Chapter 3

I sighed, stopped dwelling on depressing stuff, and made myself something hot and comforting. I'd barely taken a few bites when Joanna burst through the door, fuming.

She held up the protective charm and snapped, "Callum, this pendant is our token of love. How could you sell it secondhand?"

I hadn't expected the buyer to turn out to be her, of all people. Still, I kept my face blank at her interrogation. I didn't bother to look up as I continued to eat.

Only after I'd polished everything off did I finally speak, slowly and steadily. "I didn't want it anymore, so I sold it."

Joanna stared at me in disbelief. "But I gave this to you!"

"I know. And?" I didn't even want her anymore, much less a pendant.

She locked her gaze on me. After a moment, it was like a light went on in her head. Disappointment filled her face as she asked, "Callum, are you still mad about the wedding and the watch I bought for Larry? That's why you sold the pendant to piss me off?

"I told you I had my reasons, and I promised I'd still marry you. What more do you want? I bought that watch for Larry because I bailed on him after promising I'd help him put on a show for his parents. That was my fault. What's wrong with buying him a watch to make up for it?

"Besides, it was only $7,500. Once we're married, half my money is yours anyway. Why are you so hung up on a bit of pocket change?"

That actually made me laugh. $7,500 was pocket money to her, yet she couldn't bring herself to spend even that much on Mom.

Where the money went, the love went. Too bad I only understood that after Mom died.

Joanna whipped out her secret weapon when she saw that I looked upset. She pulled a gold bracelet from her pocket and shoved it into my hand, her tone softening. "Come on, don't be mad. Look, I bought your mom the gold bracelet she's always wanted.

"For now, you two will just have to put up with things for a bit. Once I help Larry smooth things over with his parents, I'll make it up to you both, okay?"

My nose stung when she mentioned Mom. Mom really had wanted a gold bracelet once, but all my money had been in Joanna's hands.

I'd brought it up to Joanna, but she'd shot it down, saying we were at a point where every cent counted, and there was no way we could spare the money for a gold bracelet.

Later, when we finally had money, she'd changed her tune and said gold was a bad investment. She'd promised to buy Mom one some other time.

We'd fought about it more times than I could count.

To keep us from arguing, Mom had backed down and said she didn't want the bracelet anymore. She'd even dipped into her rainy-day savings to buy Joanna a diamond bracelet to cheer her up.

I couldn't stand it and decided to use my bonus to buy Mom the bracelet myself, but she'd stopped me. "Cal, it's not worth upsetting Joanna over a bracelet. The two of you living a good life together matters more than anything."

For my sake, Mom had put up with so much. Her whole life had just been one long hardship.

I said, "Mom can't wear it anymore because she's already—"

Right then, I heard someone punching in the door code. A second later, Larry walked in with his parents behind him.

"Jo, why'd you run off without even eating? You didn't take your phone either. Luckily, I noticed, so I brought it over. Oh, and my parents wanted to see our new place, so I brought them along…"

Larry froze the moment he saw me. "Callum, what are you doing here?"

Mrs. Johnson noticed me. "Who's this?"

Joanna pasted on a smile and jumped in before I could say a word. "Mom, this is my cousin from the countryside. He's in town for medical treatment and didn't have anywhere to stay, so he's crashing here for now."

Every word hit me like a stab to the chest. I was her steady boyfriend of five years, yet she was now making me out to be some hick cousin from out of town.