Chapter 4Done Being The Performative Wife

David practically flew through the front door, lured home by Martina’s hysterical, sobbing phone call.

Jason was right behind him.

Martina was collapsed on the living room sofa, wailing as if someone had died.

"I have done nothing but love her! I treated her like she was the daughter I never had! And how does she repay me?" Martina shrieked, clutching her chest.

"She called me vain! She called me shameless!"

"I am an old woman! To be humiliated like this in my own son's home... I’d be better off dead! I just want to die!"

David rushed to her side, his face pale with panic, then looked up at me, his voice hushed. "Cecilia, what is going on? I thought you two were best friends. How did it escalate to this?"

Before I could even open my mouth, Brittany stepped out from the hallway, playing the role of the righteous defender.

"Cecilia, if I hadn't been standing right there, I never would have believed you were capable of this."

"Mom simply invited you to have a nice spa day with us. If you didn't want to go, you could have just said no. But to tear her down and degrade her in front of me? It makes me sick to think about how you treat her when nobody else is around."

Bolstered by her audience, Martina’s wails grew louder.

"My life is a tragedy! I am a burden! What did I ever do to deserve such cruelty..."

Brittany knelt beside her, rubbing her back.

"Don't cry, Mom. Please don't cry. We won't let her get away with this. We’re here for you."

David was getting frantic, his eyes pleading with me.

"Cecilia, please. You’re always the rational one. Just tell me what happened between you two."

Four pairs of eyes locked onto me.

I have never been the type of woman to drag things out. I don't do messy, drawn-out drama. I do surgical strikes.

I reached into my handbag, unclasped the "heirloom" bracelet Martina had given me for Christmas, and tossed it onto the glass coffee table.

It landed with a hollow, plasticky clack.

The moment the bracelet hit the table, Martina’s tears dried up instantly. Panic flashed in her eyes.

David looked utterly confused. "What’s wrong with the bracelet?"

"It’s fake," I said flatly.

David and Jason stared at me in stunned silence. Only Martina and Brittany looked guilty, refusing to meet my gaze.

I let out a harsh, dry laugh. "Martina, ask yourself. Since the day I married into this family, have I ever treated you as anything less than my own mother?"

"And how did you repay me? If you didn't want to give me an heirloom, you didn't have to give me anything. That is your right. But to hand Brittany the real, antique family jewels, and look me in the eye while you hand me a piece of junk to shut me up?"

David reached for the bracelet. He turned it over in his hands.

It weighed practically nothing. The gold plating was already chipping, and it smelled faintly of cheap metallic factory grease.

David’s brow furrowed, his expression darkening as he turned to his mother.

"Mom, how could you do this? If you were going to give her something, it should have at least been real jewelry. Wearing cheap metal like this can cause severe skin reactions."

Caught in the spotlight, Martina stammered, scrambling for an excuse. "I didn't... I... We actually have two family heirlooms! One is just... lighter!"

I couldn't help rolling my eyes.

"Drop the act. I heard every word you and Brittany said in the foyer. And in case you forgot, we have a Ring camera right above the door that records audio. Would you like me to pull the footage and cast it to the TV right now?"

Brittany’s face tightened. She shifted into defense mode. "Cecilia, is this really necessary? It’s just a piece of jewelry. God, if you're that jealous, I'll just give you mine!"

She made a dramatic show of yanking up her sleeve to reveal the stunning, heavy sapphire and diamond piece.

Next to the sad piece of tin on my coffee table, the difference was staggering.

She pulled at it, putting on an Oscar-worthy performance of trying to yank it off her wrist, though she magically couldn't get it past her knuckles.

"That is enough!" Martina snapped, reaching out to gently stop Brittany from pulling at the precious stones. "This is my family’s heirloom. I will give it to whoever I damn well please. No outsider has the right to dictate my choices."

Outsider.

The word dropped the temperature in the room by ten degrees.

I never cared about the jewelry. I cared about the insult.

I cared that I had poured my heart, my time, and my money into making her feel loved, only for her to look down on me. To call me unworthy. To call me fake.

What gave her the right to treat me like garbage? I owed her absolutely nothing.

David stepped forward, his voice hard.

"Mom, Cecilia is my wife. When she married me, she became family. You didn't have to give her the bracelet, but you had absolutely no right to lie to her and break her heart like this."

Martina completely ignored him. She pointed a trembling finger right at David’s nose and screamed.

"Break her heart?! If you two were actually successful, you’d go buy your own diamonds instead of trying to rob an old woman of her last possessions!"

With a violent sweep of her arm, Martina grabbed the crystal water glass off the side table and hurled it at the floor.

It shattered with a deafening crash, water and shards of glass exploding across the hardwood.

David instinctively stepped in front of me, shielding my legs.

Jason, sensing his moment to play the enlightened peacekeeper, sighed heavily.

"David, Cecilia... look at what you’re doing. Tearing this family apart over a piece of jewelry. Is it really worth it?"

He stood there, dripping with self-righteousness, painting us as greedy, money-grubbing villains who cared more about gems than family.

My voice was ice. "Of course you’d say that. You’re the ones walking away with the prize. It’s easy to preach from the high ground when your pockets are full. If you’re so above it all, Jason, why don't you take that bracelet off your wife's wrist and smash it with a hammer right now? Then nobody gets it."

Brittany’s eyes flashed with venom.

"You know what, Cecilia? I was willing to let this slide to keep the peace. But since you want to drag everything into the light, let’s do some math."