At the engagement banquet, during the exchange of tokens, Yolanda Morton did it right in front of everyone.
She took the ancestral jade pendant — the heirloom meant for the groom — and hung it around her assistant Nathan Harding's neck.
The guests exchanged uneasy glances, casting pitying looks in my direction.
Yolanda pinched Nathan's cheek with a doting smile, her tone utterly casual.
"It's not like you could've brought anything of value to the table anyway, so let's just skip this part."
"Nathan's been having nightmares lately. The jade pendant will keep him safe and sound."
"And wipe that look off your face. I already agreed to marry you. What more could you possibly want? Don't be greedy."
Nathan had his arm around her waist, grinning like a lovesick fool.
The Morton family's jade pendants were traditionally crafted as a matching pair — one for husband, one for wife.
The spotlight fell on my bare neck like a slap across the face.
I smiled and burned the share-transfer documents I'd prepared for her, right there on the spot.
"You're right. I shouldn't be greedy."
"So your fiancée? She's all his now."
——
The entire room went silent. The only sound was paper curling in the flames.
Yolanda's brow furrowed, displeasure flashing across her face.
"Clement Delgado, it's just a jade pendant. Do you really have to be this petty?"
"Stop making a scene. Finish the ceremony like a good boy, and I'll pretend that little outburst never happened. Consider yourself forgiven."
Looking at her up there on her high horse, that magnanimous, charitable expression on her face — revulsion churned through me. I shook off her hand.
"Does Ms. Morton not understand plain English?"
"Then let me spell it out. The engagement is off. We're done."
The air pulled taut.
Nathan strolled over with a smile, playing peacemaker.
"Come on, Clement. She's just worried about my health. Don't hold it against her."
He shoved something into my hand.
"Here — to make up for it. I had someone make a matching one just for you."
"Of course, I'm not like you. All I know how to do is mooch off a woman, so I couldn't exactly afford top-grade jade. Had to use a beer bottle instead. Hope you won't mind."
Because today was the engagement, I'd coordinated with Yolanda to wear matching outfits.
The funny part? Nathan's suit was identical to mine.
The day we'd picked out the suits, it had been just Yolanda and me.
Which meant she hadn't just told Nathan about it — she'd gone out of her way to buy him the same one.
Now here they stood, in their matching outfits, wearing the ancestral jade pendants that symbolized husband and wife, looking for all the world like the real couple of honor at this banquet.
And I was the clown.
I grabbed the red cord around Nathan's neck and yanked him toward me, a cold smile cutting across my face.
"A woman who's gone rotten? I've never wanted her. You like picking through trash, she's yours."
"But you had the nerve to pull this stunt to my face. I need to settle that score. How about I use this little 'gift' of yours to carve up that pretty face?"
The edges of the beer-bottle fake were razor-sharp. One wrong move and it would slice skin open.
Every detail, calculated.
Nathan's face went white. His eyes welled up as he turned to Yolanda for rescue.
"Ms. Morton, look at him... I'm so scared..."
Pain shot through my wrist, forcing me to let go.
Yolanda pulled Nathan behind her and shoved me back.
"Nathan didn't say anything wrong. What gives you the right to touch him? I skipped the token exchange to save your dignity!"
"The Morton family's ancestral jade pendant is worth a fortune. And you — a deadbeat, a parasite who can't survive without clinging to me — what could you possibly offer in return? Learn to be grateful!"
"And don't think I don't know what those papers you burned really were. That was a list of things you wanted as a dowry, wasn't it? What's the matter — even you thought it was too shameless to let anyone see?"
