And as Dale's fortunes grew, Zoey started putting on airs around me, bossing me around like it was her birthright as the older sister-in-law.

Mrs. Fleming began finding fault with everything I did.

Dale's temper grew shorter by the year. I told myself that was just how marriage worked. You adjusted. You compromised.

Now I could see how wrong I'd been.

My silence only made Mrs. Fleming angrier. She barked at me.

"What are you standing there for?"

"Take off the necklace and give it to Noreen."

Noreen sat there watching me with a half-smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, dripping with provocation.

As if to say: So what if you were his wife for six years? The moment I walk back in, you step aside.

I didn't want these people and their ugliness to ruin today for me. I didn't want to waste my anger on trash.

The pregnancy had been hard enough to come by. I needed to stay calm.

I unclasped the necklace in silence and set it on the table.

Noreen picked it up. "It's decent enough, I suppose."

"But something worn by trash? Disgusting."

She hurled it at the floor.

The necklace I had treasured like a piece of my soul shattered on the tile.

Zoey rushed over. "Noreen, sweetie, just tell us what style you like. Dale can take you shopping for a new one."

"Exactly," Mrs. Fleming chimed in. "Whatever catches your eye, Dale will get it for you."

My necklace lay in pieces on the ground, and all they cared about was what Noreen wanted next.

Six years of devotion, and every bit of it had been wasted. I crouched down, carefully gathering the broken fragments, when a heel came down on my hand.

Noreen stared down at me. "What I throw away isn't something a worthless tramp like you gets to touch."

Dale kicked the shattered pieces aside. "Get out. Stop embarrassing yourself."

My chest seized. I couldn't help thinking back to the moment I first fell for him.

A group of punks had cornered me on the street, catcalling, running their mouths, trying to put their hands on me.

Dale happened to walk by. He took on all six of them alone and ended up in the hospital.

Sitting at his bedside, I heard him say: "Anyone who disrespects you, I'll fight them with everything I've got."

Now Noreen was grinding me into the floor, and he told me to get out.

I swallowed the fury rising in my throat, stood, and turned toward the door. Behind me, Noreen pulled off the shoe she'd used to crush my hand and flung it at my back.