The real estate agent quickly agreed to the sale.
As I ended the call, I stood in the kitchen, staring at everything around me.
I remembered when we first bought this house—how I had poured my heart into designing this very kitchen because I wanted to cook for Jameson for the rest of my life.
But all the effort I’d devoted over the past fifty years had been taken for granted.
This house had been bought with my entire life savings when we got married, and the property was under my name.
Letting go wasn’t easy, but now that I’ve decided to sell it, I feel a sense of relief.
Just then, Jameson walked into the kitchen and ordered, "Give me the jade pendant I gave you when we got married."
“It’ll look perfect on Sabrina at the wedding.”
I stared at him in disbelief, wondering if I had misheard.
“That pendant was your token of love,” I said, eyes fixed on him. “You told me it would be mine for life, that it symbolized our bond. You promised you’d never take it back.”
Jameson frowned and replied with feigned patience, “Julienne, when did you become so petty? I’m not giving it to Sabrina. I just want her to wear it for the ceremony. She’ll return it afterward.”
I let out a bitter laugh and clapped back, “And what if I say no? That pendant is mine. I won’t let her wear it.”
His face instantly turned cold at my refusal. Scoffing, he spat, “Then I’ll just take it myself.”
Before I could stop him, he reached out and yanked the pendant from my neck.
I tried to resist, but he snatched it away anyway.
I followed him into the living room, only to watch as he handed the pendant over to Sabrina.
But as she took it, she fumbled, and the pendant slipped from her hand.
Clang!
It hit the floor with a crisp, sharp sound.
I stared in disbelief as the jade pendant I had worn for fifty years broke into pieces before my eyes.
A wry smile tugged at the corner of my lips.
With that broken pendant, the fifty years of love and devotion I had given Jameson were shattered too.
For a moment, panic flashed across Jameson’s face. He glanced at me instinctively.
Staring at the shattered jade, Sabrina’s eyes turned red. She looked toward me with faux remorse and said softly, “Julienne, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to drop it.”
“Why don’t you tell me how much it cost? I’ll pay you back.”
Seeing the always-elegant, poised Sabrina now looking so fragile and apologetic, Jameson immediately forgot any guilt he had toward me and rushed to comfort her.
“It’s fine. Just a jade pendant—it’s not a big deal.”
“It wasn’t even worth that much anyway. Don’t feel bad, and you don’t need to pay her back.”
My son and daughter-in-law also gathered around her, trying to make her feel better.
To ease Sabrina’s guilt, my son pulled me aside and whispered urgently, “Mom, hurry and tell Mom Sabby it’s okay. Say you don’t mind. After all, it’s just a pendant.”
“Keeping the peace in the family is more important than anything. The pendant doesn’t matter.”
I stared at the son I raised for over thirty years, and suddenly realized—his heart had never truly been with me.
Not once.
Even when he was younger, it was the same. I used to scold him for playing on his phone too much, urging him to focus on his studies. But he always look at me with resentment.
On the other hand, Sabrina—she would sneak him phones behind my back. She played the “fun aunt,” and he adored her for it.
My silence was taken as agreement.
He pulled me in front of Sabrina and urged me again, “Come on, Mom. Just say it—you’re not mad.”
My heart felt like it was bleeding. I looked at Sabrina.
She looked right back at me.
And in her eyes—I saw a glint of triumph, a flash of malice behind her innocent facade.
At that moment, I knew.
She had dropped the pendant on purpose.
And now, my husband, my son, and my daughter-in-law were all pressuring me, cornering me...
For her.
