Part 3The Broken Promise

Sitting in Hugh's living room with my parents felt different this time.

Every other time, we were laughing and fooling around. The last time, we'd used "playing video games" as an excuse to sneak off to his room and kiss.

This time…

"Oh, Amelia, you have no idea the lengths this boy went to for this girl, Isla," Hugh's mom said to mine. "I told him, 'Just ask her out!' But no, he had to insist on framing it as 'dating with the intention of marriage.' He made his father pull all sorts of strings just to get her to agree to meet today as a blind date."

I looked around the meticulously decorated house, filled with bouquets of roses. The table was laden with fruits and sweets. Even their little dog was wearing a bright red sweater.

And there was Hugh, checking his reflection over and over, making sure he was perfect.

The bitter irony was that just last night, we were tangled in his sheets, and he was kissing the small birthmark on my waist with such tenderness.

The underwear he was wearing right now? I bought it for him.

"Ah, it's such a shame, though…" Hugh's mom squeezed my mother's hand wistfully. "We always said we'd be in-laws one day. We even made a childhood pact for them!"

She glanced at me. "I truly adore Cora. She's not just beautiful, she has a wonderful personality, so bright and cheerful…"

I kept my eyes down, not daring to respond. I was afraid one wrong move and the tears would start falling.

"Mom!" Hugh frowned, clearly displeased. "You said it yourself, that was your generation's thing. You and Aunt Amelia are close, why don't you two get married? What does it have to do with me? What century are we living in, still clinging to those old ideas?"

He had no regard for the adults' feelings.

Then he turned to me, his tone harsh, as if I'd put his mother up to it.

"Cora, where's the bracelet my mom gave you?"

When I didn't answer, he strode over, grabbed my wrist, and pushed up my sleeve. "The one they gave you as a token for that childhood pact. I'm afraid Isla will get the wrong idea if she sees it…"

The words hung in the air.

My dad and his, who had been sipping tea, froze. My mom, who had been arranging flowers for him, stopped cold.

The atmosphere turned instantly sour.

My mom stared at me, the vase and clippers in her hand clattering onto the table. She started to get up, but Hugh's mom pulled her back down. Then, she stood up herself, placing herself firmly in front of me and giving Hugh a hard shove.

"Hugh! What do you think you're doing? Putting aside the fact that nothing's even started between you and this Isla… that bracelet? You were the one who got on your knees and begged Cora to wear it when you were seventeen!"

It was like a switch flipped in Hugh's mind.

He remembered. He remembered that year when another boy confessed his feelings to me. Panicked, he’d gotten drunk, stolen the jade bracelet from his mother's jewelry box, and shown up at my house in the middle of the night, crying, pleading, even kneeling, begging me to wear his family heirloom.

He tugged at his collar, took a deep breath, and forced a smile at me. "I'm just a little tense. I… it's not right to take back a gift… you can keep it."

"It's fine. I'll give it back. I'll go home and get it now." I stood up, cutting him off, my voice steady. "I'll be quick. I won't hold things up."

Before anyone could react, I grabbed my bag and walked out.