Another Turning

My parents were relieved when they heard about Elliot's outburst at my birthday party.

They were happy I had picked Joseph instead. They were so mad that they wanted to confront the Lewis family and give Elliot a piece of their mind, but I stopped them. I had bigger fish to fry.

Joseph had given me a super fancy diamond ring. To show him how much I appreciated it, I decided to make his wedding ring myself. I planned to give it to him at a big dinner welcoming him back home. That was also when Byron would tell everyone we were getting married.

A week later, I took the ring I made to the Lewis family's place. As I was chatting with the guests before dinner, I realized the ring was gone from my pocket. The security footage showed Sheila picking up the ring from the floor.

I was so mad that I was shaking. I barged into Elliot's room, only to see him and Sheila getting cozy on the couch. She had a bunch of presents around her and was playing with my jewelry box.

Elliot looked at me like he was annoyed and said, "Wendy, if your family hadn't fired Sheila after the birthday mess, she wouldn't be here. I gave her these presents to apologize on her behalf."

I did not care about what he was saying. I was too angry and shouted, "Give me back my ring!"

Elliot paused, looking guilty. Sheila, sitting next to him, started to speak up with a fearful look on her face.

"Wendy, Elliot gave me so many gifts, and they were all wrapped up so fancily that I just couldn't get them open. I read somewhere that I could use a ring to help open the presents, so I tried it with the one right here."

While she talked, she showed her hand, and there it was, the diamond ring. However, it now had a big scratch on it.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know the ring would get scratched up so easily. I didn't mean to do it. Can you forgive me?"

I was shaking with anger and grabbed Sheila's wrist hard. "That's my ring, and you used it to open presents!"

Elliot stepped in and pulled Sheila close to him. "Wendy! What's gotten into you?"

"That ring was special, made just for my future husband!" I could not hold back my anger and yelled.

Elliot just gave a small laugh. "I'm your future husband, aren't I? I get it, you care a lot, and I'm thankful. Is that good enough? Don't be mad. You're having my baby, and it's just a ring. We can pick out a new one before the wedding."

I let out an icy laugh, looked at the pile of presents in front of Sheila, scooped them up, and tossed them out the window. They tumbled down to the second floor and splashed into the garden pond.

"You!" Sheila shot me an angry look, then quickly looked sad and pulled on Elliot's shirt. "Elliot! My presents!"

I just sneered, "They're just presents. You can get more."

Elliot kept staring at me, like he noticed something odd.

When I turned to leave, he grabbed my wrist.

Right then, the butler came in to say dinner was ready. Joseph would also be home at any minute. I laughed without a care, shook off Elliot's hand, and walked to the dining room without looking back.

Elliot let go of Sheila's arm and tried to catch up with me.

As we walked into the dining room, the Lewis family's elders were already seated. Elliot found an empty chair, sat down, and waved me over to sit next to him.

However, I ignored him and headed straight for another empty chair across the room. It had a name plaque that said 'Joseph' on it.

I could not help but smile. Byron had set aside that special seat just for his heir. I sat down right next to it without hesitating.

Elliot, looking annoyed, blinked rapidly and said in an impatient voice, "Wendy, what are you doing? Come back here. Do you really want to sit with my older brother? You're going to be my wife. The elders might get the wrong idea!"

"The only one who's confused here is you." I gave him a small smile, about to tell him I was marrying Joseph, when a deep voice interrupted from the doorway.

"Sorry, I'm late."