My Mother's Necklace

I had to get it back, no matter what.

Using the location from the video as a guide, I quickly found the booth where Samantha was sitting.

A man's tie was wrapped over her eyes, and she was laughing as she played some childish guessing game with Ryan. Her hands reached blindly through the air, and by chance, they landed on me.

"Ryan," she teased, completely unaware that she had touched the wrong person, "have you put on weight lately? I can't even feel your abs anymore."

Ryan's face changed the second he saw me.

He let out a startled yelp, but Samantha was still lost in the game.

"Why are you acting shy now?" she asked with a laugh. "It's not like I haven't touched you before."

The next second, the tie slipped from her face.

Samantha's eyes widened as she finally realized that the man in front of her was not Ryan, but me.

I stood there glaring at her, shaking with anger, but the shock on her face lasted only a second.

There was no guilt. No panic. No shame.

Instead, her expression twisted into disdain. "Caleb, didn't you swear you'd never come looking for me again? It's only been a few days, and you already can't stay away?"

She crossed her arms and scoffed. "Ryan and I were just messing around. Is there really any need to stare at me like that?"

I ignored her sarcasm and looked straight at the necklace around Ryan's neck.

"You knew that necklace was the only thing my mother left me," I said through clenched teeth. "You lied and said you lost it. Now you gave it to him? What the hell is wrong with you?"

I reached for Ryan's neck, trying to take the necklace back.

Before I could touch it, Samantha slapped me hard across the face and shoved me away without hesitation.

I lost my balance and fell to the floor.

"Caleb, I don't owe you an explanation," she snapped. "You gave that necklace to me, so it belongs to me. What I do with it is none of your business."

Then she looked down at me with a cold smile. "If you came here because you want to make up, just say that. Don't use some necklace as an excuse."

My head spun from the fall, and my forehead hit the corner of the table. A sharp pain shot through me, and blood began running down my face.

When Samantha saw that, she only became more cruel.

With a wicked smile, she reached over, took the necklace off Ryan's neck, and threw it toward the crowded dance floor.

"You want it so badly?" she said. "Then crawl around and look for it. Ryan doesn't care about some cheap old thing anyway. You're the only one acting like it's a treasure."

I ignored the pain and rushed into the crowd, terrified that one more second would be enough for someone to step on it and break it.

Behind me, Samantha laughed louder.

"Caleb, you look like a dog!" she called out. "You'd better find it fast. We're heading somewhere else for round two soon."

I searched through the packed dance floor for almost twenty minutes but found nothing.

All I got were a few careless kicks from strangers pushing past me.

By the time I finally gave up, Samantha was already gone.

With my friend's help, I went to the hospital, gritting my teeth through the pain.

The cut on my forehead needed several stitches, and the fingers on my right hand had a small fracture. By the time the doctor finished examining me, they were badly swollen.

My friend looked at me with guilt written all over his face. "Caleb, I only ran into Samantha at the bar by chance. If I'd known this would happen, I never would've sent you that video. I should've just called someone over and dealt with her myself."

His eyes turned red with anger. "She never deserved the way you treated her. You see that now, right? Don't you dare go soft on her again."

I shook my head and forced a weak smile.

Ever since Samantha missed the engagement party for the first time, my friend had stopped talking to me because I was too stubborn to give up on her.

We had barely spoken for more than half a year.

This time, he had only reached out because he couldn't stand what Samantha had done.

The Final Step

My eyes burned, and for a moment, I could barely speak.

I had lost a friendship that truly mattered because of someone who had never deserved that kind of loyalty from me.

For Samantha, I had thrown away my dignity again and again, sinking lower each time just to hold on to a relationship that had been destroying me from the inside out.

I had realized it late, but at least I still had a chance to make things right.

I put an arm around my friend's shoulders and told him I was leaving the country soon.

He looked upset when he heard it, but in the end, he supported my decision. He knew better than anyone that if I made the same mistake again, then whatever happened next would be on me.

…

After Samantha left the bar, she lost all interest in the rest of the night.

Ryan tried the same old trick again. He pulled off his tie and leaned closer, deliberately flirting with her. "Samantha, stop drinking by yourself. You haven't looked happy since we got here. Did Caleb get under your skin?"

Then he moved even closer, lowering his voice. "Come on. You said we were going to have fun tonight."

He tried hard to charm her, but Samantha shoved him away in disgust.

"Enough," she snapped. "I was only putting on a show for Caleb's friend earlier. Caleb still hasn't come to me after all these days, so what else was I supposed to do? I had to push him somehow."

As she spoke, she reached into her pocket, retrieved the necklace, and studied it closely in her palm.

Ryan's eyes widened.

"Wait, you didn't actually throw that thing away?" he asked, startled. "I thought it got stepped on and crushed by now."

Out of habit, he reached for the necklace.

Samantha quickly slapped his hand away. "Don't touch it. This is the promise necklace Caleb gave me, and it's the only thing his mother left him. When I said I was giving it to you, I was only trying to provoke him. Did you actually think I'd give you something this important?"

Ryan's face darkened with frustration and anger.

"What the hell does that mean?" he demanded. "A few days ago, you had me act with you and make those sounds on purpose so Caleb would hear us. You skipped the engagement party ten times. Wasn't that because you hated him and didn't want to marry him?"

Samantha looked down and sighed deeply, holding the necklace firmly.

"It was a test," she explained. "I needed to know Caleb wouldn't give up on me, no matter what. If he could make it through all ten times, then I could finally trust him enough to marry him."

Her voice softened. "He kept his promise to me. I won't put him through that anymore."

After saying that, Samantha stood up from the couch.

Ryan tried to stop her, but she ignored him and walked out of the party without looking back.

Outside, the busy street was bright and crowded. As Samantha walked through the noise and lights, the tension on her face gradually faded.

A small smile touched her lips as she murmured to herself, "You've already taken ninety-nine steps toward me, Caleb. I'll make the last one."

When she passed a bakery, she went inside and carefully picked out several boxes of my favorite pastries.

Then she called me.

"Caleb, where are you?" she asked softly. "I know I went too far before, and I'm on my way home now. Have you eaten yet? I bought you some pastries you like."

However, my voice never came through the line.

All she heard was a cold, automated message. "The person you have dialed is not available. Please try again later."

Samantha had no idea that I had already blocked her number.