“Mom, I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“He just took the ring.”
My mother fell silent.
Then she spoke carefully.
“Did he say he didn’t want to marry you anymore?”
“No.”
“Did he tell you why he needed it?”
“No.”
“Then don’t decide what this means until you know the truth.”
I wanted to believe her.
I really did.
But when I looked at my bare finger, all I could think about was the previous evening, when Daniel had promised me a future, and the morning that followed, when he had taken its symbol away.
I ended the call and sat down.
For several minutes, I stared at the empty space on my finger.
Then something inside me changed.
I could accept a painful truth.
I could accept that Daniel had changed his mind, even if it broke my heart.
What I could not accept was being left in the dark while the man I loved made decisions that affected both our lives.
