I Divorced My Husband After Prison Release

Mina Long’s throat tightened until it hurt. Her eyes were locked on the pendant. “Why is that pendant around your neck?” Her voice barely came out.

Malani Castillo blinked, caught off guard. Her hand instinctively flew to the pendant. “Oh, this? Hunter gave it to me. Why?”

So casual. To Mina, it landed like a blade between the ribs. Hunter had given it to her?

“You know exactly what this pendant means to me,” Mina said, voice ragged, turning to Hunter Perry. “I left it with you before I went to prison.”

She’d always known what it meant. She’d been terrified it might get lost or stolen while she was locked up. She’d painstakingly instructed him to keep it safe. And he’d just handed it over to Malani?

Hunter’s brow knitted. His reply came out calm and indifferent. “It’s just jewelry, Mina. You’ve never been this petty before.”

Just jewelry? The words hit Mina like ice water. Hunter knew it was her grandmother’s only keepsake. One winter, during a brutal snowstorm in the Alps, the pendant had slipped off its chain and vanished into the snow. She’d searched all night on her hands and knees, fingers numb and split, blood staining the snow. Hunter had watched her do it. And now? Now he called it just jewelry.

Mina dropped her gaze, her voice trembling under the weight of her grandmother’s memory. “It’s the only thing my grandmother ever left me.”

Malani let out a light laugh. “Oh, don’t take this the wrong way, Mina, but you’re not really a Castillo. Grandma was my grandmother too, so I wanted something to remember her by.”

“You inherited Grandma’s estate,” Mina shot back, eyes boring into Malani. “But she gave me this pendant herself.”

When Grandma had given it to her, she’d said Mina was family—not by blood, maybe, but family all the same. She’d left her the pendant along with an inheritance. Yet Malani had claimed the inheritance without blinking. Hunter had talked Mina into letting it go back then, so she’d walked away with nothing but the pendant. Now Malani was rewriting the story all over again.

“Come on, don’t make a scene.” Hunter’s frown deepened, his voice sharpening. “Malani is your sister. Grandma was her grandmother too. Why are you making such a big deal over a pendant?”

A big deal? Mina felt something tear open in her chest. A cold wind rushed through the empty space.

“Why am I the one making a big deal for wanting back what’s mine?” Her voice shook with anger.

“Mama, this is just some petty drama!” Vincenzo cut in, annoyed. “You can’t act like this. You’re always picking on Malani.”

Vincenzo had always chafed under Mina’s rules, while Malani spoiled him rotten. Malani called it freedom—coffee and spiced honey cakes, no rules, no lectures. But every time Mina caught them, she’d lose her temper. To Vincenzo, it looked like nothing more than rivalry.

“I get that you feel insecure now that you’re back from prison with a disability,” Vincenzo went on, his voice innocent and knife-sharp. “But that’s no reason to target Malani. A physical disability isn’t the scary part—it’s a crippled heart. You should learn from Malani. She actually knows how to see the beauty in life!”

His childish words sliced into Mina like knives. She knew her son favored Malani. But hearing the very source of her pain stand on some moral high ground and accuse her? That was a special kind of irony.

For years, she had given them everything. And still, one smile from Malani seemed to erase all of it.

“Why so serious?” Malani cut in. She watched Mina’s face, then burst out laughing. “I was only joking. You two are so sensitive.”

She unclasped the pendant. “Otherwise, you might think there’s something going on between Hunter and me. Please. If there were, it would’ve happened years ago.”

Hunter’s expression flickered—so fast, almost no one would’ve caught it.

Mina frowned, eyes fixed on the pendant. Just as she reached for it, Malani smirked and let it drop.

It hit the floor with a sharp clang and shattered.

Mina’s eyes went wide. Trembling, she shot to her feet, ignoring her crutch, desperate to save it. Pain tore through her legs. She lost her balance and lurched forward.

Malani nimbly stepped aside—then let herself drop to the ground beside Mina with perfect, theatrical grace.

“Malani!”

“Malani!”

Two panicked voices rang out. Hunter and Vincenzo rushed to Malani, not even sparing Mina a glance.

Hunter helped Malani up, his face cold as he looked down at Mina. “Mina, Malani was giving the pendant back. You still pushed her? You’re being irrational.”

Mina ignored him. Shivering, she gathered the broken pieces, now slick with her blood—just like that night in the snow, all those years ago.

Hunter’s voice softened, almost gentle. “Mina, apologize to Malani. Let’s put this behind us.”

Apologize? Mina looked up, tears and laughter tangling in her throat. She was the one at fault?

Eight years of marriage. Eight years of Malani sowing discord, and Hunter always taking her side. After all, Malani was the woman he could never refuse to protect.

Even knowing how this would end, Mina had still hoped for some scrap of real affection. Now she saw how foolish that hope had been.

“Sorry,” Mina whispered. Her voice was hollow, wrung dry. “I was wrong.”

Something uneasy flickered across Hunter’s face, but he kept his composure, brow knitting slightly.

“I’m glad you understand,” he said, pulling Mina to her feet. He lowered his voice so only she could hear. “Malani is your sister. Don’t make things hard for her. She hasn’t had it easy all these years.”

His tone softened. “We’re family. Is a pendant really worth all this? I’ll have my assistant find you another one at auction.”

“I see my mistakes,” Mina replied, her voice steady and empty.

She looked up at Hunter and pushed him away. The chill in her eyes made him still. “I was wrong to mistake sentiment for love. Wrong to take a worthless stone for a precious gem. And most of all, wrong to marry you and join the Perry family.”