Chapter 3

Rehearsal at the Plaza's Grand Ballroom.

Sound system cranked to maximum.

Julian stopped halfway down the aisle. Palm clapped over his right ear.

The officiant asked him to stand under the floral arch.

He shook his head. "Too loud. I can't post up here."

Sienna rose from the first row. Walked to him. Pulled a pair of custom silicone earplugs from her Louis Vuitton clutch.

Didn't say a word. Just stood on her toes.

Julian bent his head down. Let her fit them in.

They looked at each other and laughed.

Music cued. My entrance.

Julian, earplugs in, watched the hem of Sienna's dress. She stood too close to the aisle. His eyes tracked her shoes, worried she'd trip on something.

I stopped in front of him.

"Julian."

Nothing.

Louder. "Julian."

Still nothing.

Sienna reached out. Nudged his elbow.

He blinked up at me. Half a beat late. Reached for my hand.

His fingertips touched mine. But his eyes were already sliding past my shoulder, checking the officiant's teleprompter.

I pulled my hand back.

"We can skip this part."

Julian assumed I was overheated. Relieved.

"Yeah. We'll walk it tomorrow."

I stepped aside. Sat down in one of the ceremony chairs. Opened my work email.

Forwarded my resignation and transition packet to HR Director Karen at Cravath.

Effective date: tomorrow.

Rehearsal ended.

The wedding planner handed me the ring box.

Two rings. His and hers. GIA-certified loose diamonds I'd spent four months sourcing across five cities. Tiffany's Manhattan. Tiffany's Chestnut Hill. Boston. Philadelphia. Chicago. Miami.

Sienna leaned over to look.

Slid her left ring finger over the smaller of the two bands. Comparing sizes.

Julian picked up the smaller ring. Grabbed Sienna's hand. Slipped it on.

"See if it fits."

It stuck at the second knuckle.

Sienna's fingers were thicker than mine. Wouldn't go down. Wouldn't come off.

Her knuckle started turning purple.

Julian panicked.

Sienna's hand in a glass of ice water. Then dish soap. Five minutes of massaging. Nothing moved.

Julian called engineering.

A maintenance guy came up with a toolkit. Pulled out a pair of micro shears.

The sound of metal on metal ran for ten seconds.

The ring snapped in two.

Julian was already checking Sienna's finger for broken skin. Talking to me over his shoulder.

"Why'd you pick a tension setting? The ring's way too narrow. If you hadn't insisted on this cut, Sienna's finger wouldn't have gotten stuck."

"It broke, whatever. We'll grab a plain band tomorrow. Don't make it weird in front of the guests."

The center stone in that ring was a diamond I'd compared under a loupe for four months.

He'd held my hand the day I picked it and said this was the anchor of our marriage.

Not a flaw allowed.

I took the main stone out of the box. Slipped it into my clutch.

Nine that night, I called a private buyer in the 47th Street Diamond District.

He verified the GIA certificate number.

$63,000 cash offer.

I accepted.

Then I logged into our Chase joint account.

Every dollar I'd put in before the wedding. Down payment. Deposits. Bridal fittings. My money.

Transferred all of it back to my own account.

Joint balance: $0.00.

Julian was bandaging Sienna's finger when the transfer confirmed.

Careful. Pressing the edges flat. So she wouldn't get water on it.

I closed my phone. Looked at the two halves of the broken ring on the floor.

Nice metalwork.

Shame it wasn't worth anything anymore.