Chapter 2

2: 2

I saved the screenshot of Adam's mother.

Grandma's death certificate and household registration were still in the drawer of the second bedroom.

Without them, I couldn't go to the station to close out her records.

I unlocked the front door again.

The apartment was quiet. Adam seemed to have taken Rosamond into the master bedroom.

I headed for the second bedroom, and the moment I pushed the half-open door, blood shot straight to my head.

Rosamond was standing at my nightstand, an old wooden box in her hands.

It was the only thing Grandma had left me.

An ordinary jade bracelet.

And right now Rosamond was holding it up against her own wrist.

She was even muttering to herself.

"This junk the old woman left behind is so tacky. Total bad luck."

"Put it down."

I stepped forward, my voice ice-cold.

Rosamond startled.

She didn't set the bracelet back where it belonged. Instead she let her wrist go slack on purpose.

The bracelet hit the tile and broke into three pieces.

Almost the same second the jade shattered, Rosamond clutched her belly.

And let out a scream.

"Ah! It hurts!"

She let herself sink to the floor, tears spilling out.

"Monnie, I was only trying to help you put her keepsake away. Why did you push me?"

Footsteps came down the hall.

Adam rushed in and saw Rosamond collapsed on the floor.

He crossed the room in a few strides and shoved me aside.

The small of my back slammed into the corner of the table. The pain made me see stars.

"Monica, is there no end to this with you!"

Adam roared, pulling Rosamond into his arms.

"How many times have I explained it to you!"

"Rosamond got taken in by the wrong man. The scumbag who got her pregnant ran off!"

"She's got severe prenatal depression right now, and as her good friend all I can do is look after her a little more!"

"Why do you have to keep going after a pregnant woman?"

Hearing all this, I just felt sick.

"She smashed my grandmother's bracelet."

I pointed at the broken jade on the floor, my voice flat.

Adam glanced at the shattered jade, and something guilty flickered in his eyes.

"It's just some cheap piece of rock, a few dollars off a street stall, isn't it?"

He jabbed a finger at my face and cursed.

"Rosamond was kind enough to help you tidy up, and you actually shoved her?"

"If something happens to the baby in her belly, what are you going to pay with?"

"Can your dead grandmother pay for it!"

I stared at him. "Adam. Say that again."

"Am I wrong?"

Adam sneered, his gaze sweeping over my handbag on the table.

Then his hand shot out and snatched it.

"What are you doing?!"

I snapped, lunging to grab it back.

"Since you've got no sympathy at all, since you'd even hurt a pregnant woman, then there's no point in you holding on to money."

He forced my bag open and pulled out one of my bank cards.

In that account was twenty thousand dollars I'd saved from years of late nights and overtime.

The money I was supposed to use tomorrow to pay off the balance on Grandma's plot at the cemetery.

"My mom's still in the ER fighting for her life. I'm taking this to cover the bill first."

"Consider it compensation for the emotional damage you caused Rosamond today!"

He tucked the card into his suit pocket like it was his right.

Rosamond leaned into his arms and tugged at his sleeve.

"Adam, let it go. Monnie still needs that money to handle Grandma's funeral!"

"A dead person, what difference does one more day underground make?"

"My mom's the one being resuscitated, alive and breathing!"

Adam cut her off.

"Monica, the day you learn to act like a decent person is the day I give you back the card."

With that, he scooped Rosamond up sideways and walked out the door without looking back.

For one second, as she passed over my shoulder, Rosamond lifted her head from his arms.

She looked at me, the corner of her mouth curling into a taunting smile.

The door shut again, dragging a gust of cold air with it.

I crouched down and picked up the broken pieces of the bracelet.

The sharp edges cut my fingers.

But I felt no pain at all.