They Forced Me to Return the Heirloom Diamond—But My Wedding Ring Cost Only $9.99 Chapter 06
When I got to my apartment, the rain still hadn’t stopped.
The apartment was in the old part of town. A twenty-four-hour convenience store sat downstairs, and a row of plane trees grew outside the window.
I’d lived here before the wedding.
After I married into the Hart family, Ethan had my things moved to Harbor View. I couldn’t bring myself to sell the place, so I only came back once in a while to clean.
I pushed the door open. The room felt cold and empty, like no one had lived there for a long time.
I turned on the light and put my suitcase in the living room.
The phone screen was still lit.
The photo from the unknown number sat in the chat window.
I stared at it for a moment, then laughed.
Two years ago, a photo like this would have kept me up all night with heartache.
Now I just felt tired.
I put the phone face-down on the table and went to boil water.
The kettle had just started to whistle when the doorbell rang.
I thought it was a delivery. When I opened the door, Ethan stood there.
He had changed his clothes, but his hair was still wet. His face was paler than usual.
He held a paper bag.
I didn’t move aside.
“Mr. Hart. Something you need?”
Ethan looked at me, then at the wet mark on my shoulder.
“You got caught in the rain?”
“Just a few steps from the garage to the building.”
He frowned. “Dry your hair first.”
I glanced at the paper bag.
“You came to bring me a towel?”
He looked down, as if only then realizing how strange his gesture seemed.
Inside the bag were cold medicine, lemon tea with honey, a towel, and a box of Band-Aids.
I didn’t know why he bought Band-Aids until his eyes fell on my right palm.
I opened my hand.
There was a faint red line where the edge of the plain ring had pressed into my skin.
It was very light.
It had stopped hurting long ago.
But Ethan stared at it for a long time.
“Does it hurt?”
That question came too late.
So late that I didn’t know how to answer at first.
For two years, when Hart relatives made snide comments to my face, he never asked if it hurt.
When I wore that $9.99 ring to galas and had women mock it in the bathroom, he never asked if it hurt.
When I packed up my things from the master bedroom by myself, he never asked if it hurt.
Now a fading red mark — that’s what got him to ask.
I pulled my hand back.
“No.”
Ethan’s fingers twitched.
“Tessa. Let me in.”
“It’s late.”
“I found something.”
I looked at him.
He took a USB drive from his inner suit pocket.
“About the ring.”
In the end, I stepped aside.
Not because I was soft.
Because I also wanted to know — just how much of a joke had that wedding made me?
Ethan came in but didn’t sit.
He stood in the middle of the living room, like a man entering my life for the first time, not knowing where to put his hands.
I turned on my laptop and plugged in the drive.
A restored backstage surveillance video appeared on the screen.
The image was blurry, but faces were visible.
Backstage at the wedding. Ethan sat on a couch, surrounded by groomsmen. He was very drunk, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
Ivy walked over, holding two ring boxes.
One black. One dark blue.
She opened the black box first and looked at the teardrop diamond inside.
Then she looked up toward the camera.
Her expression at that moment was completely calm.
She didn’t look like a bridesmaid just helping out.
She took the ring out of the black box and placed it into the dark blue box.
Then she took another ring from the dark blue box and put it into the black box.
I stared at the screen.
Ethan stood behind me. His breathing grew heavier.
The next moment, Ivy crouched in front of Ethan and whispered something.
He didn’t seem to hear. He raised his hand.
Ivy slipped the teardrop diamond onto her own ring finger.
Ethan wasn’t looking at her.
He just leaned back on the couch, too drunk to keep his eyes open.
But from the camera angle, it looked like he had put the ring on her himself.
Ivy stood up quickly and walked over to another bridesmaid.
The video stopped there.
Ethan reached out and pressed pause.
The only sound in the room was the low hum of the laptop.
I looked at the screen.
So she had even planned out the “innocent misunderstanding” of wearing the wrong ring.
Ethan said quietly, “I’ve already had someone look into that dark blue box.”
“Okay.”
“Ivy ordered a replica ring.”
I looked up.
He pulled up an electronic receipt.
Order date: one week before the wedding.
The design closely resembled the Hart wedding ring, but there was no engraving on the inside, and the center diamond was slightly smaller.
“The ring put on your finger at the ceremony may have been a fake.”
I looked at my hand.
Two years ago, the ceremony was rushed.
The officiant finished the vows. The maid of honor handed over the rings. Ethan was so drunk he could barely stand.
He did touch my hand.
But all I remembered was that the ring felt loose. Before the reception even ended, the wedding coordinator took it away to have it resized.
It never came back.
I asked, “What about the fake ring?”
Ethan was silent.
I understood.
“It’s gone.”
He struggled to say, “I’ll find it.”
“Ethan.”
I closed the laptop.
“Did it ever occur to you that until today, I just thought you forgot to give me a ring?”
He looked at me.
“I even made excuses for you.”
My fingers pressed against the edge of the computer.
“You were drunk. The Hart family was too busy. Ivy had gone abroad. The wedding timeline was chaotic. I thought we had plenty of time. We’d figure it out eventually.”
Ethan’s eyes slowly darkened.
“Tessa…”
“But now you’re telling me that someone planned this from the very beginning.”
I looked up at him.
“No one in the Hart family noticed. You didn’t notice either.”
Ethan stood there, his lips parting but no words coming out.
His silence hurt more than an apology.
Because I suddenly realized that the small amount of dignity I’d held onto for two years was so light that even the wind couldn’t carry it.
My phone vibrated on the table.
It was Margaret calling.
I didn’t answer.
Ethan glanced at the caller ID, then picked up his own phone.
“Mom.”
I don’t know what she said.
His face grew colder.
“Restore Tessa’s seat at the head table for the anniversary banquet.”
Her voice rose sharply.
He cut her off.
“Ivy won’t be there.”
More sharp words.
Ethan closed his eyes for a moment.
“You’d better start remembering who the real Mrs. Hart is.”
He hung up and turned to me.
“Tessa. I’ll make a public statement to clear things up.”
“Clear what up?”
“The ring. The banquet seating. Ivy.”
“Ethan.”
I looked at him.
“Clearing things up is your responsibility. It’s not a gift to me.”
His face went a little pale.
I stood up and opened the door.
“It’s late. You should go home.”
Ethan didn’t move.
He looked around my living room, and his eyes landed on the entryway cabinet.
An old wooden box sat there.
I must have forgotten to close it when I was unpacking earlier.
A white invitation with gold foil peeked out from inside.
Ethan’s eyes stopped there.
