The next day, "humm... humm... humm," Maya hummed while sitting on the sofa and admiring her bracelet. Naturally, the bracelet immediately caught the attention of Ellie, Lena, and Amy, who kept staring at it.
"Where did you get that bracelet?" Ellie asked.
"Yeah, since when have you been wearing a bracelet?" Lena added.
"Suspicious," Amy added curtly.
"It’s from my husband, hehe," Maya replied, deliberately showing off.
"Huh... when?" Ellie asked, standing up and looking peeved.
"Yesterday... at work," Maya answered casually.
"This isn’t fair... I want one too," Lena replied.
"Hmm," Amy muttered, looking thoughtful and suspicious.
Amy slid closer, looked at the bracelet closely, and examined the blue gemstone. Then she took Lena’s hand and turned it over. There was nothing on the back but plain yellow gold. Then Amy walked upstairs to go back to her room. Maya, Lena, and Ellie were confused, watching Amy’s tense expression as she went upstairs without saying a word.
"Huh... what’s her deal?" Maya asked.
"Beats me," Ellie answered.
"Just let her be... when Dylan gets back from the house renovation survey and picks up his sisters, we need to talk," Lena added grumpily.
Meanwhile, Amy entered her room and locked the door. She immediately grabbed her smartphone and called. A moment later,
"What is it, Amy?" Dylan asked.
"I need to ask you something. The bracelet you gave Maya... did you buy it or snatch it?" Amy asked, cutting straight to the point.
Silence. Dylan didn’t answer for a minute. Then, he took a breath, and his voice sounded like he had moved away from the renovation project. He then told Amy, who already knew his secret, everything that had happened the night before.
"Geez, babe, what were you thinking? Don’t give us stuff like that. You should just it," Amy replied, annoyed. Read complete versıon only at novel⸺fire.net
"Sorry, I just enjoy giving something," Dylan replied.
"Fine, here’s the deal: when you come home, buy the four of us bracelets like that one. The price shouldn’t be high since the gem is fake, even if the gold is real. You swap it out for the one on Maya’s wrist, or I’ll be mad," Amy replied.
"What’s the problem, exactly? I don’t mind buying all of you the same gold bracelet, but I still don’t get why you’re mad that I gave it to Maya and didn’t it," Dylan replied.
"Because that item is stolen goods. Luckily the gem is fake. If it were real, it’d be a mess. Maya’s the one who will have trouble, not you, get it?" Amy replied.
"Haah... okay, okay... you’re right. Wait for me to get home, I’ll buy the four of you the same bracelet," Dylan replied.
"That’s better. And please swap it without Maya knowing. It would be a shame for her if her bracelet suddenly gets taken away, especially since she looks so happy. She’s always so tomboyish; this is the first time I’ve seen her this pleased," Amy replied.
"Okay, I understand, but how do you know about the gold bracelet and whether the gem is fake or not?" Dylan replied.
"Grandpa taught me a while ago. I’m pretty good at telling if items like that bracelet are real or fake because Grandpa was always showing off his ring collection with all those gems," Amy replied.
"Oh... okay, I wouldn’t have known, haha," Dylan replied.
"Alright, I shouldn’t stay on too long or they’ll get suspicious again. I’m going downstairs now. I’m hanging up. Drive safe coming home, babe, I love you," Amy said.
"Okay, love you too," Dylan replied.
"Huh," Amy muttered, her face flushed and looking flustered.
"What now?" Dylan asked.
"Nothing... just surprised you said ’love you too’ for once," Amy replied, her face red, smiling.
"Um... yeah... well," Dylan replied, seeming to get flustered too.
Finally, both of them stayed silent and just ended the call without saying anything else. Amy immediately hugged her smartphone and did a little happy bounce. Then she heard some rustling outside her door. She slowly walked to the door and "click," "Waaaaah," Ellie, Lena, and Maya immediately tumbled into Amy’s room.
"What are you guys doing?" Amy asked, looking confused and deadpan.
"No... nothing, hahaha... hey... Ellie, get up," Lena replied.
"Uuuh... why did you suddenly come upstairs? What’s going on?" asked Maya, who was lying face down at the very bottom. Then she looked up, "Lena, your chest is heavy, get up," Maya yelled.
"Huh... ’heavy,’ my butt," Lena replied. She tried to get up and saw Ellie on top of her. "Hurry up and get off, Ellie," Lena yelled.
"Huh... okay, okay... calm down... help me, Amy," Ellie replied, reaching her hand out to Amy.
Amy immediately pulled Ellie’s arm, but "thud," Ellie suddenly slipped and she fell again, now piling on top of Lena and Maya, with Amy joining the pile.
"Huff... hey, what the hell is this, get up quick," Maya yelled.
"Yeah, we’re pregnant... why are we stacked up ?" Lena added.
"Sorry... I slipped," Ellie replied.
"And now I fell too," Amy added curtly.
After struggling to untangle themselves, all four of them got up, then sat on the edge of Amy’s bed.
"Who were you talking to?" Maya asked.
"Dylan," Amy answered curtly.
"Huh... you called him? What for?" Lena asked.
"To get him to buy me a bracelet too," Amy answered curtly.
"Hmm... and what about me and Lena?" Ellie asked.
"You guys too," Amy answered curtly.
"What about me? You’re including me too, right?" Maya asked, pointing at her own nose.
"You already got yours first," Amy replied curtly.
"Oh... right, hahaha... sorry," Maya replied, looking at her bracelet.
"Let’s go eat first. Ellie, can I have your pickle? I think my baby is craving it," Lena said, holding her stomach.
"Okay, trade you for your ice cream," Ellie replied.
They all went downstairs and started grabbing their respective snacks. Then they sat on the sofa to enjoy their food while watching a movie on the streaming service. Amy looked at her smartphone and searched for news about the theater incident from last night. She read the news reports and watched the video on social media. She smiled to herself, unnoticed by the others.
Suddenly, "ding... dong," Ellie’s doorbell rang. Ellie immediately grabbed the TV remote and lowered the volume. Then she turned to look at the door.
"Did anyone order something?" Ellie asked.
"Not me," Amy replied, turning to look at the door.
"I didn’t order anything either," Maya added.
"Are you expecting someone, Ellie?" Lena asked.
"No... let me check the camera first," Ellie replied.
Ellie immediately opened her laptop on the coffee table. She pulled up the camera feed. Amy, Lena, and Maya leaned in to look at Ellie’s laptop. Then their eyes widened as they saw who was on the other side of the door.
"How... could this be?" Ellie asked, seeing Alex standing behind the door, looking messy and disheveled like someone who hadn’t been home or slept all night. They all fell silent and ignored the persistent ringing of the bell, not daring to open the door.