They Forced Me to Return the Heirloom Diamond—But My Wedding Ring Cost Only $9.99 Chapter 09
Ivy’s voice had completely changed.
“Ethan, let me explain…”
“Give it to me.”
This time, even Ivy’s mother couldn’t speak.
After a few minutes, footsteps went upstairs and
came back down..
The box was set on the table with a soft sound.
Ethan didn’t speak right away.
After a long time, he asked, “Why?”
Ivy’s crying died down.
“Because it was always supposed to be mine.”
Margaret gasped.
Ivy’s voice shook, but she spoke clearly.
“Before you married Tessa, everyone thought wel would end up together. The Harts liked me. The Rosses accepted that I would marry you. Then she
suddenly showed up with an engagement
contract. What gave her the right?”
Ethan’s tone turned cold.
“That was my wedding to her.”
“But you don’t love her.”
Ivy almost screamed.
“You were drunk that day. You didn’t even say her name. Ethan, look at the last two years – has there been a single Hart event where I wasn’t
there? People outside say I look more like Mrs. Hart than she does. I’m not the only one saying it.”
Ethan laughed. It was a cold laugh.
“So you stole her ring, cut the video, posted it
online
made everyone think I gave it to you?”
Ivy didn’t answer.
“Ivy,” he said. “Don’t come to the anniversary.
banquet tomorrow.”
“You’re throwing me out for her?”
“Not throwing out.”
He paused, as if suppressing anger.
“Correcting.”
I heard the box snap shut.
“Two years ago, this ring should have gone on
Tessa’s hand. Today I’m taking it back.”
Before he hung up, Ethan said quietly to me, “I
have it.”
I didn’t answer.
He didn’t push.
Half an hour later, Liam sent me photos of the
ring.
The real Hart family wedding ring lay in a black.
velvet box. The teardrop diamond was beautiful-
like a drop of frozen water.
I opened the second photo.
The inner engraving was magnified.
It didn’t say “Tessa.”
It didn’t say “E+T.”
It said Ivy’s initials.
- IR.
I looked at those two letters and felt nothing.
What finally made me let go wasn’t that she had
stolen the ring.
It was that I finally saw this thing I had waited
two years for was never meant to be mine from
the start.
The next morning, Ethan came to my apartment.
He didn’t come upstairs.
He just sent a message.
I’m downstairs. I want to tell you about the engraving in person.
I stood by the window and looked down.
His black car was parked under the plane trees.
Ethan stood beside the car, holding the ring box in one hand and a bag of breakfast in the other.
The convenience store owner peeked out the door at him, stared for a long time, then ducked back. inside to whisper to her cashier.
I changed clothes and went downstairs.
When Ethan saw me, he handed me the breakfast first.
“You often buy unsweetened almond milk here
no sugar.”
I took it but didn’t drink.
“You checked my purchase history?”
He froze.
“The convenience store owner told me.”
I glanced at the owner through the window.
She winked at me and mouthed “Handsome” with
exaggerated lips.
I almost laughed.
Ethan saw it too. The tips of his ears went slightly
red.
A scene like this had been almost impossible.
before.
Mr. Hart standing outside an old–town.
convenience store, holding almond milk and hash.
browns, being stared at like a new boyfriend.
He opened the ring box.
“The inner engraving is Ivy’s initials.”
He spoke slowly, like each word hurt.
“The jewelry store confirmed it. The Hart custom wedding ring was supposed to have your initials.
A week before the wedding, Ivy went in with the
pickup authorization and requested it be changed
to hers.”
I looked at the ring.
Expensive. Beautiful. Utterly foreign.
“So you want to give me this ring now?”
Ethan’s hand stopped.
I put the almond milk down on the stone table nearby.
“Ethan, do you think I would wear it?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Wind blew through the trees. A few small yellow
leaves fell onto his shoulder.
He looked down at the ring. After a long moment,
he closed the box.
“No.”
I looked up.
Ethan slipped the box into his coat pocket.
“This ring is void.”
I was a little surprised.
He looked at me, his voice low and clear.
“It’s not clean.”
I said nothing.
He pulled out a new anniversary banquet seating chart.
The first seat at the head table was marked with
my name.
Tessa Clark.
Not Mrs. Hart.
My fingertips rested on those two words.
Ethan said, “We reprinted the invitations. If you don’t want to come, no one will use your name to prop up the family image.”
I handed the seating chart back.
“I’m not coming.”
He said, “Okay.”
He answered so fast that I looked at him.
Ethan kept his eyes down.
“I won’t force you this time.”
“Then why are you even here?”
He was quiet for two seconds.
“I wanted to tell you I’ll be there.”
“Wearing what?”
The words came out before I thought about them.
Maybe there was still some bitterness left.
But Ethan looked at me seriously.
“I’ll handle it.”
I didn’t ask again.
I went to work as usual.
At lunch, I walked past the break room and heard a
few coworkers whispering.
“I heard the head table at the Hart anniversary
banquet got changed.”
“Changed to who?”
“To Mrs. Hart. There was a rumor that Ivy Ross
would sit at the head table, but last night the.
whole guest list changed.”
“Rich people are so dramatic.”
I walked in with my cup.
Everyone went quiet.
Chloe leaned in and whispered, “Tessa, are you
really not going?”
“No.”
“But it’s the Hart family anniversary. The whole
city’s media will be there.”
I filled my coffee.
“Then I’m definitely not going.”
If Ethan wanted to fix his mistake, that was his
business.
I wasn’t going to stand there in a gown and wait
for everyone to decide whether I was worth.
putting back in my seat.
At five p.m., I got a text from an unknown number.
Ivy.
Are you happy now? He’s throwing away the Hart
family’s reputation for you.
