Cursed?

'Curse... curse... curse... god damn that old hag,' he thought. It had been lifetimes ago when that old hag had said he would be cursed, doomed to repeat his life endlessly until he found what he was missing. 'How many times have I repeated this life? No matter what I change, I just can't seem to escape this cycle.' His shoulders fell as he glanced at the callendar on his phone. The only date marked was a date precisely a week later, the tag said only one word: DOOMSDAY. The day of his death was creeping up on him again, he'd already given up on trying at this point. No matter how he tried to avoid the events of that day in the past, he'd still end up dead at precisely 5 in the evening. The past few times he had decided to just sleep through it by taking a strong sedative in the morning.

He picked up his phone and made a call. As soon as it connected he spoke, "any word?"

"There are still no leads on the old woman you're looking for boss."

He ended the call immediately after the answer. He didn't get angry because he expected the answer. Ever since their encounter at the very start of all this, he had never once been able to track down that old woman, she only appeared that one time and never showed up in any of the lives since.

***

Outside the man's office, the room was abuz with activity. The sounds of slot machines and dice rolling with people calling out bets could be heard. The man had set up his office in one of his gang's casinos. Although he was the leader of a gang, this casino was completely legal and high class. In one corner of the large game hall, a young woman put a coin in and walked away. The person sitting next to her noticed and called out. "Miss, you're not gonna even pull the handle?"

The woman turned around and smiled. "You pull it, if it wins the earnings are yours."

"Are you sure?" the man asked frowning.

"Positive, I've already lost interest in this kind of thing," she replied and walked away.

As she left the man pulled the handle without realizing she was gone. A few seconds later the jackpotsirens sounded and the machine started spitting out coins. The man looked up to offer to split the money with the woman since it was her coin but realized she was no longer there. Tears streamed down the man's face. In truth, the man was in dire straights, he only had a couple of dollars left of his savings after some unfortunate events in the past few years. He wanted to try his luck to see if he could change his situation in life. Never did he expect to actually win anything. He had sat down as that woman had put the coin in the machine and never even had the time to bet on his own machine. Now he wouldn't have to worry about how to take care of his family anymore. "Dear god," he mumbled, "please bless that woman."

Outside, the woman had just exited the casino and smiled. 'Why should I bless myself?' she thought. 'If only a certain someone weren't such a blind fool,' she sighed while pondering. 'Looks like I'll just have to be more direct with my hint.'

***

On the other side of town outside of the massive main building of the Li Corporation. An old woman was propped up against the side of the building just near the entrance. At that moment, a woman in her late 20s stepped out of the building followed by her entourage. The woman was an umatchable beauty, but her face was stern and cold. This woman was the CEO of Li Corp, Li Na. She was a shrewd and rutheless business woman who got what she wanted and destroyed her enemies. Her cold gaze landed on the old woman amd she frowned but there was an imperceptible softness in her eyes. One of her bodyguards noticed her frown and was about to approach the old woman, however Li Na stopped him and strode over to the woman herself.

"Madam, it's not safe for you to be hanging around outside of my company like this. Do you have somewhere you can go? Do you need some money?" While Li Na was shrewd and rutheless, what most people didn't know was she had an extreme soft spot for the poor. The truth was she started out poor and couldn't stand to see the suffering of poor and homeless people as it reminded her of her past. She would secretly donate millions each year to help the poor, but nobody knew that.

"Oh child, you're such a dear, but no. I would just like a moment of your time," the old woman responded. "If I might be so bold, why do you push yourself so hard? What's the point of all your power and money if you have no one to share it with?"

Li Na's forehead creased as listened to the old woman. "There's no point, I'm just doing what I know, I've already created this empire, I might as well make it the best."

The old woman sighed. "What if you had the chance to start again? Would you change nothing? Would you still choose to isolate yourself and avoid those that want to be your friend?"

"Unfortunately, friends are a luxury I could never afford, I just never had the time. If you'll excuse me I must go, I'm running late. Make sure you find a safer place than here."

"Don't worry about me child, just think about what I've said. Give it some serious thought."

Li Na didn't respond, she just entered the car that had been waiting for her at the side of the road. "Drive," she ordered as she sat in the back seat. As the car pulled away, she glanced back to check on the old woman, but her eyes widened when she noticed the woman was nowhere in sight. The only people around were a young couple conversing where she had just been standing.

The car drove off as the young woman asked, "did you get the photo?"

"Yes, take a look." The young man handed his phone to her. On the screen was a picture of Li Na talking to the old woman.

"Good, send it anonymously." The young woman then walked away. 'This should atleast point that stubborn fool in the right direction.'