She Lent Them a Trap, Not a Treasure

1: 1

When my father's cousin's son got engaged, the first thing on her mind wasn't the venue, and it wasn't the bride price. It was my gold set.

In my last life, she cornered me right at our front door.

"Elaine, lend your aunt that gold set for now. It'll look good laid out at the engagement dinner tomorrow. You're not afraid I'll stiff you, are you?"

I was afraid of being called ungrateful, so I had no choice but to hand over the jewelry box.

At the engagement dinner, Nanette wore my gold bracelet and paraded it around all day, and she deliberately had the emcee announce that her family had prepared a full solid-gold set for the bride.

But when I went to get it back, she said:

"There were so many people on the way, I lost it by accident. You bought it for around eighty-eight thousand, right? I'll give you ninety thousand back. That's more than fair."

Except that year, the price of gold had more than tripled.

I was furious and went to her place to have it out, and she blocked me at the top of the stairs with one line: "Have you gone crazy over money?"

In the scuffle, she flung me off her with all her strength.

I tumbled down from the sixth floor, and before I died I heard her crying out:

"I didn't do it on purpose! She slipped on her own!"

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day she came to borrow the gold set.

I smiled and pushed the jewelry box across to her.

"Auntie, an engagement is a big deal. Don't let our family lose face."

She just didn't know that this time, the gold set was a fake I'd bought on purpose to bait a thief.

...

After Nanette Winfield left cradling the jewelry box, I locked the door behind her.

My mother stood in the living room, looking unhappy, and after a long moment she asked me, "Elaine, did you really lend out the gold set your grandmother left you?"

My father was frowning too. "Your aunt talks a big game but she's careless. There'll be a crowd at the dinner tomorrow. What if something gets knocked or lost..."

Looking at the worry on their faces, that cold feeling I'd carried back from the stairwell finally eased a little.

In this life, they were still standing right in front of me, safe and whole.

I handed my phone to my mother.

On the screen was the electronic receipt from the bank's safe-deposit box.

【Ms. Elaine Winfield deposited three items of solid-gold jewelry today at 10:08 a.m. Seal number: B-0719.】

My mother froze. "This is..."

"The real gold set," I said. "I put it in the bank this morning. What I gave my aunt just now was a display piece from the wedding prop shop."

My father's head snapped up. "It's fake?"

My mother sucked in a sharp breath.

"If your aunt finds out, won't she blow the roof off?"

"If she really only borrowed it to put on a show and gives it back exactly as it is after the dinner, she'll never find out."

I took the phone back, my voice calm.

"But if she never meant to return it, she's bound to find out."

I didn't explain what had happened in my last life.

In this life, all I needed was proof.

I opened the folder and checked through everything once more.

The bank seal photo, the purchase receipt for the real gold set, the old reweigh record, the prop shop invoice, the recording of my aunt borrowing it—all backed up to the cloud.

Before she left, I'd made a point of having her speak clearly into my phone:

"I, Nanette Winfield, am borrowing three pieces of jewelry from the box belonging to Elaine Winfield today, solely for display at Asher Sawyer's engagement dinner, to be returned exactly as they are after the dinner."

She'd scolded me for being petty at the time.

"We're family. Why are you recording? You think I'd take it and sell it?"

I smiled and answered her:

"Auntie, you're right, it's just borrowed to show off, not to sell. One little recording, and everyone can rest easy."

She rattled off the whole thing impatiently, then took the box and left.

Now that recording sat right there in my phone.

The prop shop owner had just messaged me back too.

【Miss Winfield, I've got a sales record on my end for that A17 sample set.】

【You said a relative might use it to pass off as real gold, so I've already given a heads-up to a few pawnshops I know on the west side of town.】

【If someone really does bring the A17 sample in as gold, they won't buy it quietly or just hand you the footage. They'll report it through the precious-metals recovery procedure and have me verify the sample number.】

I sent back a thank-you.

At eight that night, the family group chat came alive.

Nanette posted nine photos.

In them, the bright yellow bracelet sat on her wrist, her sleeve deliberately pushed way up so no one could miss it.

Underneath she'd typed a line:

【Asher's engagement is tomorrow. Here's the gold set we've prepared for our future daughter-in-law. We Sawyers don't cut corners.】

People in the chat rushed to play along.

【Nanette's really generous—look how thick that bracelet is.】

【Asher's a lucky one. The bride's family will surely be pleased.】

My mother's face went dark as she read it.

"How can she say she prepared it for the daughter-in-law?"

I laid my hand over hers. "Don't rush."

In the chat, Nanette was still sending voice messages.

"A child's engagement is a big deal. The bride's family is well off, so we, the groom's side, can't let ourselves be looked down on. Whatever face needs to be put on, we've got to put it on."

I stared at that voice message and slowly smiled.

She'd already started spinning the thing she'd borrowed into her family's own pride.

Good.

The fish had taken the bait.