"If you're going to make such a fuss, then nobody gets it!"
A sharp crack. The jade split into pieces and scattered across the floor.
Time stopped.
I stared at the shards. My mother had earned that pendant one prostration at a time, step by agonizing step. It had been my talisman since childhood.
Gone. Just like that.
My hands shook as I knelt to pick up the pieces. A jagged edge sliced my skin. Blood beaded on my fingertips and dripped onto the jade, mixing with the tears that fell before I could stop them.
Rage and grief nearly swallowed me whole. I lifted my head, my eyes burning red. "Remember what you did today. All of you."
I clutched the bloodstained shards and stormed out. I pressed my back against the cold door, fighting to steady the storm inside me.
Then I heard my father's voice through the door. A low, contemptuous laugh.
"Ignore her. Piers already has her assets. She won't be living the good life much longer."
The chill started in my chest and spread outward until it reached every limb, every fingertip.
So my father hadn't just known. He was an accomplice.
The last thread of love I'd held for him turned to ash in that moment.