"Elena, I heard about the whole thing with Mom asking to borrow your jewelry today. Don't take it to heart. That's just how she is."
He pulled me against his chest, his voice soft.
"I know you feel hurt by it, but she's my mother. For my sake, can't you just put up with it?"
I leaned into his chest, tears swimming in my eyes.
"Vincent, that's my father's keepsake. With Mom gone, it's all I have left of them."
"I know." He stroked my hair. "I already told Mom she's never to bring it up again. She promised me. Don't worry."
He looked down at me, his eyes full of guilt and tenderness.
Warmth spread through me. I'd married the right man after all.
His mother was hard to live with, but Vincent was on my side.
I thought that was the end of it.
I was wrong.
The day of Steve's engagement, they'd booked the finest hotel in the city, and the bride's family certainly knew how to put on a show.
My future sister-in-law was named Geraldine Delgado. Her father was a city official, and she swept in like she owned the room.
I stood off in a corner, trying not to draw attention.
But Geraldine came straight toward me.
"Your belly's so big. How far along are you?"
"Five months."
"That's lovely." She smiled, then suddenly lifted her wrist and waved it in front of me.
A gold bracelet, at least fifty or sixty grams, carved with a delicate dragon-and-phoenix pattern.
"Look, this is the engagement gift my mother-in-law gave me."
Geraldine pressed her lips into a little smile and leaned in close, lowering her voice.
"I'll tell you a secret. Don't tell anyone. Auntie said this bracelet was made from a very special piece of gold. Some kind of medal, I think. I don't really know, but it's incredibly pure. She took me to the jeweler herself to have it made."
A ringing went off in my head.
"What did you say?"
"It was a gold medal. The jeweler said the gold was such fine quality, you almost never see it."
Geraldine was still talking. "Auntie said it was just sitting there doing nothing, so she might as well have it made into jewelry for me. Did Auntie have anything made for you when you got married?"
I felt like I'd been struck by lightning, rooted to the spot, shaking all over.
Could it be my father's medal?
No. Impossible. His mother had promised Vincent she wouldn't touch my things again.
"Are you all right?" Geraldine gave me a little nudge.
I came back to myself, my voice trembling.
"That gold medal. You saw it with your own eyes?"
"Yes. Auntie brought it from home, wrapped in red cloth. It had words on it, too. Something like Swan-something?"
That medal had my father's name engraved on it. It had to be his.
I grabbed Geraldine's wrist. "Where is that medal now?"
"It was made into the bracelet. This one." She was frightened of me now, yanking her hand back hard. "What are you doing? That hurts."
I stared at the bracelet on her wrist, tears dropping one after another.
That was something my father had traded his life for.
I was barely a teenager when he died.
At the memorial, I'd clutched that medal and cried until I couldn't breathe.
Now it was an ornament on someone else's wrist.
"Elena, what's wrong?"
Vincent had come over at some point, and his face changed the moment he saw me crying.
Geraldine took the chance to slip away, muttering something about a crazy woman as she went.
"Vincent, your mother stole my father's medal, melted it down, and made it into a bracelet for your sister-in-law."
I clung to his sleeve, my voice ragged.
His face shifted, caught between guilt and excuses.
"Elena, don't get worked up. There might be some kind of misunderstanding—"
"Misunderstanding what? Geraldine said it herself. Your mother carried the medal wrapped in red cloth and took her to the jeweler! It had words on it! And you're telling me it's a misunderstanding?"
