The Bracelet
(Jane’s POV)
I didn’t remember how I made it down the stairs–or how I ended up outside, the city’s breath slapping me in the face. I think I ran, but my legs moved on their own. The cold night air whipped against my skin, but I didn’t care.
I just kept going–because if I stopped, the weight of what I’d seen would crush me.
Taxi lights blurred by. Somewhere behind me, I thought I heard Nathan call my name–but maybe it was in my head. I didn’t look back.
I flagged down a taxi, told the driver to take me to the Musk Hotel. The ride was short. When we arrived, I paid the fare and walked straight to the entrance without hesitation. The doorman opened the brass–trimmed doors, and I stepped into another world–a cleaner, quieter one than the wreck I’d just left behind.
The lobby shimmered with light. Chandeliers hung like smug little stars, oblivious to my unraveling. My heels clicked against black marble, each step aching.
I pulled my coat tighter–not for warmth, but to keep from falling apart.
“Good evening, ma’am. Welcome to the Musk Suites. Do you have a reservation?” the concierge asked with a polite smile.
I almost laughed. Reservation? As if anything in my life was planned.
“No,” I said quietly. “Just… an executive room. Somewhere secluded.”
He typed quickly, avoiding my eyes. Maybe it was the way I looked- cocktail dress, streaked mascara, the emptiness in my voice. Either way, he asked no questions and handed me the keycard.
Minutes later, I was inside a suite with giant windows overlooking the city.
Lights sparkled from distant towers, but I felt hollow. I dropped my purse, slid down the wall, and sat there–gasping. Not crying. Just gasping for
air.
The silver bracelet burned in my palm.
I’d held it so tightly that it left angry impressions on my skin. Slowly, I uncurled my fingers and stared at it–sleek, delicate… familiar. I’d seen it before.
This wasn’t some stranger’s jewelry.
No, the woman who wore this–she was someone I’d known.
Inside the band, etched in faint script, was a single word.
“To J. Forever.”
Forever……
The word echoed through my mind like a bad joke.
I let out a subtle laugh, then flinched at the sound. It was too loud. Too hurtful.
I stood and crossed the room, pouring myself a glass of water with shaking hands.
Then, without further thoughts, I dropped the bracelet on the golden hotel linen like it was an intriguing object. I stared at it, as though by so doing I
10 200
would jug my memories as to whom it belonged to. Nothing came. No. flashes. No revelations.
Who was she?
What kind of woman slept with another woman’s husband and left behind a token like a signature?
I paced through the right corner of my bed. Then stopped. Then sat. Then stood again.
“Get a grip of yourself, Jane,” I muttered to myself. “Think.”
But my thoughts were scattered–fragments of moments I didn’t want to relive.
Nathan’s eyes.
The way he hadn’t chased after me.
The crack in his voice when he said, “I can’t tell you who she is.”
He was protecting her.
Why?
Maybe I should’ve paid closer attention to the woman as she fled- watched how she moved, what she wore, anything that could’ve helped me identify her. But I hadn’t. I was too overwhelmed, too broken in the moment to see clearly. And now all I had was a bitter question that refused to let me be.
I grabbed my phone, my fingers hovering over Nathan’s name. I wanted to return his calls. I wanted to scream until he gave me answers. But what if he didn’t? What if he gave me more silence?
No.
The Bracelet
The screen lit up again–his name flashing for the seventh time that night. He had been calling non–stop since I walked out. Each call I ignored was another nail in the coffin of what we once shared. I couldn’t bring myself to answer. Not yet. Maybe never again.
Let him sit with the silence this time.
I needed to think. Strategize.
I opened the hotel’s vanity drawer and pulled out a notepad. I wrote down the inscription. “J.” That didn’t narrow it much–Janet, Jessica, Jasmine, Joanna. It could be anyone.
But the bracelet looked expensive and finely crafted. Custom–made. The clasp was unique, almost vintage. I took a photo, then flipped it over and studied the engraving again.
I needed help.
But who would I even tell?
I had no best friend to call.
My sister had been missing for over four years now–I had no idea where she was, or if she was even still alive.
The irony hit me so hard, I nearly laughed.
No best friend. No sister.
No one.
The thought twisted my stomach into knots, so I pulled out my laptop and began a desperate search–Googling jewelry designers with similar clasps, scrolling through pages of images and obscure artisan websites.
Nothing matched. Nothing turned up in the first few minutes.
16710
And I was already running on fumes.
A sharp knock on the door jolted me.
My heart leapt into my throat.
I wasn’t expecting anyone.
“Room service,” came a muffled voice.
“I didn’t order anything,” I said, my voice stern.
A brief pause. Then, “Compliments of the Musk Suites. A small refreshment tray for our exclusive guests.”
I hesitated, then cracked the door open just enough to see a young man in a crisp uniform standing there with a silver tray. I stepped aside, letting him in, my eyes never leaving him as he placed it gently on the table.
“Need anything else, maʼam?”
“No. Thank you.”
He left with a polite nod, and I sank into the chair, staring at the untouched arrangement of fruit and sparkling water. Tucked beneath the edge of the glass was a folded note. My breath caught.
I picked it up.
But it was just a printed welcome message. Generic. Harmless.
I let out a shaky breath. I was getting paranoid.
I covered my face with both hands and groaned. Then I whispered, trying to anchor myself to something that made sense.
“Okay. Tomorrow. You’ll go to that custom jewelry store on Freedom
The Brucelet
drive. Someone has to know where this bracelet came from.”
Even as I spoke it aloud, the words felt like a fragile thread–something to cling to in the wake of everything that had unraveled.
But the ache was already setting into my bones.
A slow, gnawing grief. Not just for the betrayal.
But for the life I thought I had–the marriage, the trust, the warmth of knowing someone and being known.
Gone.
I lay on the bed in the soft dim light, the bracelet beside me on the pillow. Its surface gleamed like a secret in the dark. I stared at the ceiling, listening to the muted hum of the city outside the window, wishing I could silence the storm inside me.
At some point, when sleep refused to come, I whispered the question that had been clawing at me since the moment it all fell apart.
“Why me?”
The silence didn’t answer.
Only the bracelet shimmered in response.
Just as I reached for it again, my phone buzzed on the nightstand.
Nathan.
This time, it wasn’t a call. It was a message.
Jane,
I know you won’t take
won’t take my calls, and I understand why. I don’t deserve
your voice after what I did. I don’t know what to say that could ever undo. what you saw, what you felt.
But please believe this–I am sorry. From the deepest part of me. Not just for the act, but for the lies, the silence, the pain I caused you.
I’ve been sitting here, drowning in guilt, knowing I can’t fix it. And maybe that’s the worst part–realizing I destroyed something beautiful because I was too weak to face the truth myself.
Maybe it’s best we go our separate ways. Maybe the divorce will give us both the peace we can’t seem to find together anymore.
But I will always regret this. And I will always remember you as the best part of my life.
Please take care of yourself. You deserve more than I ever gave.
-Nathan
I stared at the screen long after the message faded.
Hot tears streaming down my cheeks….
