The Bracelet

Elise's POV

I stood in the middle of our bedroom holding that small velvet box like it might burn straight through my palm. My fingers had brushed against it by accident while I was checking the inside pocket of Adrian's jacket for the dry cleaning ticket. Now the weight of it sat there, heavier than it had any right to be, and my eyes started to water even though I refused to let the tears fall. Not here. Not for this.

I bit down hard on my lip until I tasted the sharp metallic sting and lifted the phone back to my ear. "No, cease all operations. It seems I will be back sooner than we had planned." My voice came out steadier than the chaos twisting inside my chest. The second I hung up I let out a shaky breath that rattled through me and stared down at the box again.

Seven years. Seven fucking years and this was what I got.

I flipped the lid open. The diamond bracelet caught the light pouring through the tall windows, delicate links shimmering like they belonged on someone who was actually cherished. Ten thousand dollars minimum. I knew the exact price because I had stood in that same boutique two years ago running my finger over an identical one while Adrian had rolled his eyes and called me vain for even wanting it. Material things were beneath a woman of character, he had said then, like I was some shallow idiot for daring to hint at a gift on our anniversary. I had put it back on the display without another word.

The engraving on the inside band made my stomach cave in.

My love, forever and always. From Adrian to Jade.

A bitter sound scraped out of my throat, something between a laugh and a wound that would not close. I snapped the box shut and gripped it tight enough that the edges pressed marks into my skin. The kind of marks that would fade fast, unlike the ones stacking up inside me.

The bedroom door opened. Adrian walked in still adjusting his cufflinks, his brow already pulled into that familiar frown that said he had better places to be. He stopped short when he saw me standing there instead of coming downstairs with his jacket.

"What's taking so long?" he asked, impatience cutting through every word.

I held the box out to him without saying anything. Just extended my arm and waited for the world to shift under his feet the way it had already shifted under mine.

His face changed for half a second, eyes widening before that smooth mask slipped back into place. He took the box from my hand and let out a long sigh like I was the biggest inconvenience in his day.

"Jade's boyfriend broke up with her last week. She's been struggling to focus at work so I got her something small to lift her spirits. It's nothing."

I stared at him. The words landed between us so ridiculous I almost laughed again.

"Something small," I repeated, letting the phrase sit there while my pulse hammered in my ears.

"It's a gift, Elise. I'm her employer." He dropped the box onto the dresser like it meant less than nothing and reached for his watch instead.

"With your wedding vow engraved on it."

He opened his mouth. Closed it. Then tried again. "I asked them to engrave her ex's name but the jeweler made a mistake and put mine since I was the one paying. I didn't notice until it was done."

The sound that came out of me then was raw and sharp and not funny at all. I laughed anyway because the audacity of him standing in our bedroom looking me dead in the eyes and saying that out loud was almost impressive in its stupidity. Seven years of quiet dinners and careful smiles and me swallowing every small hurt until they piled up like stones pressing on my lungs. Seven years of him never once buying me anything real while he called me dramatic for wanting basic thoughtfulness. And here he was handing ten thousand dollars and our wedding vows to his secretary like it was casual charity.

"Here we go," he muttered, already turning away from me.

"Here we go?" I asked, my voice rising even though I tried to keep it level. "Seven years, Adrian. You have never bought me a single thoughtful thing. You called me vain for wanting a bracelet. You said material things were beneath a woman of character. And yet here we are."

He kept moving, picking up his keys like the conversation was already over. "You're always doing this. Finding something to be dramatic about. I'm late."

The door clicked shut behind him before I could respond. I stood there in the empty bedroom for a long moment, the silence pressing in so heavy it felt like it might crush me. Then I finished getting dressed for the burial we were supposed to attend together. One of his colleagues had passed and I had grown quietly close to the widow over the years. I wanted to be there for her even if my own world was cracking open at the seams.

Downstairs the limousine was already gone. He had taken it without me.

I grabbed his car keys off the hook by the door and slid into his black sedan. The engine purred to life under my hands and I reached over to open the glove compartment looking for the aux cord. A small box tumbled out and landed on the passenger floor with a soft thud.

I frowned and picked it up. The scent hit me first, vanilla and cinnamon wrapped around something warm and familiar that turned my stomach instantly. It was the same perfume that had been clinging to Adrian's shirts on all those nights he came home late. When I asked he always brushed it off, said he met a lot of people, that scents transferred easily, that I was being paranoid again.

Inside the box was red lingerie, expensive and barely there, the kind of thing that screamed intention. A folded note sat tucked beneath it. My hands shook only a little as I opened it.

To remind you of our explosive night yesterday. Wear it for me again soon. — J

Yesterday. Adrian had not come home until four in the morning. He had said he worked late with Jade and dropped her off because there were no cabs. He had even kissed my forehead when he thought I was asleep and I had lain there in the dark saying nothing like I always did. Two years of saying nothing. Two years of swallowing it down because admitting it felt like admitting I had failed at something I was never sure I wanted in the first place.

I set the note down carefully on the passenger seat like it might break if I moved too fast. Then I started the car and drove straight to his office.

The reception floor buzzed with the usual midday energy when I walked in but I was not looking for Adrian yet. I needed to see her first. Jade was not at her desk so I took the elevator up to the executive floor and pushed open the door to his office without knocking.

She was inside, sitting in Adrian's chair like it belonged to her, phone raised high while she did a live video with that giddy energy of someone who had never once considered consequences.

"—and see what my rich boyfriend got for me," she was saying, tilting her wrist so the bracelet caught the light perfectly for her followers.

I stepped fully into the room, the door swinging shut behind me with a quiet click.

"Your rich boyfriend," I said, my voice cutting through the air like a blade I had finally decided to unsheathe.