Chapter 3
My eyes locked onto that necklace. The blood in my veins turned to ice.
That was "First Light."
The piece that won me the National Young Designer Gold Award in college.
The peak of my design career—and its end.
That year, I could have used that award to get into graduate school, to study abroad.
But Ryan's startup had failed. He was drowning in debt, people showing up at his door demanding money.
To help him, I gave up grad school. I handed over the entire tenthousanddollar prize to pay off his debts. I stood by him through street vending and food delivery, clawing our way back one day at a time.
That necklace was one of a kind.
I'd kept it as a memento of that dead dream.
For years, I'd locked it in the deepest corner of my safe. I couldn't even bring myself to wear it.
Now it hung around Vanessa's neck.
The irony was suffocating.
I walked toward Vanessa, step by step.
"Stop embarrassing yourself. Take Lily and go home!"
I ignored him and pointed directly at Vanessa's neck.
"Where did you get that?"
Ryan froze for a second, his eyes darting away. He instinctively stepped in front of Vanessa.
"What do you mean where? I bought it!"
"Street vendor stuff. Like twenty bucks. What about it?"
Street vendor again.
Just something he picked up.
I laughed coldly and grabbed the necklace.
Vanessa shrieked, clutching her neck and backing away.
"What are you doing! You're hurting me!"
"Emily, I know you don't like me, but this is a gift from Ryan after all…"
"A gift?"
I stared at Ryan, my voice shaking.
"You're telling me this is street vendor junk?"
"Do you even know what's engraved on the back?"
Ryan's face went deathly pale. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
Of course he knew.
When I gave this to him as a token of our love, I'd held his hand, pointed to the tiny engraving on the back, and told him:
"This is an L—for my name."
"Ryan, if you've forgotten, I'd be happy to remind you."
I yanked hard, ripping the necklace from Vanessa's neck.
I flipped the pendant over and held it up to Ryan's face.
The small "L" was perfectly clear.
"See it now?"
"This is my First Light! The most important achievement of my life!"
"Ryan, how dare you?"
"How dare you take my heart and soul and give it to another woman?"
More people were gathering now, whispering and pointing.
Ryan's composure finally cracked.
His eyes went red, and he roared at me.
"Fine! Yes! I took it! So what?"
"It's your stuff, but it's also our stuff!"
"Vanessa said it was pretty, that wearing it would bring her luck."
"She's been having such a hard time—what's wrong with letting her borrow it?"
"It's just a stupid necklace! Why are you so obsessed?"
"It was just sitting in a drawer collecting dust. Might as well let it do some good!"
So that's what he thought.
My dreams. My youth. My sacrifice.
Just "a dusty old necklace."
Vanessa had recovered by now, holding her neck, crying like a wounded flower.
"Emily, I didn't know this meant so much to you…"
"Ryan said it was just a decoration, that it wasn't worth anything."
"If you want it back, I'll give it back. Why did you have to grab it like that?"
"It's not like I can't afford my own…"
She cried while sneaking glances at the crowd around us.
Sure enough, people started muttering.
"That woman's crazy—she just grabbed it right off her."
"It's just a necklace. Is it really that serious?"
My hand holding the necklace trembled. My heart felt like it was being torn apart.
In that moment, I finally understood.
What Ryan had trampled wasn't just a necklace.
He had trampled my dignity—everything I had sacrificed for this family.
In his eyes, I was worthless.
I clutched the necklace tightly and turned to leave.
"Ryan, we're done."
Ryan panicked. He rushed forward to block me, then dropped to his knees with a thud.
"Babe! I was wrong!"
"I know I was wrong!"
"I shouldn't have taken your things. I just—I wasn't thinking!"
"Take the necklace back. Let's just live our lives together, okay?"
He grabbed at my pants leg, crying and sobbing.
I kicked him away. All I felt was disgust.