The pendant necklace snapped and fell to the ground. In my haste to retrieve it, I slipped off the hospital bed. Pain shot through my back as the stitches on my wound tore open again, the sensation akin to having my skin peeled away layer by layer.
But even so, I was too late. The ruby pendant necklace lay shattered into countless fragments on the floor, impossible to piece together.
My mother had died during childbirth and this pendant was my brother's way of wishing for my safety.
Alma had once said that in his final days, my brother's greatest wish was for me to live a peaceful life after marrying Gerald and to safely deliver my child.
To fulfill this, my brother had asked her to buy the pendant necklace and entrust it to me for protection. This pendant necklace had survived two car accidents, but now it lay broken by Joanne's hand.
Tears streamed from my eyes and my chest swelled with bitterness. Before I could fully voice my anger, Joanne leaned in and whispered chillingly into my ear, "Eleanor, you're really hard to kill, aren't you? Even car accidents won't do it."