He shook his head. “Don’t deflect, Gemma. You didn’t come here to talk about my career. What’s going on? The meeting with the auction woman didn’t go well?” He pulled out the desk chair for her and then perched on the edge of his bed. She pressed her palm to her forehead, not knowing where to start.

“My mother’s ring is gone. Destroyed. My aunt broke it up into pieces years ago and sold it off bit by bit.”

Sanjay’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry. I know how much that meant to you.”

She looked up at him, feeling a sob deep in her chest but pushing it down.

“When I confronted her about it, she told me that she had a . . . thing with my father. Before my parents got together.”

“A thing?”

“They were dating, and that’s how my mother met him.”

His brow furrowed. “Is that true?”

She pressed her fingers to her temples. “I don’t know why she would make it up. To hurt me? That’s just . . . it seems a bit much even for Elodie.”

“How could it be a secret all this time?”

“It wasn’t. That’s the worst part. There were gossip items. But so many untrue things have been written about my mother and her sisters over the years, I just never took any of it seriously. And now it’s like . . . the entire fairy-tale origin story of my parents is turned upside down. My mother, I mean, if she ‘stole’ her sister’s boyfriend?” No wonder Gemma had been cast out; it was because of her mother’s sin.

“She was just a person, Gem. These things happen,” Sanjay said.

She looked up sharply. “These things happen? You can’t forgive me for something far lesser that I did, but this? This is fine?”

“Let’s not go there,” he said. But something about the way his jaw shifted told her she’d struck a nerve.

“I’m totally lost.” She felt her eyes tear up. “The past is a mess, and my future’s a mess. The whole idea of competing with Pavlin & Co . . . it’s a joke. I have no idea what to do. I can’t beat them, and I can’t join them.”

“You’re not lost. You’re selling out online. You were just profiled in The New York Times.”

“I can’t even afford to buy materials to fulfill the orders coming in. The publicity that seemed so great is actually hurting me because it came too early. I really don’t know what I’m going to do now.” Gemma felt tears in her eyes again and didn’t bother fighting them off.

Sanjay walked over, bending down to hug her. She felt herself relax, as if she were unspooling in his arms. When he pulled away, it felt too soon. He rested back on his heels so they were eye level.