Chapter 12 I've Received The Gift

Rosalie's lashes trembled, but she said nothing. Hilda lifted a pair of ruby drops from the tray. "And these," she murmured, "you stayed up all night finishing an AI demo for Mr. Fenwick and worked yourself sick. He sat by your bed for days. "He bid on these earrings to cheer you up. He said they were the fire you burned for him, and the promise his love would never burn out." Rosalie's fingertips curled. Piece by piece, Hilda recalled the sweet memories behind every jewel. Each had once carried a rush of tenderness, a vow, a future she had believed would last a lifetime. Hearing it now felt like a set of sugar-coated blades, each one sliding sharply into her chest. Her eyes stung red. She couldn't make sense of it. Lucian, who used to fuss over her cramps, would clatter around the kitchen making her hot tea with honey and run out at midnight to buy a heating pad. How had that same man spent the next seven years turning ruthless toward her? How could he stand by while she went