Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"We're not quite finished yet," Emily said, her voice carrying just enough for nearby guests to pause in their conversations, sensing more entertainment to come. "There's one more matter to discuss."

Mona straightened her back and lifted her chin, summoning what little dignity she had left. "What more could you possibly want? I've signed your papers."

The room went silent. All eyes turned to watch the confrontation.

Emily's smile was razor-sharp. "The stolen items, Mona. I want them back. Now."

"Stolen items?" Mona's confusion was genuine. "I haven't stolen anything."

Emily stepped closer, her perfume overwhelmingly sweet and suffocating. "Don't play innocent. The jewelry you're wearing right now, it belongs to the Caldwell family."

Mona's hand instinctively went to her throat, to the delicate sapphire pendant that hung there. "This? Samuel gave this to me for our third anniversary. It's mine."

A ripple of whispers spread through the watching crowd. Samuel remained by the dance floor, Lora clutching his arm, both watching the scene unfold with calculated interest.

"Did he?" Emily's voice dripped with mock sympathy. "That's what he told you? My dear, Samuel would never give away a family heirloom to someone like you. That necklace belonged to my grandmother. You must have taken it from my jewelry box."

"That's not true," Mona protested, her voice breaking. "Samuel gave it to me. It was the only real gift he'd given me in years. He said...."

"He said what?" Emily cut her off. "That it was special? That it was just for you?" She laughed, the sound echoing in the now-silent ballroom. "Samuel, darling, did you give this woman my grandmother's sapphire pendant?"

Samuel finally stepped forward, his face a mask of practiced concern. "Of course not, Mother. I would never." He turned to Mona, his eyes cold. "You must have taken it when I wasn't looking. Just like the other pieces."

"What other pieces?" Mona's voice was barely a whisper. How could he lie so blatantly? She remembered the night he'd given her the pendant, how he'd fastened it around her neck, kissed her shoulder, told her the blue matched her eyes.

Emily snapped her fingers, and her assistant appeared with a list. "Diamond earrings, emerald bracelet, ruby ring... shall I go on? All missing from my collection. All coincidentally after you joined our family."

"I've never seen those things!" Mona protested. "I would never...."

"The necklace, Mona," Emily demanded, extending her hand. "Return it now."

Mona's fingers trembled as they touched the pendant. It was her most treasured possession, the one time in their marriage when Samuel had seemed to truly see her, to value her enough for a meaningful gift.

"Please," she whispered, looking to Samuel. "Tell them the truth. You gave this to me. You know you did."

Samuel wouldn't meet her eyes. "Just give it back, Mona. Don't make this worse for yourself."

With shaking hands, Mona unclasped the necklace. The sapphire glittered under the chandelier lights as she reluctantly placed it in Emily's outstretched palm.

"The earrings too," Emily said, gesturing to the small pearl drops in Mona's ears. "Those are Caldwell pearls."

"These were my mother's," Mona said, her voice stronger now, anger breaking through her shock. "They have nothing to do with your family."

Emily's eyebrows rose. "Prove it. Do you have a receipt? Documentation that they belonged to your mother? No? Then they must be the ones missing from my jewelry box."

The watching crowd murmured, several women nodding in agreement with Emily. The story was taking shape around her, Mona the thief, Mona the liar, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

With trembling fingers, Mona removed the pearl earrings, the last connection to her mother. As she placed them in Emily's hand, she felt something vital break inside her.

"And the ring," Emily continued, pointing to the simple gold band on Mona's right hand. "That's a Caldwell heirloom as well."

"This is my wedding ring," Mona said, disbelief coloring her voice. "You expect me to give you my wedding ring?"

"It's not your wedding ring anymore," Lora called out, stepping forward with a triumphant smile. "You signed the papers, remember? Besides, it is a family piece. Samuel will need it back... for me."

The crowd gasped and tittered, enjoying the spectacle. Mona looked to Samuel, hoping for some intervention, some small mercy, but he simply nodded.

"The ring, Mona," he said quietly.

With a sharp, painful tug, Mona pulled the ring from her finger and dropped it into Emily's waiting hand. Five years of marriage, reduced to a piece of jewelry to be recycled for the next wife.

"There," Mona said, her voice hollow. "You have everything now. May I go?"

"Not quite everything," Lora said, sauntering forward. Her eyes traveled over Mona's blue silk dress, a calculating gleam in them. "That dress you're wearing—Samuel bought it, didn't he?"

Mona stiffened. "Yes, for my birthday last year."

Lora's smile widened. "Actually, he bought it for me. Didn't you, darling?" She turned to Samuel, who looked uncomfortable for the first time.

