I twisted it a few times. It wouldn't come off.
I went to the bathroom and ran cold water over my hand until the ring finally slipped free, dropping into the sink with a small, sharp clink.
I fished it out, dried it, and put it in a drawer.
No hesitation. Didn't look at it again.
My phone screen lit up.
Five words from Max: Stop working at the club.
I stared at the message for a long time.
Stop working at the club. Not because he cared about me. Because my being there embarrassed him.
I locked the screen. Didn't reply.
The next day I went to the community center as usual to teach the children piano.
A five-year-old girl hit a wrong note and looked up at me, timid, waiting for a scolding.
I leaned down and smiled. "It's okay. Take your time."
The smile held until the bell rang and the last parent collected their child.
The second I stepped out of the classroom, every trace of expression left my face.
Katherine Delgado was standing there.
She waited by the entrance of the community center, a bag of fruit in her hand.
"Hey, Gabriella. Max said you've been working so hard lately. I thought I'd come check on you."
Her gaze drifted over my coat, unhurried, and the corner of her mouth curved.
I didn't take the fruit.
Her eyes went red immediately, her voice so fragile a breeze could have scattered it.
"Please don't blame me. He was the one who pursued me. I turned him down so many times, but..."
She touched her stomach.
"A child is always innocent."
I didn't look at her belly.
My gaze landed on her right wrist.
A jade bracelet. Deep, rich green, the luster of something old and well-loved.
My grandmother's. I'd believed Max pawned it to pay for his treatment.
Now it sat perfectly at home on another woman's wrist.
Katherine followed my gaze, then turned the bracelet slowly, without a flicker of alarm.
"Oh, this? Max gave it to me. Said it was an antique, told me to be careful with it."
I stared at the bracelet for three seconds.
"He's right. It is an antique. Be careful not to chip it."
I turned and walked away.
I rented a small apartment and moved out of what used to be my home that same night.
I sat on the edge of the bed and scrolled through my phone's photo album.
There was one picture from our wedding day. Max was smiling, sliding the bracelet onto my wrist.
That bracelet.
I ran my thumb across his smiling face on the screen, then turned the phone facedown on the bed.
Something inside my chest cracked open, just a hairline fracture.
I pressed it down. Didn't let a single sound escape my throat.
On the third day, Max asked me to meet him at a café.
He pushed through the door and I was already sitting in the corner. The black coffee in front of me hadn't been touched.
He sat down and slid an agreement across the table.
"Sign it. You get half a million. That's plenty."
His tone was so flat it was infuriating, like he was settling an outstanding invoice.
I didn't touch the paper.
"I sold six hundred thousand dollars' worth of my family's heirlooms for you. And you're offering me five hundred thousand to go away."
He frowned.
"Those old things were appraised. They weren't worth that much..."
"My grandmother's jade bracelet. You put it on Katherine Delgado's wrist."
"My mother's nephrite pendant. How much did you get for that?"
"The rosewood chess set my grandfather passed down. I didn't even negotiate. I just signed it over."
His fingers tapped the table twice. For one moment his eyes slid away from mine.
He glanced out the window, then pulled his gaze back just as quickly.
"What's done is done. You can't undo it. Just sign. I'm not shortchanging you."
I didn't sign.
I stood up and left the untouched coffee behind.
"I need to think about it."
He called after me.
"Gabriella. Is it this marriage you can't let go of, or your pride? People already know you've been singing at a nightclub. Your students' parents are going to find out sooner or later, and when they do, you won't even be able to keep teaching."
