The nurse followed her into the hall and shut Letitia’s door behind them.

“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Trahan,” the nurse said. “But please don’t take that personally. She doesn’t mean the things she says.”

Marina gave her a tired smile. “Yes, she does. She’s been saying those things my entire life.”

Before the nurse could respond, Marina walked away, wondering how far and how long her obligation to her mother extended. Sure, Letitia had said she never wanted to see Marina again, but that was another lie. Letitia absolutely wanted Marina to come back. Not because she cared at all about her daughter but because she wanted to maintain the illusion that she still had control over her. And making Marina feel bad about herself was the one thing that always seemed to make Letitia happy.

She was in for a real surprise when she realized that the old Marina was long gone.

And the new one didn’t give a damn what Letitia thought or said.

She walked out of the facility and smiled, for real this time. It was as if a spine-crushing weight had been lifted from her. She’d finally done it. She’d refused to take her mother’s shit and the world hadn’t fallen apart. More importantly, she wasn’t leaving feeling worse about herself, as she usually did.

In fact, it was exactly the opposite.

She felt ready to conquer the world.

Chapter Twenty-One

The jeweler Halcyon had in mind had a small shop on the highway to New Orleans, about twenty minutes from the city limits. A friend of hers who had moved to the city after a divorce years before said he was trustworthy and would give her a good price on quality stones. Now they just had to hope that the stones in her rings were quality and the trip might actually be worth some money.

A young, pretty saleswoman greeted them as they walked in. Halcyon explained what she needed and the saleswoman went into a back room and emerged a minute later with a small gentleman wearing a suit and thick glasses. He introduced himself as Stewart Davis, the owner of the shop, and Halcyon showed him the two rings she was interested in selling.

He nodded and picked up the rings. “Give me some time to assess them. Look around. See if there’s anything you might be interested in for trade.”

“Wait!” Marina grabbed his arm as he started to walk off. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her wedding ring. “This one too.”

He took the ring and disappeared into the office.

“Marina, no,” Halcyon said.

“Why not? You’re trying to sell yours.”

“But it’s been a long time.”

“What difference does it make? I’m not going to get back together with Harold. Tomorrow, next week, next year…the ring still represents the same broken promise.”

Halcyon’s eyes widened. “Yes, but…”

“That’s too rational coming from me?”

“I wasn’t going to put it that way, but yeah.”

“I think I had an epiphany this morning when I visited Letitia.”