They Forced Me to Return the Heirloom Diamond—But My Wedding Ring Cost Only $9.99 Chapter 07
I followed his gaze and reached to put it away.
But he had already walked over.
He didn’t touch it. He just stood in front of the cabinet, looking down at it.
It was the wedding invitation from two years ago.
I had originally planned to send it to my college. roommates, but the wedding was too rushed. The Hart family said the guest list was already set and I didn’t need to invite many people from my side.
So not a single invitation from that stack was ever
mailed.
Ethan reached out and gently picked up the one on
top.
Inside, next to the printed names, I had written a
small line by hand.
Tessa Clark and Ethan Hart sincerely invite you to
witness our wedding.
He stared at that line. His eyes reddened slowly.
He stood in my apartment entryway holding that
invitation, not moving for a long time.
I watched his thumb rest on my handwriting and suddenly regretted keeping it.
It was like an expired piece of food you knew
you couldn’t eat it, but when you opened it, your could still smell how sweet it used to be..
Ethan’s voice was hoarse.
“Who did you want to invite back then?”
I closed the laptop, walked over, and took the
invitation back from him.
“My college roommates.”
He looked at me.
“Why didn’t you invite them?”
“The Hart family’s guest list was full.”
I put the invitation back in the wooden box and
closed the lid.
“Your mother said that since the people on my side were just casual friends, it would be
inconvenient to arrange for them. She said we
could invite them another time.”
Ethan’s fingers curled.
“I didn’t know.”
I looked up at him.
He had said those three words too many times
tonight.
Didn’t know about the ring. Didn’t know about the head table. Didn’t know about the invitations. Didn’t know my things had been cleared out. Didn’t know that the $9.99 ring had carried me through so many occasions.
But the most painful thing in a marriage is often hidden inside those “didn’t knows.”
I didn’t answer him. I put the wooden box away in
the cabinet.
Ethan stood by the door, the rain smell still on him, making my small apartment feel even quieter.
After a long time, he set the paper bag on the
entryway table.
“Take the medicine.”
I didn’t reply.
He looked at the wooden box one more time, as if
he wanted to say something else, but in the end he
just said quietly, “I’ll go.”
The door closed. The only sound in the apartment
was the soft hiss of the kettle.
I poured myself a cup of hot water, sat on the
couch, and watched the rain outside the window.
My phone screen lit up once.
Ethan had sent a message.
I won’t bother you again tonight. I’ll show you what
I found tomorrow.
I didn’t reply.
The next morning, before I even got to the office,
Liam sent me a file.
The file name was simple.
Wedding Backstage Restoration Report.
When I opened it, my fingers paused for a few
seconds.
The video was more complete than the one from
last night.
The footage started at noon on the wedding day.
Ethan wasn’t drunk yet. He sat in the lounge in a
white shirt, signing a project document that had
just been delivered.
Ivy pushed open the door and walked in, holding.
two ring boxes.
She set the black box on the table and tucked the
dark blue one into her purse.
Ethan didn’t look up.
“The rings are here?”
Ivy smiled. “Yes. I brought them for you.”
He reached out to look.
But Ivy pushed the document toward him. “Sign
this first. The emcee is rushing us.”
He frowned and took the pen.
While he signed, Ivy turned her back to him and
opened the black box.
I saw her take the real wedding ring out and hide it
in her palm.
She moved fast so fast that without the
–
slowed–down restoration, you wouldn’t have seen
the swap.
Then she placed the replica into the black box.
Ethan finished signing. Ivy had already closed the
box and pushed it back toward him.
“All set.”
He picked up the box but didn’t open it.
He must have been too busy that day.
Too busy to look down and check the ring he was
about to put on his bride.
The video continued.
Four p.m. The groomsmen came in and started pouring drinks.
Ethan frowned and refused a few, but then some
Hart elders told him it was a happy day and not to spoil the mood.
He drank more and more.
Five–thirty. Ivy came back in with the dark blue
box.
She sat next to him and called softly, “Ethan.”
He kept his eyes closed. No reaction.
She looked down at him and slipped the real
wedding ring onto her own finger.
Then she raised her hand and smiled at the
bridesmaids off–camera.
“Pretty?”
Someone whispered, “Ivy, are you crazy? That’s the
bride’s ring.”
Ivy glanced at Ethan.
“He won’t know.”
When those four words registered, my fingertips
went numb.
So she had always known.
She knew the ring didn’t belong on her finger.
She knew I was the one who should have received
it at the ceremony.
She knew Ethan wouldn’t find out.
In the video, Ethan was passed out on the couch.
Ivy leaned down and whispered in his ear, “If I were
the bride today, would you be happier?”
He frowned, as if disturbed, and mumbled something.
The restored subtitle at the bottom read: Stop
messing around.
Ivy smiled.
She turned to the bridesmaids and said, “Did you
hear that?”
Later, that got twisted into “Ethan said he wished. the bride was Ivy.”
I closed the video and sat at my desk, unable to
move.
My assistant, Chloe, came in with documents and
saw my face. She jumped.
“Tessa, are you okay?”
I shook my head.
“I’m fine.”
The office phone rang.
The front desk said, “Tessa, a Mr. Hart is here to
see you.”
I looked up through the glass door.
Ethan stood there in a suit, holding a stack of paper documents.
He didn’t come right in.
Like he had finally learned to wait.
I pressed the intercom.
“Let him in.”
Ethan walked into my office and placed the
documents on my desk.
“Did you watch the video?”
“Yes.”
He was silent for a moment.
“Tessa. I’m sorry.”
