The one I’d chosen looked similar to theirs, minus the numerous multiple-karat diamonds. This one was a more modest version, more me, but still in the several-hundred-dollar price range that made me queasy. But I deserved it, damn it! I had worked my butt off for a boss who objectified me, took care of a husband who had cheated on me, and grew up in a family that neglected me. When my mother died, she left me a tangled pile of cheap costume jewelry and a plastic jewelry case from the dollar store. For once in my pathetic life I wanted something shiny and sparkly and beautiful and flashy.

Plus, it was part of the deal. I’d keep my mouth shut about Cody and Felicity’s kiss, and this was my reward. Looking between the bracelet and the credit card in my hand, I inhaled a shuddery breath. I had worked hard to get us out of debt, and this would be a setback until the inheritance came through. But setbacks were okay once in a while, right? Especially when we needed something shiny and sparkly and beautiful and flashy to pull us out of a depressive slump.

I glanced back at Cody, who had wandered across the mall, lingering at the mouth of a men’s athletic wear store fingering a designer polo shirt. He was wearing the Heath Miller Steelers jersey I had bought him as a surprise gift just because. He looked up. Our eyes met. He nodded—get the jewelry, the gesture said.

And yet…

And yet that was one of the things I hated about him. Always having to have the best clothes while our house fell apart. Always looking like a million bucks while our bank account shrank down to pennies. Always about appearance, but never true depth. He dressed up his shallow personality with beautiful things…and yet he was the same narcissist underneath it all. A self-loathing man who doused himself in Ralph Lauren cologne and charm to get people to like him, to buy his used cars, then he insulted these same people the moment they were out of earshot. These were people he looked down on because they were never good enough or smart enough. People like me. People like him.

I refused to be like him.

I refused to allow stuff to define me.

I set the bracelet back down in its black velvet home and thanked the associate for her time, saying, “Maybe later.” There would be no later. I had a dream that needed this investment more than my wrist.

I was going to finish writing that thriller screenplay with Brad, start my theatre venture, and work my butt off to lift my production company dream off the ground. Hollywood wasn’t it; I was it. I had something way better in mind for me than LA could ever offer. Something I could control, something I could nurture, something all mine.