The Don Gave Me a Fake Ring, So I Left
On our seventh anniversary, Don Leonardo Luciano gave me an eight-carat pigeon's-blood ruby ring.
He told me it was a family heirloom, passed from one Donna to the next.
"Camilla, I can't give you a wedding yet, but in my heart, you're already my wife."
My eyes filled with tears as I slipped it onto my finger. Then I asked my best friend, Nora Bennett, to examine it after her shift at the auction house.
She held it under a lamp and slowly turned the stone. A ring of crimson light appeared inside it.
"This isn't a natural ruby."
"How is that possible? Leonardo gave it to me. It's a family heirloom."
Nora frowned. "Really? I heard every piece of Luciano family jewelry bears a gold lion crest.