And as Dale's fortunes grew, Zoey started putting on airs around me, bossing me around like it was her birthright as the older sister-in-law.
Mrs. Fleming began finding fault with everything I did.
Dale's temper grew shorter by the year. I told myself that was just how marriage worked. You adjusted. You compromised.
Now I could see how wrong I'd been.
My silence only made Mrs. Fleming angrier. She barked at me.
"What are you standing there for?"
"Take off the necklace and give it to Noreen."
Noreen sat there watching me with a half-smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, dripping with provocation.
As if to say: So what if you were his wife for six years? The moment I walk back in, you step aside.
I didn't want these people and their ugliness to ruin today for me. I didn't want to waste my anger on trash.
The pregnancy had been hard enough to come by. I needed to stay calm.
I unclasped the necklace in silence and set it on the table.
Noreen picked it up. "It's decent enough, I suppose."
"But something worn by trash? Disgusting."
She hurled it at the floor.
The necklace I had treasured like a piece of my soul shattered on the tile.