"I..." he began, but Lora didn't let him finish.

"He bought it thinking of me, planning for our future," she continued. "He only gave it to you because he couldn't very well bring it home to me while you were still around. Isn't that right, Samuel?"

Samuel cleared his throat. "It would be best if you returned it, Mona. It is technically a Caldwell purchase."

The room went completely silent. Even Emily looked slightly taken aback, though her surprise quickly morphed into cruel amusement.

"You want me to take off my dress?" Mona asked, her voice barely audible. "Here? Now?"

"Well, you can use the powder room if you insist on privacy," Lora said with a dismissive wave. "But that dress is mine. I won't have you leaving in it."

The humiliation was complete. Stripped of her jewelry, her marriage, and now they wanted to take the clothes from her back. Mona looked around at the circle of faces, some shocked, some amused, none willing to intervene.

"This is inhuman," she whispered. "You've taken everything else. At least let me leave with my dignity."

"Dignity?" Emily laughed. "My dear, you lost that the moment you started stealing from us. The dress, Mona. Now."

A few women in the crowd shifted uncomfortably, the demand finally crossing a line even they recognized as too cruel. But no one spoke up.

Mona's eyes, dry until now from the shock, finally filled with tears. "And what am I supposed to wear out of here? Or is that part of the plan too—to send me out naked and humiliated?"

"Don't be dramatic," Emily said with a sigh. "Marjorie, fetch something from the staff quarters for her to wear. Something... appropriate for her station."

An older woman hurried away, returning moments later with a plain black dress, a maid's uniform, Mona realized with a fresh wave of humiliation.

"You can change in the powder room," Emily said, gesturing to a door across the ballroom. "And do be quick about it. We'd like to continue celebrating without further interruption."

With the maid's dress clutched in her arms, Mona walked through the parting crowd, her back straight despite the tears now flowing freely down her cheeks. The whispers followed her, cruel and cutting.

"Always thought she was putting on airs."

"Probably stealing since day one."

"Can you imagine the nerve? Wearing another woman's dress!"

In the powder room, Mona leaned against the locked door, her body shaking with silent sobs. How had it come to this? This morning she had been in Samuel's arms, believing in their future. Now she was changing into a maid's uniform, stripped of everything, even the clothes on her back.

With trembling fingers, she unzipped the blue silk dress, the one Samuel had once told her brought out the gold flecks in her eyes. Another lie in a marriage built on lies.

The maid's dress was too large, hanging shapeless on her frame. The fabric was rough against her skin, a constant reminder of her new status in their eyes. She folded the blue silk carefully, running her fingers over the material one last time before opening the door.

Emily and Lora waited just outside, twin expressions of satisfaction on their faces.

"Here," Mona said, holding out the dress. "It's yours. It always was, apparently."

Lora snatched it from her hands. "It looks better on me anyway. Blue was never your color."

Mona didn't respond. What was left to say? They had taken everything, her marriage, her jewelry, her clothes, her dignity. All that remained was to escape with what little of herself she had left.

As she turned to leave, Emily's voice stopped her once more. "One last thing, Mona."

Mona paused, not turning around. What more could they possibly take?

"The police have been notified about the other missing items," Emily said, her voice carrying for the benefit of all listeners. "I'd advise you not to leave town. They'll want to question you."

A final twist of the knife. Not content with taking everything, they were ensuring she would leave under a cloud of suspicion, branded a thief as well as a discarded wife.

"I didn't take anything," Mona said quietly, not turning around. "But you've already decided I'm guilty, haven't you? You all have."

"The evidence speaks for itself," Emily replied coldly. "Now, please leave my house. The staff entrance would be most appropriate, don't you think? Given your new attire."

Laughter rippled through the watching guests. Mona finally turned, surveying the room one last time, the gleaming chandeliers, the expensive floral arrangements, the beautifully dressed people who had smiled to her face for five years while apparently despising her behind her back.

Her eyes found Samuel, standing with his arm around Lora, the blue dress draped over his other arm. For a moment, their gazes locked. Mona searched for any sign of the man she had married, any flicker of remorse or compassion.

There was nothing. Just emptiness, as if the last five years had meant nothing to him.

"Goodbye, Samuel," she said softly. "I hope it was worth it."

Then, with her head held high despite the tears still streaming down her face, Mona turned and walked toward the service entrance, the whispers and laughter following her like shadows.

Behind her, the party resumed. Music played. Glasses clinked. Life went on as if she had never existed.

And perhaps, in their world, she never truly had.