- Broken amethyst
- Chapter 1
- College days, Ethan, the campus ice king,
- chased me for two years before I finally
- agreed to go out with him.
- The day we got together, I gave him three
- keepsakes.
- I told him, “Ethan, these three things are the
- most important things in my life.”
- “You must never lose them. If these three
- things are gone, you’ll never find me again.”
- We were happy, eventually walking down the
- aisle. With my help, his company grew
- stronger and stronger.
- But everything changed the day his first love,
- Lana, returned from overseas.
- Lana tore up our marriage certificate. Ethan,
- who’d never raised his voice at me before,
- said,
- “It’s just a marriage certificate! We can get a
- <
- new one. Why are you making such a big deal
- out of it? Apologize to Lana.”
- Lana had been robbed overseas, and Ethan,
- who always believed in me, suddenly
- questioned me.
- “Lori, I told you Lana and I are just friends.
- Why can’t you understand? You even sent
- people to rob her and hurt her overseas. Now,
- go apologize to Lana!”
- Then, one day, I saw my keepsakes on Lana.
- That’s when I gave up.
- I decided to take back those three things that
- were so important to me.
- But when the three things disappeared, Ethan
- went crazy.
- 1.
- “Why are the things I gave you on Lana?”
- I tried to control my emotions, to keep from
- exploding.
- In Lana’s Instagram post, the necklace I
- <
- designed was clearly visible around Lana’s
- neck.
- That necklace was the first one I designed
- completely on my own.
- It was also the first necklace I ever won a
- design competition with.
- It meant the world to me.
- “What things? Lori, don’t push it.”
- “Do you hate Lana this much now?”
- “Let me tell you, even though we’re married,
- the things I give away aren’t automatically
- yours.
- On the other end of the phone, Ethan spoke
- coldly.
- His words were like daggers piercing my
- heart.
- I understood. He’d forgotten the necklace,
- forgotten the keepsakes I gave him. Saying
- anything more was pointless.
- “My necklace.”
- く
- I gritted out those four words.
- Finally, Ethan’s voice faltered, his breathing
- ragged.
- “Lori, it was my oversight. I’ll go get it back
- from Lana right away.
- There was panic in Ethan’s voice, but I didn’t
- want to hear any more.
- I hung up, heartbroken.
- Looking back at the past year since Lana’s
- return, I realized I’d been lying to myself.
- I’d told myself Ethan and Lana’s alone trip.
- was for work.
- I’d told myself that Ethan coming home drunk
- was because of business dinners.
- I’d even told myself that those strange marks
- on his body were from a fall.
- It finally dawned on me; I couldn’t lie to
- myself anymore.
- This relationship was over.
- After hanging up, I decided to drive to
- <
- Ethan’s office to get my necklace back.
- But as soon as I arrived, I heard unusual
- sounds from inside.
- “Lana, give me the necklace back. I’ll get your
- a better one later.”
- Ethan’s voice was incredibly gentle, a tone he
- hadn’t used with me in ages.
- “Ethan, you called me here just to get the
- necklace back?”
- “So, I’m still not as important as Lori to you?
- One call from her and you get back
- something you gave me seriously.”
- “Lana, it’s not like that…”
- “It’s okay, Ethan. You’ve married her now, so
- you have to do what she wants. You’re not
- mine anymore.”
- Lana’s words hung in the air, leaving a long
- silence.
- After about a minute, Ethan spoke again.
- “Assistant, find a way to make an exact
- L
- replica of the necklace Lana’s wearing…”
- He said this in front of Lana, meaning he
- wanted to make a copy and give it back to
- me.
- Didn’t he know?! How important that necklace
- was to me?
- I couldn’t take it anymore. I threw open the
- door.
- Ethan hadn’t put down the phone. When he
- saw me, a flicker of panic crossed his eyes.
- “Lori, don’t you know how to knock before
- entering someone else’s office?”
- His words stunned me.
- Someone else?
- Those words echoed in my head, a searing
- pain.
- My prepared words died in my throat.
- Perhaps seeing my silence, Ethan realized
- he’d said something wrong.
