Guiding Light to Rebirth

I went back into my room and boxed up all his old things, tossing them into the fire.

Flames licked hot, but I felt soaked in freezing water.

For days after, the yard echoed with banging and tearing.

The whole garden of lilies Ethan had planted for me got dug up and replaced with Hanna's favorite red roses.

The glass sunroom, where we played piano and watched sunsets, was smashed and turned into a pool for her workouts.

Even the wisteria arbor where we first admitted our feelings got ripped out and dug into a pond she loved for lotuses.

The day they planted the lotus seeds, Hanna blocked me in the yard.

She lifted her chin, flashing the ring on her finger. "Ethan found this ring design in his room, saying it was for his future bride. He stayed up nights making it and proposed to me."

She wiggled her finger. "What do you think, pretty?"

The bird-and-fish pattern was my old favorite.

I nodded, sincere. "It's gorgeous. Looks great on you."

"But I hate it. We both know who that design was really for." She glared. "You keep saying you're over Ethan, but his old feelings for you? They're like a ticking bomb. It keeps me up at night."

"So, what do you want?" I asked.

"I want..." Mid-sentence, she twisted hard and plunged into the muddy pond they'd just dug.

A shove sent me stumbling aside, crashing to the ground. My ankle throbbed like hell, and my palm got scraped on rocks, burning up my arm.

Before I could get up, Ethan dove in like a madman and hauled Hanna out, both caked in stinking mud.

He ignored the mess, frantically wiping mud from her face.

His voice was full of panic. "You okay? Choke on water? Eyes sting? Any cuts?"

Hanna took a minute to shake her head, then broke into tears. "I'm fine, but the ring you gave me was tossed in the water. I went in to grab it and fell."

She held up her hand, and the ring was gone.

"I'm not welcome here," she sobbed. "Let's go back to our apartment, okay? At least, no one bullies me there."

Her pitiful look tugged at his heart.

His eyes went cold. "Who tossed your ring? Who bullied you?"

Hanna pressed her lips together and shot me a scared glance, making it obvious.

I clutched my swollen ankle, stunned. "It wasn't me."

Ethan shot me an icy look that chilled me to the bone.

"I got no reason to steal a ring," I rasped, explaining.

"You know damn well," Ethan snapped, then scooped Hanna up and nodded to a bodyguard. "Whoever tossed it goes in and fishes it out."