«You’ll buy it yourself later,» she whispered, but the words dissolved like mist.
«No ring!» Andrew shouted, his voice echoing through a bedroom that seemed to float on a tide of overturned drawers and boxes turned inside out.
«My emerald ring is nowhere to be found!»
Ellie Harper stood in the centre of the room, breathing hard, surrounded by open chests of a nightstand and a wardrobe that had spilled its contents onto the floor. Her hands trembled with a panic that grew like a dark cloud. The ring had been her pridea token bought with the first big award shed ever won, a reminder of how shed clawed her way into the firm. And now it had vanished.
Andrew let out a weary sigh, pulling himself away from a ringing mobile.
«Ellie, it cant have gone far. You must have misplaced it. Sleep on ityoull remember,» he said, trying to smooth the sheets of the dream.
«I know exactly where I put it,» Ellie turned to him, eyes alight. «Only in the little wooden box on the dresser. I never leave it elsewhere. You know that. I always put things back where they belong.»
Andrew waved a hand.
«Itll turn up. Dont get worked up over nothing.»
«Nothing?» Ellies voice cracked like glass. «Its not nothing, Andrew. Its a valuable thing Your sister took it. Im sure of it! No one else could have!»
Andrews brow furrowed, his phone slipped to the nightstand, and he stared at her with a thin line of irritation.
«Youre being dramatic. Christine would never do that.»
«Would she?» Ellie crossed her arms over her chest. «Who has been prowling around our flat these past three months while we were at work? I demand she return the ring at once. Were going to her place right now.»
Andrew rubbed his face with his palms. Ellie saw his shoulders tighten, his lips thin into a line. He clearly didnt want this trip, didnt want the confrontation. She would not retreat.
«Ellie, maybe we shouldnt? Thinkwhy would she want your ring?» he suggested, his tone a whisper lost in the swirling ceiling.
«Because its beautiful and expensive. Lets go. Now.»
With a sigh that seemed to pull the rooms ceiling lower, they left the flat and drove toward a sleepy village beyond the city, the landscape blurring like watercolor. Ellie clutched her phone, her heart a kettle about to boil. Every mile felt like a heavy step. Andrew sat silent, throwing occasional sideways glances at her, each one a silent rebuke.
After an hour that stretched into eternity, they arrived at the stone cottage that had been Andrews parents home. The house greeted them with an oppressive hush. Ellie was the first to step out of the car, marching straight to the porch.
Margaret, the motherinlaw, opened the door and froze, eyes widening at the sight of the two of them.
«Andrew, dear? Ellie?» she asked, her voice trembling. «Whats happened? We werent expecting you.»
«Wheres Christine?» Ellie demanded, skipping the pleasantries.
«Shes at home, of course. She just arrived from your place yesterday,» Margaret stammered, stepping aside to let them in. «Come in, whats the matter?»
Ellie entered the sitting room where Thomas, the fatherinlaw, and Christine were already seated at the table. Christine lifted her head, her eyes widening as she saw Ellie.
«Christine, you must give my ring back properly,» Ellie said, standing in the centre of the room. «Otherwise things will go badly for everyone. I wont let this slide.»
A heavy silence settled like a weight. Thomas rose slowly from his chair.
«Who gave you permission to behave like this in anothers house?» he asked, his voice low and threatening. «Are you accusing our daughter of theft?»
«Im stating a fact,» Ellie replied, her throat tight. «My emerald ring has disappeared. It vanished after Christine left. No one else was in the flat.»
Margaret shrieked, «My daughter could not have stolen anything! Youre insulting our whole family!»
«Then explain where my ring is,» Ellie pressed, her patience fraying at the edges. «Speak quickly, because Im running out of it.»
Andrew stood by the doorway, pale and mute, his eyes flicking between his wife and his sister, then back again.
Suddenly Christine broke into a sob. Her lower lip trembled, tears spilling over her cheeks.
