The brooch needed no introduction—each one retailed for millions, and he'd seen online that a single man had swept up the entire collection.
As for the pearl necklace, it wasn't just any piece of jewelry. It was an antique, a string of luminous, perfectly round pearls from a bygone dynasty—rare, coveted, and breathtaking.
"I'll take them both. Sixty million. Deal?"
Jessica hesitated. She knew each brooch was worth several million, and Timothy had bought out all twenty-three pieces when they launched. Anyone with an eye for value could tell that as long as Timothy kept them off the market, their worth would only climb.
But luxury resale was a different world. Buyers didn't care about future appreciation; the offer was mostly for the necklace.
Anything from Timothy was never cheap.
Jessica hadn't expected the necklace to be so valuable. If it fetched tens of millions even as a secondhand piece, its true value must be far greater.
She knew selling at this price meant taking a loss.
Still, she resolutely typed a single word onto her phone: "Sell."
Before their marriage, Timothy had handed her a prenuptial agreement. He'd offered a perfectly reasonable explanation—he was CEO of a major corporation, and his assets were deeply entwined with his stake in the company. Life was unpredictable; if their marriage ever soured, dividing the marital assets could trigger a series of crises.
His family situation was complicated, and the less upheaval in his financial affairs, the better.
Of course, he'd promised her: now that they were married, he'd never seek a divorce.
At the time, Jessica had been so overwhelmed by the fact that Timothy was willing to marry her at all, she hadn't cared about money or contracts.
She wanted him—not his wealth.
Looking back, she realized it was all just wishful thinking. That last promise had been nothing but an empty gesture.
What he really meant was that he never wanted her to have any claim on his fortune.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Goodbye, Mr. Regret