“I have something I want to talk to you about,” Janetta says.
Janetta shows the ring to Leilani, and Leilani looks curiously at the jewelry. Ever since seeing the ring on her sister’s finger, she has been trying to devise a plan to get it back. She didn’t expect that her sister would make it so easy to find out more about it.
“What do you mean?” Leilani asks, pretending to play dumb.
“Can you not guess what it is I want to talk about?” Janetta asks, waving her hand even more obviously, “Are you going to pretend you don’t know about this ring?”
“It’s a lovely ring,” Leilani says innocently, “But I can’t say I’ve ever seen it before.”
Janetta laughs, “I got this ring from a man.”
“Well, it’s a beautiful ring,” Leilani says dismissively.
Janetta smiles mysteriously. She raises her hand in the air and allows the light to refract off the green diamond.
“Do you like it?” she asks.
“What are you going on about?” Leilani asks, “I already said it’s beautiful.”
“I’m just asking you whether you like it or not,” she says, bringing the ring even closer to Leilani’s face, “I heard that it’s the wedding ring that Mr. Bamford gave to Mrs. Bamford.”
“Are you sure?” Leilani frowns and drops the agreement back into the suitcase while her sister seems distracted.
“Yes, I just wanted to find out if that’s true or not,” Janetta says with barely concealed malice, “If it is true, I will give it back, of course. But if it’s not true, I might give it to someone else.”
Leilani knows her sister well, and she knows that no matter what Janetta says she will not give the ring back so easily.
“You can’t just casually give a ring like that to someone else,” Leilani says with a smile.
“So do you want to give the ring back to you then?” Janetta asks with a gleam in her eyes.
Although Leilani is trying to feign indifference, Janetta can see that she cares about the ring.
“I would never ask for a thing like that,” Leilani says cautiously.
“Aren’t you interested in the ring?” Janetta sighs and changes tactics, “It’s so strange—I’ve also heard that the ring has something to do with the Meyer family. Someone suggested that it’s a family heirloom that can only be passed down to a woman worthy of marrying into the family.”
Leilani continues to arrange her clothing, but when she hears her sister’s words she drops a hanger with a loud clang.
When Charles Meyer gave the ring to her, he never told her what it signified. He said it was just a ring he had modified so she could check for the next toxin and protect herself from whoever was poisoning her. She had no idea that the ring had such huge significance for the Meyer family. Suddenly Charles’ mock proposal takes on a new light.
“Had I known that I never would have accepted it,” Leilani thinks, “And what on Earth was Charles trying to say to me—was he suggesting that he wants me to marry into the Meyer family?”
She tries to keep her expression calm. If Janetta knows how important the ring truly is, she’ll try to use it as some sort of bargaining chip. She picks up the hanger she dropped and turns to her sister.
“So this morning you go to the hospital just for a ring?” Leilani asks.
“You’re really smart,” Janetta smirks.
“You told me that Dr. Meyer wasn’t even there,” Leilani says carefully.
Janetta can sense her sister’s increased interest.
“Do you wish he was there?” Janetta taunts, “You know, there are some very interesting rumors about you and Dr. Meyer circulating in that hospital.”
Janetta touches the green jewel on the ring and shrugs, “If you don’t care about the ring, I guess I should go. I have more important things to do than to stand around talking to you.”
“Wait! Wait a minute,” Leilani says, hating herself for giving in to her sister’s scheme.
“Are you interested in the ring after all?” Janetta asks with a slow, cold smile.
“I like the style,” Leilani says nonchalantly.
“Do you want me to give it back?” Janetta asks.
“Only if you’re willing to give it to me,” Leilani says, trying to keep her voice calm.
“Well nothing comes free, you know,” Janetta says, “I want to be the star of the party. That’s my price.”
“That’s easy. I promise you I’ll make it happen,” Leilani says, holding out her hand to her sister, “Now give me the ring.”
“I’m not a fool,” Janetta scoffs, “If I give it to you now, there’s nothing to stop you from going back on your word. After I have the first dance with Mr. Bamford at the party, I’ll give the ring to you.”
“If I refuse, what will you do?” Leilani asks.
It’s easy to make Janetta the star of the party, but she knows it’s impossible to designate her sister as Waylen’s dance partner. She knows Waylen Bamford well enough to know that he avoids physical contact with women whenever possible. It’d be impossible to try to convince him to dance with Janetta.
Janetta walks confidently toward the bedroom door. Just before she crossed out of the room, she turns to look at Leilani.
“I’ll give you one day to carefully consider my offer. I want to be the star of the party and Waylen’s dance partner,” she says, “Think about my offer carefully and remember that you only have a day.”
Leilani frowns. She doesn’t know what to say. If it was just her ring, she wouldn’t care that Janetta has it, but the ring is Charles’ and it’s Meyer’s family treasure, and she can’t allow her scheming sister to keep it.
Leilani focuses on her other problems. Her family is sneaky and conniving and she doesn’t want them to find the divorce agreement. She finds a transparent, plastic folder and tucks the paperwork into it, then she sticks the folder to the bottom of the makeup table. It’s an out-of-the-way place, and she knows most people wouldn’t think to look there, but she still wishes there was a better place to hide the agreement.
After hiding the agreement, she leaves the room and follows Janetta. Her phone is still messed up, and she wants to borrow her sister’s phone to call Charles. Once again, her call goes straight to voicemail: Charles’ phone is still turned off. She’s quite worried that his phone is still turned off, several days later.
“Sister, can I please not be the star of the party?” Gabrielle asked, approaching Leilani and Janetta, “I’m afraid that I won’t live up to your expectations, and I don’t want to embarrass you all.”
“It’s been many years since you were a little girl, and many years since we spent time together, but I know you very well,” Leilani says to her sister, “Right now, I just want you to focus on how you’re going to get your internship back.”
Gabrielle looks anxiously between her sisters.
“Don’t let people bully you,” Leilani adds with a significant look at Janetta.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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