Cheating was already undeniable.
I no longer wanted to argue or cling.
And I couldn’t afford to waste time—the meeting with my cousins was drawing near.
“I don’t want to fight with you, but this is not some worthless trinket.”
Though my body shook, my voice stayed firm:
“This jade ring is my grandfather’s heirloom, bought with lives in a deadly tomb. It means everything to me. Please, make her give it back.”
Olivia peeked out from behind Michael, reluctantly extending her hand with the ring.
Her eyes reddened as she whimpered:
“Sophia, you’re so mean… I didn’t know it mattered so much. I just thought it was pretty… This is all my fault, please don’t fight.”
“If you’d just said you wanted it, I’d have given it back. Why be so angry, so violent…”
She pretended to take it off, but Michael stopped her.
His cold gaze met mine, his voice icy:
“Sophia, enough. It’s just an old thing. Olivia wearing it is its blessing.”
“Why make her suffer for such a trivial item? Heirloom, schmearloom—I’ll buy you ten better ones later.”
“I don’t want ten. I just want this one.”
Lifting my chin, I declared:
“This isn’t about money. It’s a token, a promise among our grandfathers’ descendants.”
I tried to snatch it back, but Michael shoved me hard.
His face twisted with contempt.
“A promise? What bullshit promise?”
“You’ve got some nerve. Look at yourself—living in my mansion, wearing luxury brand clothes I bought, driving a luxury sports car worth millions. Tell me, which of those things didn’t come from me, Michael Reed?”
“One ring? Ten rings? A hundred? They wouldn’t even cover a fraction of what you’ve spent of mine. And you dare scream at me about what’s yours?”
His words stabbed me like knives.
Yes, I’d been a housewife these years, handling his affairs quietly, not working outside.
But I was thrifty, and all those things were what he had insisted on giving me—not what I demanded.
But now wasn’t the time to argue that.
I steadied myself, drawing a deep breath.
“Michael, you cheated first, and I’ll let that go for now. If you think all these material things are debts I owe you, fine. Take them. I don’t want them.”
“But this ring—I must take it back. Make her return it.”
My solemn tone stunned him.
Perhaps in our three years of marriage, I had never spoken to him so seriously before.
But Olivia, sensing an opportunity, piped up sweetly: