But now, that ring sat on the finger of a complete stranger.
My expression went cold. I forced down the shock roiling through me and kept my voice steady.
"That's a beautiful ring. Where did you get it?"
Alberta let out a scoff, her face dripping with contempt.
"My husband's idiot ex-wife gave it to him. Too bad she didn't last long. Died five years ago."
"Though I suppose she died for a good cause."
"Right before she croaked, she left my husband a house, a car, and this pair of diamond rings."
"Now every neighbor on the block tells me I hit the jackpot."
My fists clenched at my sides. My eyes burned as I looked up at her.
"Your address. Is it 502, Unit 2, Building 6, Crestview Residences?"
Alberta blinked. Suspicion flooded her face instantly.
"How would you know that?"
"Who the hell are you?"
A bitter smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.
So it was true.
502, Unit 2, Building 6, Crestview Residences.
That was my house. The home I'd bought five years ago for my wedding to Stewart.
I'm the idiot ex-wife you keep talking about.
But that thought never left my lips.
Five years ago, Stewart had gotten into trouble with a group of drunks who'd been harassing him. He'd fought back too hard. Excessive self-defense. Involuntary manslaughter.
The moment I found out, I told him we needed to call the police.
He grabbed me and wouldn't let go.
He dropped to his knees right in front of me, eyes red and brimming with tears, begging.
"Baby, please, you have to save me..."
"I didn't mean to do it. If they lock me up, my career, my future... my whole life is over!"
He begged me to take the fall for him.
He cried so hard he could barely breathe.
I hesitated. This was prison. This was gambling away my entire life.
No matter how blinded by love I was, I couldn't just agree to something like that.
But then he said something that made my decision instant.
Something that made me willing to sacrifice everything, even my own life.
He said,
"I promise, I'll take care of our baby..."
His hand rested on my stomach, tears streaming down his face.
I stared up at him in shock. "What did you say? I'm pregnant?"
No wonder my belly had gotten bigger lately. I'd thought I was just overeating.
I'd gone in for a checkup, and the results had come back. He'd known and hadn't told me.
Stewart nodded.
"I was going to tell you the good news tonight. I never expected something like this to happen."
"If I go to prison, you'll be all alone with a baby. How would you raise a child by yourself? You'd suffer more than you can imagine."
"But if you confess, the baby can be delivered and I can raise it on the outside. You might even get a reduced sentence..."
"This is the child we've been praying for ever since we got married. Three years of trying, all those remedies, all that hoping. And it's finally happening."
My throat closed. I couldn't speak.
He was right. This baby was nothing short of a miracle.
We'd even gone to fortune tellers, and more than one had told us we were destined to be childless, that conceiving would be nearly impossible.
For the sake of this precious, hard-won baby.
I gritted my teeth and agreed.
"Stewart, promise me. When I give birth, you'll take good care of our child."
"The manslaughter charge. I'll confess."
And just like that, I was gone for five years.
In the beginning, Stewart still sent things through people now and then. Letters, too.
Then gradually, the messages stopped coming.
He said it was because the baby was so young, and taking care of a child alone wasn't easy. He was just too overwhelmed.
I understood. I never pushed him about it.
In prison, I poured everything I had into being a model inmate, day after day.
