Chapter 4

Lena found herself taken aback. Watching the comfortable, familiar way Ava was laughing and chatting with Henry’s friends, it was obvious that this was not her first time hanging out with them.

When exactly had Henry brought her into his inner circle? Lena had not suspected a single thing. When those exact friends used to welcome her into their circle, had they all been secretly mocking her, laughing at how completely oblivious she was to her fiancé’s straying affection?

Her fingernails dug deeply into her palms as she stared fixedly at the scene inside the private room. They were currently playing Truth or Dare, and the spinning liquor bottle came to a steady halt right in front of Ava. The dare written on the card seemed to make Ava uncomfortable, and the surrounding crowd immediately started chanting for her to take a penalty shot instead.

Ava blinked her tear-filled eyes at Henry. Without any hesitation, Henry grabbed the glass of liquor from the table and downed it. Setting the glass back down, he swept his eyes over his friends.

He warned them, “Alright, that’s enough. Ava can’t drink so much. Stop peer-pressuring her.”

His comment brought another bout of teasing, suggestive laughter.

After a few more rounds, the bottle pointed at Ava again. She chose Dare yet again, and this time, the challenge was to ask the person sitting next to her for an item.

Ava gave Henry a timid glance, her finger pointing directly at the wooden-beaded bracelet on his wrist. “Henry, could I have that?”

Lena fixed her eyes onto that bracelet like a dagger. She was the one who had given it to him, and it was the only keepsake her mother left her. Yet, she watched as Henry caressed the wooden beads twice before sliding it off his wrist and handing it right over to Ava.

A chill ran down Lena’s spine, leaving her shaking. She still vividly remembered the words she whispered when she put that bracelet onto his wrist in her past life.

“This is my most treasured possession, Henry.”

Back then, Henry had smiled and stroked her hair as he promised, “Since you gave it to me, I’ll wear it forever.”

In her previous life, when she noticed he had stopped wearing it and asked him about it, he simply told her that he had put it away safely as he was afraid of damaging it. That was why she never questioned the bracelet’s whereabouts again. Never in a million years would she have thought that he had gifted it to the person she hated most in the world.

Lena could no longer hold it together. She flung the door to the private room wide open, her eyes bloodshot as she glared at Henry.

She demanded, “Henry! If you don’t care about my mother’s keepsake, give it back to me! Who are you to give it to Ava?”

The raucous noise in the room instantly froze. Everyone was stunned by the sudden intrusion.

Henry’s eyes widened, a flicker of panic crossing his face, and he quickly stepped toward her.

“Lenny, it’s not what you think!”

“Then what is it?”

Lena paid no heed to what he had to say. She simply brushed past him, reaching out to snatch the bracelet from Ava’s hand. However, Ava was quick. She deftly dodged behind Henry’s back, tugging timidly at the edge of his jacket.

“Henry…”

Henry froze for a split second, but his instincts kicked in, and he stepped between the two women.

Feeling a heavy weight crushing her chest, Lena stared at Henry and said in a trembling voice, “You’re protecting her? Henry, you know exactly whose daughter she is, and you’re protecting her?”

Henry pressed his lips together, offering a soft explanation. "Lenny, I only kept this from you because I didn’t want you to misunderstand. Ava saved my life once, and she developed chronic health issues because of it. I know you hate her mother, but Ava… Ava is different from her mother.”

“I don’t give a damn about her!” Lena cut him off with a sharp cry. "If you want to repay her for her kindness, do it on your own dime! Why are you using my things to do so? Give me back my bracelet!"

Ava shrank back and said with tears, “But Henry gave this to me, and I really like it…”

She tugged at Henry’s sleeve again, sniffling. "This is the first time I’ve ever liked something so much. Once a gift is given, it’s not right to demand it back…”

As she spoke, she clutched her chest and began to cough weakly. The room was pin-drop silent.

Henry frowned while he rubbed Ava’s back to soothe her breathing. Then, he turned his head toward Lena and said, “Lenny, just let her have it.”

Those words were spoken so casually, yet they stabbed Lena’s heart like a knife. She refused to back down, her bloodshot eyes wide with fury.

“Henry, you know exactly what that is. That is my mother’s final keepsake! Are you really going to give it to the daughter of the woman who killed her?”

Henry hesitated as if he wanted to say something, but he was cut short by Ava’s soft coughing.

Leaning on Henry’s arm for support, Ava walked toward Lena with tear-filled eyes, extending her hand to offer the bracelet. “If you want it back so badly, I’ll just give it back to you…”

Yet, the exact moment Lena reached out to take it, Ava grabbed Lena’s wrist and fell backward. The bracelet slipped from Ava’s grasp and flew into the air before hitting the floor with a sharp clack.