Rosamond instinctively looked toward the colleague who had sent her the message, only to find the woman staring at Bryce with guilt written all over her face.
That told her everything she needed to know.
Bryce had actually gone this far for Olympia. The man who had always been too proud for deception had learned to lie.
The grief in her chest was a steel needle, piercing her heart one slow millimeter at a time.
Bryce walked up to Rosamond, his voice low and flat.
"Today is Olympia's promotion banquet. She's still young, and some people at the firm might not respect her authority. You're here to lend her credibility."
Rosamond swallowed the bitterness rising in her throat, gave him one look, and turned to leave. But Bryce seized her arm.
"Rosamond, what do you think you're doing? If you walk out now, where does that leave Olympia?"
"You're her sister-in-law, for God's sake. Would it kill you to show a little generosity?"
Sister-in-law?
That was the exact excuse Bryce had used to force her into hiring Olympia at the firm in the first place.
Whenever Rosamond clashed with Olympia, he dragged out the same line, insisting she was the elder, the one who should yield.
Even now, he still hadn't exhausted that card.
Rosamond couldn't take it anymore. She wrenched her arm free.
"I'm no sister-in-law of hers!"
"Have you forgotten? Not once, from the very beginning, has she ever called me that."
She turned to leave without waiting for his reaction, but something caught her eye: the bracelet on Olympia's wrist.
Rosamond's heart slammed against her ribs.
That bracelet was part of her dowry from her mother, the only keepsake her late grandmother had left behind.
Rosamond closed the distance to Olympia in three strides and grabbed her arm.
"Where did you get this bracelet?"
Olympia let out a shriek, struggling wildly.
"Attorney Henson, what are you doing? Let go of me!"
Rosamond's voice was ice, her entire body radiating cold fury.
"I asked you a question. Why is this bracelet on your wrist?"
Before the words had fully left her mouth, a hard shove hit her between the shoulder blades, and a sharp pain tore through her arm.
She lost her grip on Olympia and went tumbling down the steps.
Bryce had Olympia in his arms, his frigid gaze fixed on Rosamond where she lay.
"Rosa, don't push it. I gave that bracelet to Olympia."
Rosamond's leg had struck the edge of a step. The pain was blinding, as if the bone had cracked.
Hearing those words, she forced herself upright, both hands pressed hard against her chest, and every humiliation she had swallowed over the years finally erupted.
"That was my mother's dowry to me! What right do you have to give it away? Give it back!"
Irritation creased Bryce's brow.
"It's just a bracelet. Olympia liked it, so I let her have it. What's the big deal, Rosamond? You're being incredibly petty."
Olympia put on a wounded expression.
"Bryce, since Attorney Henson doesn't want me to have it, I'll just give it back. Please don't fight over me."
Bryce stroked Olympia's hair, his voice soft with affection.
"Don't worry about it. I gave it to you, so it's yours. She's always been stingy. Just ignore her."
Rosamond's eyes were bloodshot.
"Stingy? Do you honestly think I don't know how much you've given her over the years?"
"I let everything else slide, but not this bracelet. If you won't return it, I'll call the police. It's my dowry. You had no right to dispose of it."
Bryce hadn't expected a reaction this fierce. For a moment, he just stood there.
Olympia had taken a liking to Rosamond's jewelry before, and every time he had simply let her have it.
Rosamond had never once made a scene. Why was this time different?
Seeing the dark resolve on her face, he finally relented.
"Fine. Stay and see Olympia through the rest of her promotion banquet, and I'll give the bracelet back."
Rosamond looked into his unyielding eyes and accepted, because she had no other choice.
She knew Bryce. Once he set a condition, he never went back on it.
The fact that he was willing to return the bracelet at all was already a concession.
When Olympia realized Bryce truly intended to give the bracelet back, a flash of venom crossed her eyes as she looked at Rosamond.
So Bryce still had some feelings for Rosamond after all. She would have to find a way to make him despise her completely.
The party began. Rosamond sat and watched as Bryce attended to Olympia's every need at the table.
Picking out the best dishes for her. Peeling shrimp for her.
Refilling her tea. Pouring her water.
A bitter ache spread through Rosamond's chest.
He had never done any of those things for her. Not once.
She had always assumed it was simply his nature, that he was too proud to bother with small gestures like these.
Now she understood. She simply wasn't worth the effort.
It didn't matter anymore. She had made her peace with it.
All she had to do was endure until the banquet ended, take back her grandmother's bracelet, and walk away, leaving Bryce to Olympia for good.
She would never insert herself between them again.
After a few rounds of drinks, the air inside felt suffocating. Rosamond slipped out alone to clear her head.
She had barely reached the pool when a hand closed around her arm.
Olympia stood there with a half-smile that wasn't quite a smile.
"What's Attorney Henson doing out here instead of inside? Couldn't stand watching me and Bryce together? Thinking of running?"
"I suppose it makes sense. You only got him because I went abroad. Now that you see how devoted he is to me, it must be unbearable."
"You really are shameless, you know that? He obviously doesn't love you, yet you cling to him like a barnacle. If I were you, I'd have been gone a long time ago."
Rosamond glanced at her, expression blank.
"I am leaving. Just not yet."
"I'm still waiting for you to return my bracelet."
Olympia ran her fingers along the jade on her wrist, a glint of malice in her eyes.
"And what if I said I have no intention of giving it back?"
