Chapter 4 - THE PAWN SHOP TICKET
“It’s not fair!” she suddenly screamed, abandoning all pretense of elegance. “It’s not fair that I have to live in the shadow of a dead woman! You keep that chest locked up like it’s a shrine! Nia walks around this house looking like a martyr, and you coddle her. I am your wife now! My children are your children now! Why should we sacrifice our lifestyle so you can hold onto some old trinkets?”
Marcus looked at the woman he had married two years ago. He had been blinded by her initial charm, her polished exterior, and her seemingly warm embrace of his daughter during their dating phase. But right now, standing in the harsh light of the office, he saw her true nature. It wasn’t about money. It was about erasure. She wanted to erase Sarah, and by extension, she was trying to erase Nia.
“Give me the receipt,” Marcus demanded.
“What?”
“When you sell estate jewelry to a broker or a pawn shop, they give you an itemized receipt. Give it to me right now.”
She hesitated, her eyes darting toward the hallway. “I don’t have it.”
“If you don’t hand me the receipt in the next ten seconds, my next call is to the police to report a grand larceny,” Marcus said, his voice dropping an octave. “You stole tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of heirloom jewelry from a minor. You will be arrested tonight.”
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She gasped, her face going pale again. Trembling, she turned, ran to the master bedroom, and returned a moment later with a crumpled yellow carbon copy receipt from a high-end estate buyer downtown. She shoved it at his chest.
Marcus took the paper, his eyes scanning the list. The gold locket, the diamond ring, the vintage watches. She had sold it all for a fraction of its true value.
