4

##Chapter 4

The next morning, I was discharged with Susie's care.

She insisted on taking me home, but I refused.

Some things I had to face alone.

I returned to that cold, empty home.

Allen wasn't there, but I could tell at a glance that he had been back.

There were signs that the walk-in closet in the bedroom had been disturbed.

A strong sense of foreboding rose in my heart.

I quickly walked to the vanity.

The velvet jewelry box in the top drawer had been moved.

There was a very subtle angular deviation, but I recognized it.

With trembling hands, I opened it.

On the top velvet layer, there was an empty space.

Where a pair of pearl earrings I never wore, but which held extraordinary meaning for me, had been.

They were the only thing my mother left me before she died.

She said: "Freya, save these for your wedding day. Mom hopes you'll be happy for life."

I had only worn them once - on my wedding day with Allen.

My blood instantly turned cold.

I immediately took out my phone and dialed Allen's number.

The call was answered after one ring.

My voice was shaking.

"Where are my mother's pearl earrings?"

On the other end, Allen's voice was calm, even carrying a trace of matter-of-fact casualness.

"Oh, you mean those. Fiona has an important charity gala in a few days."

"I saw you never wear them anyway, so I lent them to her to make a good impression."

My blood rushed to my head, and my vision went black.

I gripped the vanity to keep from falling.

"Those are my mother's relics! Allen! How dare you!" My voice was hoarse, like coughing up blood.

Allen was angered by my reaction, thinking I was making a big fuss over nothing.

"They're just a pair of earrings! Is it worth getting so worked up about!"

He began his specialty - accusations and lectures.

"Can't you stop being so petty and learn from Fiona's generosity! She would never make a scene with me over something so trivial!"

Clinging to my last shred of rationality, I forced each word through gritted teeth.

"I don't care. You need to bring them back to me right now!"

Silence on the other end for a few seconds.

Then, in an icy tone filled with vindictive pleasure, he delivered the verdict:

"Can't bring them back."

My heart sank. "Why?"

He seemed to have laid this trap just to completely destroy me.

Word by word, he clearly pronounced my death sentence:

"Because after she put them on, she liked them so much that she cried, saying they were the best gift she'd ever received."

"I think they really suit her too."

"So I gave the earrings to her."

"Freya, consider it a welcoming gift from you as her sister-in-law."

I could no longer hold on.

The phone slipped from my powerless hand.

It hit the floor with a "crack," the screen completely shattered and went black.

The world went blank.

He had not only stolen my mother's relic but also stolen its meaning, forcibly labeling it as a "gift."

This was the most vicious double desecration of my mother and me.

From the phone's speaker, Allen's voice still came through like a devil's curse.

Not satisfied with hurting me enough, he added the cruelest line:

"Freya, I'm warning you, don't go bother Fiona, don't embarrass me."

"To compensate you, I've already booked the lakeside cottage for next weekend - consider it making up for your birthday."

The lakeside cottage.

The place where we had our first date, where he confessed to me.

He continued in that cruel tone:

"But you better behave. If you dare disturb Fiona and make her unhappy..."

"I'll take her there instead."