He Hides a Ring, I Drain His Wallet

The air-conditioning in the Clover Club card room was running full blast, and the shuffling of cards at our table drowned out every other sound.

"Sierra, look at this! That bastard Ethan!"

My best friend, Wendy Lawson, shoved her phone in my face. On the screen was a photo that hurt to look at.

It showed a yacht by the river and a crowd of elegantly dressed people. My husband, Ethan Fuller, was down on one knee, slipping a huge diamond ring onto his secretary Yvette Shelton's finger.

The caption read, "Here's to the rest of our lives."

In an instant, the table went so quiet that the only sound left was the hum of the air conditioner.

"Isn't… Isn't that Mr. Fuller?" Mrs. Walton, who was sitting across from me, covered her mouth. "He and Ms. Shelton… Is this… Is this a proposal?"

"A proposal? That's not even the half of it!" Wendy snapped, her chest heaving with anger as she pointed at Jordan Yancey, who was beaming in the photo.

"Look at these men. They all teamed up to make a fool out of you. Jordan told me he had a company team-building event tonight, but it turns out he's off playing wingman at his buddy's proposal party!"

Another woman at the table leaned in for a look, then sighed. "Sierra, back when Ethan was pursuing you, everyone at Larkwood University knew about it. How did it come to this…"

"Men turn rotten the minute they make a little money. Every last one of them," another chimed in. "And when Ethan started his company, didn't he have your family backing him?"

"I've met that Ms. Shelton," a third added. "She looked so sweet and innocent. Who knew she was that kind of slut?"

"What are you going to do, Sierra?" Wendy asked. "You can't just let this go!"

Outraged on my behalf, they started mapping out ways for me to rip my cheating husband and the other woman to shreds.

I simply listened quietly, my gaze resting on the cards I'd been dealt. Among them was the ace of diamonds.

I looked up at Wendy, who was so angry she was close to tears. A faint smile tugged at my lips, and I pushed a stack of chips into the pot.

"Raise."

When the women saw me like this, their cursing slowly died down. They exchanged glances, at a loss for words, and the mood at the table turned strange.

When it was time to draw, I exchanged my only non-diamond card. Its replacement was the ten of diamonds.

After the final round of betting, I laid my hand face up on the table.

Every card was a diamond.

"Read 'em and weep."

As they stared at me in shock, I added evenly, "A flush. Just my luck."

…

Bag in hand, I pushed open the front door.

The living room light was on, and Ethan was sitting on the couch, apparently waiting for me. The moment I walked in, he got to his feet, smiling as gently as ever. "You're home. How was your luck tonight? Did you win or lose?"

Ignoring him, I walked straight over to the coffee table, took the thick wad of cash I'd won out of my purse, and slapped it down with a loud smack. "Thanks to you, my luck was incredible."

I looked at him and smiled back. "A fat wallet and one less husband to worry about. Looks like my luck really is turning around."

Ethan's smile froze for a second before he laughed it off. "What are you talking about? That kind of joke isn't funny."

"A joke?" I took out my phone, unlocked it, pulled up the screenshot I'd saved, and held it up to his face.

The yacht, the diamond ring, Ethan down on one knee, and Yvette smiling sweetly—all of it stood out on the screen so clearly that it hurt to look at.