What Was the Ring Hiding?

If my husband had been here, I’m not sure what I would’ve asked him. Maybe the first jeweler had been trying to scare me, or worse, it was some kind of scam. But I couldn’t dismiss the unease creeping in, so I decided to get a second opinion.

The next day, I went to a different jeweler—a woman whose sharp eyes and quiet focus gave me a sliver of hope. She turned the ring under her magnifying glass, and I watched her face, searching for reassurance. However, her expression gave nothing away. Each pause in her inspection made me nervous. My fear grew as though the ring itself was hiding something from me.