The doctor closed the office door.

Then he looked at me with the expression of a man who had already questioned everything he learned in medical school.

—Mrs. Morgan, we have performed every examination we reasonably can.

I waited.

—There is no ordinary medical explanation for what is happening.

—Can you separate them?

He hesitated.

—Not safely right now.

I looked toward the hallway.

—Then keep trying.

The doctor lowered his voice.

—Your husband keeps insisting you may know something.

I almost laughed.

—My husband also insisted thirty minutes earlier that he was working at the office.

The doctor had no response to that.

When I returned to the hallway, Gabriel’s mother rushed toward me again.

—Fix this!

I stopped.

—Why?

She stared at me.

—Because he’s your husband!

I looked at Bianca.

Then at Gabriel.

—Apparently he’s been practicing for another position.

Several people nearby lowered their phones to hide their laughter.

Gabriel’s face darkened.

—Laura, enough.

I approached the stretcher.

—Fine.

—Let’s make this simple.

I took the jade pendant from beneath my blouse.

The instant Gabriel saw it, his expression changed.

My mother-in-law stepped backward.

—What is that?

—Something my grandmother left me.

Gabriel stared at the stone.

—You did this.

I shook my head.

—No.

—You did.

His voice rose.

—I said something stupid and then this happened!

—Exactly.

I held up the pendant.

—You swore voluntarily.

Bianca finally spoke.

—Gabriel, what is she talking about?

He didn’t answer.

I remembered another part of my grandmother’s story.

A vow enforced by the jade could not be undone by demanding forgiveness.

It ended only when the person who made the oath stopped hiding the truth that gave the oath its power.

I had always thought it was superstition.

Apparently Grandma had been more literal than I realized.

I looked at Gabriel.

—Tell the truth.

His face tightened.

—About what?

The pendant became warm.

Not glowing.

Just warm enough for me to notice.

I smiled sadly.

—Apparently it knows you’re still lying.

Bianca turned toward him.

—Gabriel?

He said nothing.

So I asked:

—How long?

—Laura—

—How long have you been cheating with her?

My mother-in-law immediately interrupted.

—Don’t humiliate my son in public!

I looked at her.

—Your son managed that without assistance.

Then Gabriel finally broke.

—Eight months.

The hallway became silent.

Bianca’s face changed.

I had expected satisfaction.

Instead, she looked shocked.

—Eight?

Gabriel closed his eyes.

—Yes.

She stared at him.

—You told me you and Laura had already separated emotionally before we started.

I almost admired the irony.

He had lied to both of us.

I asked another question.

—Did you ever intend to leave me?

He didn’t answer.

The jade grew hotter.

Gabriel noticed my reaction.

His voice dropped.

—No.

Bianca recoiled as much as she could.

—What?

He looked miserable.

—I didn’t want a divorce.

I laughed.

There it was.

He wanted a wife at home.

A lover elsewhere.

And the comfort of believing neither woman would force him to choose.

Bianca’s eyes filled.

—You told me after the fertility treatment failed, your marriage was over.

I went still.

So did Gabriel.

That was another betrayal.

Our medical struggles had been private.

He had turned them into an excuse for another woman.

I asked:

—What else did you tell her?

—Laura, stop.

The jade heated again.

I looked at him.

—Apparently we’re not finished.

For the next fifteen minutes, Gabriel confessed.

The “late meetings.”

The fake business dinners.

The weekend conference that had never existed.

The gifts he had bought using money from our joint account.

The apartment he helped Bianca rent.

Nothing physically graphic.

Nothing dramatic.

Just lie after lie until the version of my marriage I had defended for three years collapsed completely.

Finally Gabriel whispered:

—That’s everything.

The pendant suddenly became cold.

A nurse gasped.

The doctors moved quickly.

Within minutes, the impossible condition that had resisted every attempt began to resolve on its own.

Gabriel stared at me as if expecting relief.

Instead, I removed my wedding ring.

I placed it on the tray beside him.

—Laura.

—I fulfilled your oath.

He looked confused.

—What?

—You wanted to stay attached to her if you were cheating.

I looked at Bianca.

—Congratulations.

—You’re free now.

Then I looked back at him.

—And so am I.

His face went white.

—Don’t do this.

—Why not?

—Because I confessed!

I almost smiled.

—You confessed because a supernatural object left you no comfortable alternative.

—That isn’t the same as choosing honesty.

His mother grabbed my arm.

—Marriage is not something you throw away over one mistake.

I pulled free.

—Eight months isn’t one mistake.

—It’s hundreds of decisions.

I left the hospital.

The next morning, I called an attorney.

Gabriel came home three days later.

The locks still worked.

I hadn’t changed them.

I didn’t need to.

His key opened the door.

But the house no longer felt like his.

My suitcase was waiting beside the stairs.

He stared at it.

—Where are you going?

—Home.

—This is your home.

I shook my head.

—No.

I had given up my family when I married Gabriel because my father had warned me that a man who resented my independence would eventually resent everything he could not control.

For three years, I thought my father had been unfair.

Now I called him.

He answered after one ring.

—Laura?

I couldn’t speak for several seconds.

Then he said quietly:

—Come home.

Gabriel heard.

His eyes reddened.

—So that’s it?

I looked at him.

—You wanted me to have my own life.

—I’m taking it back.

The divorce took several months.

Bianca didn’t remain with Gabriel.

Once she realized he had never planned to choose her, their great romance lasted less than six weeks outside secrecy.

Gabriel called me after she left.

—She was never worth losing you.

I answered:

—That doesn’t make me feel better.

Silence.

Then:

—I know.

A year later, I returned to the Bennett family investment company.

Not as the daughter who had failed at marriage.

As the woman who had finally stopped measuring her value by whether Gabriel Morgan wanted her.

The jade remained locked in my desk.

I never used it again.

I didn’t need to.

It had taught me the only lesson I needed.

Magic hadn’t destroyed my marriage.

Gabriel had.

The pendant merely removed his ability to lie about it.

He swore that if he cheated, he would remain stuck to the other woman.

For half an hour, the jade took him literally.

But the real punishment lasted much longer.

Because once the truth finally separated Gabriel from Bianca—

it separated me from him too.