Silence settles between us.
She looks at me. I look at her. Then we both look at the bracelet as it catches the light and scatters tiny rainbows across the room.
“It costs around a hundred thousand dollars,” she adds calmly.
I choke on my lemonade. It goes down the wrong pipe so violently I start coughing like I’m fighting for my life.
“Are you sure?” I rasp, eyes wide, still blinking away tears.
It’s beautiful and I’ve treasured it, but I assumed it was something he picked up at a boutique. A thoughtful splurge. Not… that.
Lilly nods. “Positive.”
“Maybe you’re confusing it with another one,” Mom says, leaning closer to inspect it.
I stare at my wrist like it belongs to someone else.
“I’m not mistaken,” Lilly says firmly. “I wanted it for myself before I decided to add another car to my collection instead.”
I blink, still having a hard time wrapping my head around this. “He told me it was something small for Valentine’s,” I say weakly.
Lilly lets out a sharp laugh. “Babe… if that’s his definition of small, we need to reassess your boyfriend immediately.”
Mom asks, “How well do you really know this man?”
I swallow, "Well enough... I think."
“I still can't understand why you didn't bother googling it,” Lilly says.
“Why would I? I loved it so I didn’t care how much it cost.”
She stares at me like I’ve just confessed to living under a rock.
Mom, on the other hand, asks gently. “So… he’s wealthy?”
“I don’t know. Maybe” I admit. “I mean he does own his own clinic.”
Lilly snorts. “Owning a clinic is one thing. Casually dropping a hundred thousand on a bracelet is another. That’s not ‘doing well.’ That’s generational wealth or ridiculous liquidity.”
I hesitate. I mean, owning a clinic does make you loaded, right? Especially if you’re always fully booked like Adrian is.
“Maybe we should run a background check,” Lilly says thoughtfully. “Just to be safe. What’s his last name?”

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