"Mrs. Sanchez, I'm so sorry. Last time I was thoughtless and rode in Mr. Sanchez's car. It won't happen again. Please don't be angry with me."
She made herself as small as possible, the picture of a girl who'd been wronged yet was graciously taking the blame. Sympathetic glances from the crowd landed on her immediately.
But my gaze drifted downward, and the blood in my veins turned to ice.
Around her neck hung a necklace.
The pendant was a tiny crescent moon, and on the inside was engraved a single letter: P.
It was the only thing my parents had left me before the car accident that killed them both. The Pruitt family heirloom necklace.
The chain had broken a while back, and Asher had found the best jeweler in the city. He promised he'd have it restored to perfect condition.
That repair had stretched on for the better part of a year. I'd assumed it was the complexity of the craftsmanship, the jeweler's packed schedule.
I never imagined that right now, at this very moment, it would be hanging around Winifred Taylor's neck, catching the light like a taunt.
Asher hadn't just cheated. He'd taken the thing I treasured most, the thing that meant everything to me, and given it to his mistress.
My stomach lurched violently, and a wave of cold so deep it burned rolled through me. I locked every muscle in place, fighting with everything I had not to come apart right there.
I stepped forward, fury rising through me.
"Take it off."
Winifred flinched and shrank back, her eyes reddening even more.
"Mrs. Sanchez, what are you doing..."
I stared at the necklace, every word deliberate.
"Taking what isn't yours without asking is stealing."
Her face went white. She clutched the necklace, lips trembling like she was about to cry.
"Mr. Sanchez gave this to me. I didn't steal it. If you like it so much, here, just take it."
She yanked it hard. The chain snapped, and a thin line of blood rose across her neck.
Asher pulled Winifred behind him in one swift motion, shielding her like she was something precious.
He turned to me, brow furrowed, voice sharp.
"Aileen, are you done making a scene?"
"It's just a necklace. Was it really worth bullying a young woman over?"
I looked at him as if seeing him for the first time.
"Just a necklace?"
A laugh scraped out of me, hollow, my chest so tight it had gone numb.
"Asher, you know exactly what it means to me!"