«I I just wanted to try it on for a moment,» she sniffed. «Its so gorgeous. And you you felt sorry for me? I thought I could slip it back without you noticing»
Ellie stood frozen, expecting denial, outrage, a tantrumanything but that raw confession, as if she herself were the culprit.
«Sorry?» she exhaled, a wave of fury rising. «Yes, Im sorry! I spent three months grinding overtime to earn that award and buy that ring! And you just took it without asking! Thats absurd!»
«Ellie, calm down,» Thomas finally intervened. «Youre making a mountain out of a molehill. Shes a young woman, she just craved something beautiful. You already have everythinggood job, steady husband, nice flat. Let her keep the ring; shell remember you. You can buy another.»
They really believed that she should surrender something she had bought herself simply because her sister wanted it?
«Ellie, be a bit kinder,» Margaret stepped forward, wrapping an arm around her daughterinlaw. «Christine didnt mean any harm. She admired your ring. You have it allcareer, husband, home. Shes just starting out. Dont be selfish.»
Ellie turned to Andrew, searching his eyes for any sign of support. He only shook his head, avoiding her gaze.
«Youre overreacting, Ellie,» he finally said. «Its just a ring. Not the end of the world.»
Just a ringher achievement, her joy, her possessionnow reduced to a trivial object. Ellie looked around at the people she had counted as family for three years and suddenly understood how mistaken she had been.
Her hands ceased shaking. A cold, still calm settled over her.
She pulled her phone from her pocket, dialed three digits, and held the device up to Margarets face.
«Ill give you two minutes,» her voice was flat, icy. «Either you return the ring to me, or Ill call the police. Your choice.»
«You wont dare!» Thomas lunged forward, his face flushing red.
«We shall see,» Ellie replied, unmoving.
Christine wailed, clutching at her mother. Margaret shot icy glances at Ellie but said nothing.
«Times running out,» Ellie reminded them.
«Andrew!» Margaret pleaded. «Say something to your wife! Stop her!»
Andrew stared at the floor, silent. Ellie smiled, bitter and scornful, and reached for the call button.
«Fine, fine!» Christine screeched, scrambling to her room and returning a minute later, clutching a familiar velvet box. She flung it onto the table before Ellie.
«Take it! My precious ring! Greedy thing!»
Ellie lifted the box, opened itinside the emerald sparkled exactly as before. She closed it carefully and slipped it into the pocket of her coat.
«I thought you were normal,» Christine sniffed, wiping away tears. «But youre a miser and a witch.»
Ellie moved toward the door, then turned back, her gaze hard.
«If Im that bad, why did I live in your flat for three months? I paid the bills, used your internet, your hot water. If Im that bad, why did you ask me to fund your courses? Explain.»
Christine stared off, speechless.
Ellie’s eyes fell on Andrew, who remained hunched, head down. She spoke with contempt.
«I never expected this from you, Andrew. Given your family, it would be strange if you were any different.»
She held out her hand.
«The car keys.»
Andrew lifted his head, frowning.
«What?»
«The cars mine too. I bought it with my own money. Hand them over.»
«Ellie»
«Keys!» she snapped, jerking her hand.
Andrew reached into his pocket, placed the keys on her palm. She clenched them into a fist and, at the threshold, turned once more.
«Ill take my things tomorrow. And Ill file for divorce.»
She slipped out without waiting for a reply.
A month later the divorce was finalized. Ellie glanced at the old dresser; the little wooden box sat where it always had. On its velvet cushion rested her emerald ring, gleaming anew.
Her phone buzzed on the tableanother notification. Former relatives accused her of cruelty, hardness, of tearing a family apart. They called her selfish, unwilling to understand or forgive. And again.
Ellie didnt answer. She simply added the number to her blacklist, as she had done with dozens of others.
Life without Andrew proved simple and light. His familys troubles no longer brushed against her. She didnt care whether Christine found work. She didnt worry how his parents would survive the winter.
Ellie began planning solely for herself, intending to spend holidays with those who truly loved her.
