to watch. But she doesn’t understand. When you open the door to the other side, you don’t just invite the living to watch. You invite the dead. — “Master Lore, my wife—she left without a word. Please. Tell me what she wanted. What she needed.” The man’s grip was desperate. His knuckles white. His eyes red. His fingers dug into my skin. Pain shot up my arm. And I knew. I was back. The last thing I remembered was the wind screaming past my ears, the concrete rushing up, the shatter of bone. I wrenched my hand free. “I—” I never got to finish. Lily Shaw slid in like she owned the space. “Master Lore burns their belongings, you know. And she charges three hundred for the privilege.” The man flinched. “We don’t have that kind of money. Please—” “No.” My voice was stone. Lily tilted her head, her lips curling. “Master Lore, isn’t spirit work supposed to be about compassion? Charging the grieving poor and burning their last memories—it’s almost cruel. Why not do it for free? Just this once. Let’s see if we hear the same voice.” My chest tightened. I’d heard those exact words before. In another life. And after she said them, the families turned on me. They called me a parasite. They chased me. They watched me fall. And Lily? She stood over my grave and told the world my dying wish was to give everything away. She took my home. My savings. My life’s work. Millions of followers overnight. She never worked another day in her life. I used to think she was just better than me. She’d show up after I took a case and recite the dead’s last words like she’d known them her whole life. But she never took a case on her own. Never. Only mine. Always mine. Something was wrong. I knew it now. I smiled. Spread my hands. “You’re right. I need to eat. But you’re so generous, so noble—the job is yours.” I started packing. Quick. Clean. No hesitation. Lily’s smile cracked. The last two times, she’d goaded me into competing. But today? Today I wasn’t playing. Let her handle it herself. “Lore. Stop.” She grabbed my arm. “Your methods are old, but for the dead, we should work together. Make sure nothing is missed.” I yawned. Wide. Loud. “Sorry. Not taking clients today. You’re so talented—you’ve got this.” Her face darkened. I turned to the man. “Better go quick. She might change her mind and start charging.” He latched onto Lily before she could react. I packed my stall, smiled, and walked away. Let her have it. — Later that night, I opened my livestream. Lily was already on. A bracelet in her hands. Eyes closed. A long, theatrical pause. Then—a whisper. “She says her only regret is leaving you and the child behind. She wants you to move on. Don’t grieve too long.” The man broke. Sobs tore through the feed. The chat exploded. “Lily is INSANE!” “Unlike that cold-hearted fraud Lore—three hundred dollars for a few sentences. Disgusting.” “Lily, you’re a queen!” A donation scrolled across the screen. A massive one. The kind that makes the whole screen explode. I laughed. So that was her game. Free consultations, funded by rich strangers throwing money at a pretty face. But something nagged at me. I studied the man’s face. The lines around his eyes. The structure of his jaw. The markers a face reader learns to read like a map. His children’s palace was empty. Weak. Barren. He had no child. I frowned. Did I misread him? Lily’s voice rang out from the stream, bright and confident. “Everyone, if you need answers, come to me. Free readings. No cost. No tricks.” Her viewer count passed sixty thousand. Her rankings were climbing toward number one. Fame cuts both ways, Lily. When you reach for the dead, you don’t just pull in the living. You pull in things that should stay buried. That’s why I only ever took two clients a day. Because when something from the other side answers your call, it doesn’t leave just because you want it to.