Samuel knelt on one knee and produced a ring. Its setting held a rare black pearl, carved into the shape of a kapok blossom—my mother's favorite flower.
He glanced across the riverbank. "I have the means to make your tormentors beg for death."
Larry suddenly emptied his clip recklessly into the air. The police arrived swiftly. As they restrained him, he shouted, "Jessica! I'll wire you daily until you forgive me!"
Madness.
Three days later at our wedding, the Lorrian residence was adorned with kapok blossoms. As I adjusted my pearl-embroidered veil before the mirror, the butler presented a "congratulatory gift." It was Larry's military discharge papers. It turned out he had voluntarily requested the stripping of his rank, citing himself as "unworthy of command."
"Shall we return it?"
