Time seemed to stop altogether. It felt as though all the air inside the room had been sucked out in one brutal pull, leaving nothing behind for me to breathe. Sound disappeared entirely—not faded, not dulled, but gone—like someone had plunged me underwater without warning. I could see Leah’s lips still moving, could see her excitement spilling out of her in animated gestures, but none of it reached me. Nothing penetrated the haze.
All I could see was the diamond.
It caught the dimmed light of the drawing room and fractured it, sharp and blinding, planted firmly on her ring finger. The stone was massive, obscene in its beauty, impossible to miss. It was the ring I had imagined for myself for years—the one I had once pictured glinting on my own hand. The one I had secretly believed would
