Chapter 3

During the second month, Ms. Palmer asked everyone in styling class to bring the most meaningful gift they had ever received.

Miranda brought her grandmother's pearls.

I brought an old gold bracelet, the first gift Duncan ever gave me.

Class hadn't even started when Mallory and Diana arrived.

The Lockwood family sponsored this session of the program, and they had come to select student assistants for an upcoming charity gala.

Mallory saw the bracelet and laughed.

"You still have that thing?"

Then she told the entire class the story.

When Duncan was pursuing me, he had placed two things in front of me: a wooden keepsake box he had spent two months carving by hand, and the gold bracelet. He told me to choose one.

I barely glanced at the wooden box before taking the gold. From that day on, everyone in the Lockwood family knew exactly what I wanted: not Duncan, but his money.

Mallory told the story well, and several people laughed.

I smiled awkwardly with them while tightening my fingers around the bracelet.

That day, Duncan had put the wooden box away.

The next morning, Diana delivered a thick agreement.

Duncan called and asked, "So you want money?"

I said yes.

I had thought marriage meant two people putting their lives and money together.

I was stupid enough to believe he was asking whether I wanted to build a life with him.

Apparently, what he heard was me naming my price.

Diana added calmly, "Ms. Lennox has always known exactly what she wants."

I panicked at the idea that everyone would think I was greedy.

"Where I grew up, gold meant a man was serious about you.

"My mom always said a man who gives you gold means to marry you. I thought... that was what Duncan was asking."

The laughter slowly stopped.

I looked at the scratches on the old bracelet.

Only then did I realize we had been talking past each other since that very day.

I had spent eight years thinking I was his wife.

He had spent eight years thinking I had simply chosen the more expensive gift.

After class, Ms. Palmer asked if the five hundred dollars a month was really true.

I nodded, then defended Duncan out of habit.

"He's busy. He probably doesn't know what it costs to run a household now."

Ms. Palmer pulled my sleeve lower to cover the scrapes from moving floral stands.

"Nora, being honest doesn't mean letting other people keep the books on your worth."

She found me paid floral work at events for eighty dollars a night. I split every payment into three envelopes: Grandma's medicine, Nell's school expenses, and my parents.

Mom had called the week before.

Dad's back hurt so badly he could barely stand, but he refused to see a doctor.

I sent them two hundred dollars and told Mom it was from Duncan. That way, she'd accept it without worrying, and they'd keep believing I was doing well.

One night, I returned to the house and found Duncan home.

Nell had fallen asleep over the dining table but refused to go to bed because she wanted to wait for her father.

Duncan carried her to her room.

When he came back, he noticed the hole worn into the toe of her shoe.

"Why didn't you buy her new ones?"

I rubbed my hands awkwardly against my apron.

"This month's money..."

"Didn't I tell you to ask Diana if you need something?"

His voice wasn't harsh; he just sounded tired.

I saw the shadows under his eyes and immediately felt guilty for bringing up money while he was exhausted.

I made him a bowl of plain noodle soup, no scallions as always, and set his stomach medicine by his right hand.

He noticed the bandages on my hands.

"You're still working at the hotel?"

"Grandma's medication is expensive. I thought I could earn a little extra."

Duncan looked up as if he hadn't understood.

His phone rang.

I didn't know what Diana said.

His eyes turned cold again.

"If you want money, ask for it directly. Don't use Grandma as an excuse. And stop going to hotels at night."

I was still holding the bowl. The rim burned my palms, but I forgot to let go.

So that brief moment of concern hadn't meant he believed me.

He only thought I had invented another way to ask for money.

The next morning, he flew to Port Calder.

Diana transferred five hundred dollars to me with a message: "Mr. Lockwood wants you to learn to budget. Stop embarrassing him in public."

I stared at it for a long time, then replied, "Thank you."

At least Nell could get new shoes, and Grandma wouldn't miss her medication.

I had just divided the money into envelopes when Mom called.

She was crying.

Dad had been diagnosed with a tumor at the county hospital.

The surgery deposit was thirty thousand dollars.

The envelopes slipped from my hands.

A few hundred dollars landed on the floor without sound.

They suddenly felt lighter than air.