I started wearing the ring often. It became a part of my daily life, an accessory that felt like it belonged. I never once considered why Sarah had chosen this specific ring or if there was more to it than what I could see. That was, until a recent evening at home.
I was idly playing with the ring when my finger brushed against something odd. I noticed a faint, almost invisible groove around the tiny emerald. My curiosity was piqued, so I gently twisted the gem. To my surprise, it rotated and revealed a small, hidden compartment. My heart began to beat a little faster. Was this part of some kind of clue, a little puzzle I was meant to solve?
I froze in place.
The room suddenly felt quiet, and the words seemed to echo in my mind. Was this a cruel prank? A mistake? Or was Sarah trying to send a message, a secret jab hidden beneath a year of friendly conversations and smiles?
I went back through all of our interactions, playing them over in my head like a movie. I couldn’t remember a single time when Sarah had seemed anything but friendly. She laughed at my jokes, praised my work, and even brought me my favorite cookies one day after I casually mentioned liking them. None of it made sense.
The more I thought about it, the more I felt uneasy. If it was a joke, it was incredibly unkind. If it wasn’t, what had I possibly done to deserve it? The thought of Sarah carefully picking out the ring, writing those words, and sealing them away, knowing I would eventually find them, made my stomach turn.
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