Chapter 3

When I got home, a dull pain throbbed in my lower abdomen.

But then I thought of how my mother urgently needed the money for her surgery.

I gritted my teeth through the pain and pulled every piece of jewelry and luxury item from my closet.

I took them to the biggest secondhand luxury shop in the city.

Luckily, before Narelle returned, Duncan had still been very generous with me.

There should be more than enough to pay for Mom's surgery.

But after the clerk looked them over, she rolled her eyes and let out an exaggerated laugh.

"Don't waste our time. All of these are fake."

"And not even convincing fakes. They're so cheap and obvious, they wouldn't pass for decent knockoffs."

My mind went completely blank.

How could that be?

The other clerks were whispering among themselves too.

Every look they gave me was laced with ridicule.

"So you really are here."

A voice came from the doorway. I turned around.

Standing at the entrance were Duncan and Narelle.

Duncan's eyes were full of disappointment and disbelief.

"Every gift has a special meaning, and now you want to sell them all."

"If it weren't for Narelle, I never would have imagined you could stoop to something like this."

A mocking glint flashed in Narelle's eyes.

"I told you, she doesn't care at all about the gifts you give her—all she cares about is money."

"If I had switched them out beforehand, the presents you picked out so carefully would already have been sold."

"Now you've lost the bet."

"So, as we agreed, all these gifts that belong to your wife are mine now. At least I won't turn around and sell them for cash."

She had my luxury handbag slung over her shoulder, and the necklace around her neck was another gift Duncan had once given me.

I could let all those things go.

But when I saw the bracelet on her wrist, my eyes burned with tears.

"Narelle, give me back my bracelet."

That one wasn't bought by Duncan.

It was left to me by my late grandmother—something I'd owned long before I married Duncan.

Even in the hardest times, I never once thought about selling it.

"Yours? Tell me, what exactly do you have that doesn't belong to Duncan?"

She slid the bracelet off slowly and dangling it in front of me, swinging it back and forth like she was teasing a dog with a toy.

"Take off all the clothes Duncan bought you and give them back to him, and I'll give you this junk bracelet."

With everyone watching, I froze.

Duncan said flatly,

"Enough. She's only teasing you."

But he didn't deny it, and he didn't speak up for me either.

I looked at Duncan in disbelief.

He knew perfectly well where that bracelet came from.

The whispers around us grew louder. One person after another pulled out their phones.

Every last bit of my patience was gone.

I lunged and grabbed Narelle's wrist,

trying to snatch back the bracelet.

But Duncan moved faster, stepping between us and shoving me away with all his strength.

I fell to the ground.

The glass counter wobbled, then crashed down on me.

In an instant, the dull ache in my lower abdomen turned into a searing pain, and blood ran down my forehead.

Duncan finally panicked and reached down to pull me up.

"Winona, are you okay? Is the baby all right?"

Only now did he remember the baby.

But he didn't know that the baby was already gone.

I But he didn't know that the baby was already gone.

"Let's get a divorce."

Duncan's face stiffened, his eyes darkening.

"Are you threatening me with a divorce?"

"Narelle, you were right again."

Narelle gently patted his arm, her face full of certainty.

"Don't worry. She's only saying divorce because she wants you to panic. It's just a bluff."

"For now, just leave her alone and let her cool off."

"Come on, let's go back and get our luggage and start our Maldives trip."

The honeymoon Duncan had canceled on me was supposed to be in the Maldives.

After they left,

I limped home.

I had a lawyer help me draw up a divorce agreement.

I wanted nothing that wasn't mine.

But whatever was rightfully mine, I would take back. Every last bit of it.