Ryan frowned, glancing at my luggage. “Evelyn, open it. If you didn’t take it, I’ll clear your name.”
My heart sank. Hidden in the lining of that suitcase was a signed divorce agreement. Back when he first brought me to the Hayes family, he had handed it to me himself, his fingertips warm as he said, “Evelyn, I know you love your freedom. If one day you ever feel wronged, take this and leave—I’ll never stop you. But I’ll spend my life treating you well, never giving you a reason to use it.”
But now, he had long forgotten.
Terrified they would find it, I clutched the suitcase desperately. “You can’t search it!”
“Guilty conscience?” Sophia lunged for the case. “Ryan, look at her reaction—she definitely took it!”
Before I could explain, Ryan snatched the suitcase from me and unzipped it.
His friends crowded around, sneering at my clothes and belongings.
“Look at these rags—flea market trash, and she brought them into the Hayes family?”
“And what’s this piece of junk—oh, a soda tab ring?”
The soda can tab ring Ryan had once given me as an engagement token was tossed into the trash by Sophia.
I stared at Ryan, searching for a flicker of recognition, but his face remained cold.
Just as they were about to reach the lining, Sophia suddenly pulled out a necklace and shrieked, “Here it is! My necklace! Evelyn, how could you steal from me?”
It wasn’t hers. It was my mother’s keepsake: a silver necklace with a tiny crescent moon pendant.
I lunged forward and snatched it back. “This isn’t yours! It’s my mother’s!”
“You’re lying!” Sophia turned to Ryan with tears in her eyes. “When Ryan gave it to me, the pendant had a diamond. She must’ve pried it out!”
Ryan gripped my wrist, forcing me to look up. His voice was like ice. “Evelyn, return the necklace to Sophia.”
“It’s my mother’s keepsake!” I fought against him. “Ryan, you were there when my mother handed it to me on her deathbed! You said you’d help me keep it safe!”
He wouldn’t meet my eyes. He yanked the chain hard. With a snap, it broke, the silver moon falling to the ground.
Sophia stomped on it instantly—the delicate silver warped, the engravings shattered.
“You’re insane!” I shoved her.
She cried out and deliberately stumbled backward, crashing into the champagne tower.
Glasses shattered, red wine and ice splashing over me. Shards cut into my arm, blood instantly mixing with the wine as it ran down.