I could not even bring myself to calculate what he thought it was worth.
When I lifted my eyes, I saw the condescending contempt in his gaze. In that moment, images flashed through my mind.
There was a time when I had been a girl held gently in someone’s hands.
A time when the man I loved was still alive.
My stomach had always been weak. Whenever I ate something spicy, the pain was so sharp I could not straighten my back. He would always make me a bowl of warm porridge, blowing it to the perfect temperature before feeding it to me spoon by spoon.
Whenever I acted spoiled, he would hold me in his arms, warm palms pressed to my stomach, whispering softly that the pain would go away.
When I was down, he could sit with me for an entire day, waiting patiently for one smile.
But now, I lowered my head and pushed the bracelet down my wrist bit by bit.
The sharp edge dug into my skin. A sudden sting shot up my arm. When I lifted my hand, there was already a thin line of blood.
Tears fell before I could stop them, hitting the floor one drop at a time.
Was the pain really only on the skin?
I took a deep breath and slid the bracelet onto Heidi’s wrist.
I even kept a gentle, dignified smile on my face.
“May the child you’re carrying stay healthy and safe.”
The moment I said this, Caleb actually gave me a look he believed was “appreciation.”
“Julia, as long as you behave, my child will be your child.”
Utterly absurd.
Before his words had even settled, the bracelet on Heidi’s wrist suddenly slipped off and hit the floor with a sharp crack.
Fragments scattered across the tiles like powdered glass.
A piece of it scraped her leg, drawing a thin line of blood.
Caleb rushed to her instantly, moving as though he were saving her life, scooping her into his arms like she was made of fragile glass.
He shouted at the butler, voice fierce with panic.
“What are you standing there for? Call the family doctor! Now!”
His urgency made everyone in the living room look at me with mocking eyes, as if I were the one who caused all of this.
To be honest, I almost laughed.
Heidi’s voice was soft as a breeze, laced with deliberate trembling.
“It’s all my fault. The bracelet Julia just gave me… I dropped it. I’m so clumsy.”
Caleb held her hand, speaking with a tenderness sweet enough to melt sugar.
“It’s not your fault. That thing was unlucky to begin with. It’s good that it broke.”
I froze.