Chapter4
Two of Ethan's friends wandered in through the connecting door, drinks in hand.
“Told you she'd fold.”
“Pay up. Ethan wins.”
One of them nodded at the locket on Vanessa's neck.
“All that drama, and one necklace did the trick.”
The small, relieved smile on Ethan's face vanished when he saw mine.
“Claire. That's not—”
“You bet on me?” I asked.
He turned to the two men. “Out.”
They didn't budge until his voice dropped lower.
“Now.”
They went.
“Let me explain,” he said.
“Keep your explanation. I want the locket.”
Vanessa reached back and unhooked the clasp.
“There. Since it means so much.”
Instead of putting it in my hand, she flicked it toward me.
It didn't reach.
The locket hit the edge of the marble tabletop and popped open. The glass inside burst apart on the floor.
For a heartbeat, the whole room went silent in my ears.
Then I was on my knees, scooping up the chain, the dented case, the shards of glass. The tiny portrait had cracked straight down the center. Half of my mother's face lay next to the leg of the chair.
A tear dropped onto my knuckles.
She'd been gone so many years. So little of her was left.
“Oops,” Vanessa said from above me. “I thought you'd catch it. It's just an old necklace—”
“Shut up, Vanessa.”
Ethan crouched next to me. A thin line of blood was spreading across my palm where a piece of glass had sliced it.
“Claire, stop. You're bleeding.”
I reached for the other half of the portrait.
He swatted my hand away.
“I said stop. I'll get you a new one.”
My fingers struck the floor.
I looked up at him.
A new one.
As though he could have someone ship over the years she'd worn it. The hands that had fastened it. The face behind the glass.
I lifted the last piece with a napkin and wrapped it around the rest.
“Don't ever touch me again.”
“Claire—”
“Those words bought back my mother's locket. They didn't buy you me.”
I got to my feet, keeping my weight off the bad ankle.
“It's over, Ethan.”
He reached out, then stopped short of touching me.
I walked out.
Behind me, Vanessa shrieked.
“Ethan, my foot! There's glass in it—I'm bleeding!”
He cursed. A chair scraped, and I heard him shouting for someone to bring the car around.
He didn't come after me.
On the street, I flagged a cab and asked for the nearest urgent care. A nurse cleaned and bandaged my hand and checked my ankle. Then I went home for my suitcase.
His text came when I was already on my way to the airport.
Where are you? Get your hand looked at. I'll be there as soon as I can.
I didn't reply.
At the airport, I checked my bag, cleared security, and waited at the gate with my mother's broken locket zipped inside my carry-on.
My screen wouldn't stop lighting up.
Ethan.
Ethan again.
I blocked him. Then Vanessa. Daniel's texts I left unread.
When they called my row, I stood up.
For three years, I'd stood outside a door Ethan refused to open for me.
This time, I stepped through one on my own.
By the time he realized I was gone, my flight was already in the air.
