They Forced Me to Return the Heirloom Diamond—But My Wedding Ring Cost Only $9.99 Chapter 08
I opened the file.
Inside was a timeline of all the evidence from the
wedding day.
The jewelry store pickup record. Ivy’s signed. receipt. The replica ring invoice. The security footage numbers from the venue that had been cut. The original timestamp of that social media
post.
Page by page, it was like cutting open the wedding
from two years ago all over again.
I finished reading and closed the file.
“So?”
Ethan looked at me.
“Tonight, I’m going to the Ross house.”
I nodded.
“Good luck.”
He seemed to get caught on those words.
“You’re not coming?”
“Why would I?”
His fingers pressed against the edge of the document, and his voice got quieter.
“This involves you.”
“Ethan.”
I looked at him.
“My ring was taken. My seat was taken. I’m the
one everyone laughed at. But I shouldn’t have to
be the one demanding answers every single time.”
His eyes flickered.
I pushed the file back to him.
“You go.”
He didn’t speak for a long time.
Finally, he put the documents away and said.
quietly, “All right.”
Just as he turned to leave, my phone vibrated
again.
That same unknown number.
This time, it was an older surveillance screenshot.
One week before the wedding. The VIP room of a jewelry store.
Ivy sat on the couch in sunglasses, the dark blue
ring box in front of her.
She told the jewelry consultant, “Engrave it exactly
like the original.”
In the next screenshot, the consultant handed her
a confirmation slip..
At the bottom, the engraving text was clearly
visible.
Not my initials.
Not Ethan’s.
Just two letters.
- IR.
That night, when Ethan went to the Ross house,
Margaret went too.
She had originally been against making a scene
with the Ross family.
“The Hart and Ross families have been friends for
decades,” she said over the phone, barely
containing her anger. “Are you going to tear apart
our relationship over a ring?”
Ethan answered with one sentence.
“This isn’t about a ring.”
Margaret went quiet.
I sat on my apartment couch, listening through the
speaker.
Ethan had called me himself.
He said, “You don’t have to be there, but you have
the right to hear it.”
I didn’t refuse.
Soon, sounds from the Ross family living room
came through.
Ivy was the first to cry.
She always found a way to be the most hurt.
person in any situation.
“Ethan, I know you blame me. But you were really
drunk that day. I was just keeping you company.
–
You put the ring on my finger you were the one.
who pulled me close. I didn’t force you.”
Ethan’s voice was cold.
“There’s video.”
The soft click of a tablet.
Ivy’s mother spoke first, her tone stiff. “Was that
video edited? Ivy has loved pretty things since she was little. There’s nothing wrong with her trying on a ring. Young girls take photos. It’s very hurtful of
you to make such a big deal out of this now.”
Margaret tried to smooth things over. “Ethan, it’s been two years. The most important thing now is
the anniversary banquet. I’ll handle Tessa.”
I heard Ethan set something down on the table.
The night market receipt.
When he spoke, his voice was steady.
“For two years, Tessa wore a $9.99 ring and
accompanied me to twenty–seven Hart family.
events.”
Margaret started to interrupt.
He didn’t let her.
“At the charity gala, she signed the donation form
for the Hart family from the third row. At the old
man’s birthday, she served tea to every elder – Ivy
sat next to me. At Ivy’s welcome–home dinner,
Tessa poured her drink herself, wearing that cheap
ring on her finger.”
Silence on the other end.
I looked down at my ring finger. The red mark from
the plain band had faded.
Ethan continued. “None of you saw.”
Those words landed harder than any argument.
Ivy finally couldn’t hold back.
“What about you? You didn’t see either.”
A pause.
“No,” he said, his voice dropping. “I didn’t see
either.”
Ivy grabbed onto that. Her crying became more
urgent.
“So why are you blaming me now? Ethan, you know exactly how this marriage happened. The Harts needed a business alliance. You had to
marry her. Everyone knows I’m the one you’re actually close to.”
She took a breath.
“Everyone at those banquets knows I look more
natural sitting in Mrs. Hart’s seat than she does.”
After she said that, Margaret called out softly,
“Ivy.”
But Ivy couldn’t stop.
“Every time your mother hosts an event, she asks.
me what flowers to use for the head table, what
wine you like, which business partners can’t be
ignored. Does Tessa know any of that? Does she
know the Hart family’s rules? She’s been in the
family for two years, and she always just sits there
quietly, like an outsider.”
My hand tightened on the phone.
Ethan’s voice came through.
“Why do you think she seems like an outsider?”
Ivy stopped.
“Because the Hart family kept her there,” he said.
The clink of porcelain.
Margaret seemed to stand up.
“Ethan, are you going to turn against your own
family for her?”
“Mom.”
He didn’t raise his voice.
“Every word I’m saying tonight is two years late.”
On my end, I lowered my eyes. Something in my chest felt like it had been bumped.
Ivy said through tears, “Then what about me? You’re putting all the blame on me now is that supposed to prove how good you are to her?”
Ethan was quiet for a long time.
I heard him open a box.
“Give me the ring.”
Ivy’s voice came out panicked. “I already gave it
back.”
“The jewelry store sent me the engraving
confirmation.”
The living room went dead quiet.
Ethan said, “The real wedding ring is with you. The
one you brought yesterday was a replica.”
My finger hovered over the edge of my phone.
Yesterday, she had stood in the rain holding at
velvet box and said she’d never worn it.
Even the return had been a lie.
