The Unbroken Glow

"The truth is out, and the schemer's plot has been laid bare. A pheasant can't simply become a phoenix."

The internet was abuzz with mockery at my expense, but my daughter's eyes gleamed with smug satisfaction.

"Serves you right for messing with Ms. Elaine."

I gazed at the spite across her young face, and a wave of exhaustion washed over me.

"Yoana, you know I've cherished this bracelet for a decade. Why would you fabricate such a lie?"

Her eyes were filled with contempt.

"Because you're unworthy. You're the other woman who tore Dad away from Ms. Elaine, and you've turned me into a joke at school.

"It's your turn to get what you deserve. The world would be better off without you!"

In a flash of anger, she flung the crystal ball at me.

Caught off guard, it hit me square in the head, and blood gushed forth.

The crystal ball crashed to the floor, shattering into pieces.

My heart clenched. I had given her that crystal ball for her seventh birthday.

I spent three days perfecting its decorations, setting it carefully on her desk to avoid any scratches, never imagining it would be the instrument of my own pain.

Yoana rolled her eyes in disgust at the blood.

"Consider this a lesson. Ms. Elaine, taking your tacky bracelet is a favor for you."

As she stormed upstairs, my heart plummeted.

Seven years of love and labor—all washed away in a moment.

With it, my last shred of fondness for that house evaporated.

Jeffrey Shaw, alerted by the noise, stepped out from his study.

He did not even glance at the wound on my head. His first words were an accusation.

"Elaine's been sobbing non-stop. You owe her an apology."

The irony made me want to laugh.

"Why should I? That mystical bracelet is a treasure passed down in my family. Aren't you aware of that?"

Jeffrey's brow furrowed, his annoyance evident.

"You're Mrs. Shaw. Stop making a fuss over petty things.

"Please, look after Yoana and do what's expected of you."

His tone was so casual that it broke my heart a little more.

He had been like a chunk of ice that would not melt, slowly chipping away at my brave, lonely stand until nothing was left.

We had been pearl divers for generations, back when I was just a girl without a care in the world.

Ten years ago, I pulled him from the water; his memory washed away. We were young, and we fell hard for each other.

When the Shaws came to take him back, he would not let go of me.

I did everything to be his equal, learned all the high-society rules, and even gave him our daughter, Yoana.

However, when Yoana turned four, his memory returned.

All our love just disappeared, and suddenly, Elaine Kane was the one he was supposed to marry.

He completely forgot how, years ago, he stood outside the Shaw family's gate all night in a raging snowstorm, punished by his father—all for the sake of marrying me.

"What happened to your head?"

Jeffrey finally seemed to notice me, his eyebrows knitting together.

I kept my face blank.

"Just a little fall."

He let out a sigh.

"Haven't you been keeping up with your etiquette lessons? Why can't you seem to fit in?"

For a moment, his icy indifference took me back to a time when he would have rushed me to the hospital for a tiny cut from cooking him soup.

But now, I bet he would only complain about the mess if I bled out.

His dad, Thomas Shaw, once said, "People from different worlds only end up hurting each other."

It turned out that he was right.

Jeffrey noticed my silence, his voice a touch gentler as he said, "You should try to be more like Elaine, given where you come from. Stop making things harder with your daydreams."

I hung my head, suddenly so tired of it all.

"Jeffrey, I want a divorce."

"You're being unreasonable again."

Jeffrey's expression was one of impatience.

"Rebecca, you're Mrs. Shaw, Yoana's mom. How can you say something so careless?"

I stared at him, feeling a sharp pain in the tenderest part of my heart.

A brief thought darted through my mind.

'I'm Mrs. Shaw by name, but that's about it. I'm Yoana's mom, but she's set on having Elaine as her mother. Haven't I poured ten years into the Shaw family? Isn't that enough?'

His face grew stormier, but I did not back down.