4: 4
Nat called.
"My sister giving you a hard time again?"
"She came by earlier. Wanted me to just hand it over. I said no."
He was quiet for a moment.
"Okay. Don't listen to them. I'll deal with it when I'm back from my trip."
I thought that was the end of it. I'd made my position clear — I wasn't giving it and I wasn't lending it. They couldn't exactly rob me in broad daylight.
But the next evening, Annette posted a photo in the group chat.
I opened it and froze.
That was my bracelet. The 88-gram one.
Right after the photo, she added a message.
"Finally got it back. Cleaned it up and it looks brand new. Made it in time so nothing gets in the way of tomorrow's big day."
Then she tagged me.
"Gladys, whatever the case, I really have to thank you for understanding your sister-in-law. You and Nate both come early tomorrow. You two are the ones who've done the best in this family — everyone's counting on you to hold up the family's face."
Her son, Hudson Chavez, tagged me too.
"Auntie, I'll let bygones be bygones. You and Uncle get me a nice big gift tomorrow."
The relatives in the chat came out to pile on.
Uncle said: "Now that's more like it. We're all family. Can't let outsiders laugh at us."
Auntie chimed in: "Gladys is a sensible girl after all. Sharp tongue, soft heart. How could she stand by and watch her own nephew's engagement fall apart?"
Aunt Three said: "It was Annette's to begin with. She held onto it all these years, so returning it is only right. And you two, as his aunt and uncle, need to make a proper showing tomorrow on top of that."
My oldest cousin sensed something was off and messaged me privately.
"Gladys, is that bracelet really hers?"
I didn't reply. I opened the safe instead. The gold bracelet was gone.
My fingers trembled as I pulled up the security footage.
There it was — my mother-in-law and Annette punching in the code, coming through my front door, crouching at the safe and fiddling with it for a long while, then walking off with the bracelet.
I couldn't stop shaking. I thought about the way Annette had stared at my wrist the day before.
If I'd been wearing the 88-gram bracelet, they'd have just snatched it off me.
I called Nat.
"Did you give the code to your mom?"
He blanked. "What?"
"Your mom came to our place this afternoon with your sister."
Something seemed to click for him.
"Mom said she'd made the shrimp dumplings you like and wanted to drop them off, so I gave her the code. Why? Were the dumplings bad?"
"The dumplings never showed up. What they took was the gold bracelet out of the safe."
His breath caught.
"They took it? Have they lost their minds?"
I laughed coldly. "They haven't lost their minds. They're just certain I won't dare do anything."
I sent him the footage.
He was so angry his breathing came fast and uneven.
"Wait there. I'm calling my sister right now."
"Don't." I said. "I'll handle it myself."
He hesitated. "Babe, what are you thinking of doing?"
I answered his question with one of my own. "Whatever I do, will you back me?"
He went silent.
After a moment he said: "What you do is your right. I won't guilt-trip you into anything."
"Good. Just show up tomorrow like nothing's wrong."
The next day, we arrived at the hotel right on time.
Annette stood at the door in a bright red qipao, all smiles, greeting the guests.
"Gladys, Nate, you made it. Go on in, the in-laws are all here. My daughter-in-law absolutely loves that gold bracelet."
Inside the private room, two full tables were packed with relatives from both families.
The betrothal-gift ceremony began. Beaming, Annette lifted my gold bracelet and held it out to her son's bride-to-be, Josie Bishop.
Josie was about to take it when the door swung open and two police officers walked in.
"We've received a report. Someone stole an 88-gram gold bracelet in a home break-in."
