"It''s all because of that Calliope! I told you, she''s a jinx, bringing nothing but trouble for us!"


    Zelda was convinced, almost obsessively so, that Calliope was a harbinger of bad


    luck.


    "If it weren''t for her, we wouldn''t be in this mess. If we hadn''t taken her in, none of these damn things would have happened!"


    Her resentment towards Calliope was palpable.


    Monty frowned at Zelda, "Could it really be because of her?"


    Zelda''s words had nted a seed of doubt in Monty''s mind. Everything did seem to connect back to Calliope. Without her, maybe thepany wouldn''t be facing such issues.


    Could Calliope really be a jinx?


    "I think so too," Valerian chimed in. "She ims we treat her badly, but she never actually says anything. Who knows if she''s been holding a grudge against us all along?"


    "Honestly, is it so strange for Lisette to be jealous of her? Lisette''s adopted, of course, she''d feel insecure. And besides, Lisette hasn''t done anything to harm us. She''s just got a bit of an attitude towards her, that''s all!"


    Horatio sat in his wheelchair, fists clenched, deep in thought.


    Zelda let out a bitterugh, "If Calliope is such a miracle worker, why hasn''t she helped Horatio? She''s hiding her talents because she doesn''t want to help him, doesn''t she? She wants Horatio to be stuck in that wheelchair forever! Everything that''s gone wrong for us is her fault."


    Zelda felt no remorse. The more she thought about it, the stronger her hostility towards Calliope grew. In her mind, Calliope was to me for everything.


    "But still, we need her to fix this, especially with thepany situation," Monty said, ncing at Horatio''s legs. "She should fix Horatio''s legs too. We can''t have him in a wheelchair for life, can we?"


    He looked at the others, "Let''s start by inviting her over for dinner."


    "What about Lisette?" Zelda asked, "Isn''t she well-connected?


    If


    sks around, Lisette should be


    able toe back, right?"


    Monty replied, "Let''s just get her here first. Be nice to her. Everything depends on her now."


    "I can''t," Zelda said coldly. "I just can''t stand her!"


    "Do you want thepany to


    recover? Do you want Lisette back?"


    Monty snapped at her. "Without her


    help, thepany will go under. Do you think life will be any better if that happens?"  en


    "Lisette will make things better for us," Zelda insisted stubbornly.


    Monty sighed.


    "Let''s invite her," Valerian suggested. "We weren''t entirely in the right back then either. Let''s apologize."


    Horatio nodded, "She can''t hold a grudge over something that happened when she was a kid."


    So, not long after Calliope returned home, she got a call from the Jewell family. Since she had blocked everyone''s number, Monty used the housekeeper''s phone.


    Calliope answered calmly, listening to Monty''s plea before agreeing to join them for dinner.


    As she hung up, she could hear


    Monty''s audible sigh of relief. Het


    quickly informed the others that she


    dinner.


    would being over for


    "Are you really going?" Ss asked softly, "You know, you don''t have to if you


    don''t want to."